Day 14 - Gallup to Grants Pass (73 Miles) 'Discoveries Galore'

Day 14

5-05-10

Gallup to Grants 73miles

Another morning and I feel Grrrrrrrreat. It’s amazing what a day’s rest can do for the body. I leave in good spirits and roll onto Rt.66 watching the sun rise in front me. Weather prediction 75 degrees with light winds from the SW. Unlike Holbrook the folks here were up before me. Cars, trucks, buses filled with people are moving everywhere very fast. I manage to dodge a few of the vehicles who don’t see me but I don’t mind, after all I’m in their back yard. What’s funny is that they are in a hurry to get to their destination and when they get there, they’re very relaxed and don’t seem to let anything bother them. They are attentive with their patrons and are very eager to help or do what it takes to keep them happy. Very laid back.

The mesa has been following me for 16mi and I can see they stretch a long way in the direction I’m traveling. I come to Red Rock State Park and Church Rock. They stand as bold as they were when the earth push them up from the ground thousands of years ago with single towers molded by nature’s rain and wind giving an appearance of separation yet they are one. Walls jetting in and out with vertical grooves cut inconsistently by a master clay artisan knowing they would add to their beautify. There is green vegetation hanging loosely to the walls, offsetting the stark red background. They are beautiful and belong to New Mexico. Before entering I-40, I pass a sign Ft. Wingate

Ft. Wingate is a historic Military Reservation on I-40/Route 66. It was originally a trading post in 1860 and then a full-fledged fort in 1862. Civil War soldiers were posted there and it functioned as a place for doing military surveys, escorting those that needed it and protection against the raiding Indians. The most famous soldiers associated with Ft. Wingate were Kit Carson, John “Black Jack”Pershing, General Douglas McArthur and several Navajo Code Talkers. In 1914 the fort housed Mexican Federal troops and their families who were fleeing from the Pancho Villa uprising. Today Ft. Wingate is still an active base and is sometimes involved as a rocket launching test site.

The last 16 miles past with a wonderful change. As I climb higher the mountains are growing thick with green vegetation surrounded by boulders and falling slabs that have separated themselves from the mountain base. It seems to be getting cooler and as I reach the top of the pass a sign reads (Continental Divide next exit). The elevation is 7,275 feet. At this point rainfall divides. To the West it drains into the Pacific Ocean…and to the East into the Atlantic. I get happy because this means I get to coast down on the other side and I know that this is the half way point to Grant. I stop to, take pictures and have lunch on the trading post porch. I leave ready for my downhill joy ride but find that it’s not all down. They decided to stair case it with the landing much longer the rise. So needless to say I was peddling a lot of the downhill of which I thought would be a restful reward for my uphill efforts. There are a couple of small communities I pass through before arriving to Grant. THOREAU AND BLUEWATER

Thoreau the name of the town, according to many, came from Henry David Thoreau, the famous writer and philosopher. The Native American Culture and history is strong and it is a local trading center for artisans selling their weaving, sand paintings, silver jewelry, pottery and turquoise jewelry. There are also several Anasazi archeological sites in the Chaco Canyon.

Bluewater, a town just east of the Continental Divide, is named for the Bluewater Lake located in Bluewater Canyon. In 1850 a Frenchman by the name of Martin Boure had a farm above the lake (the ruins are still there) and was the beginning of the settlement of Bluewater Valley. Artifacts have been recovered from this area dating back as far as 600 ad and included stone tools, beads and ceramics linked to the Anasazi.

Finally, I arrive into Grants. The terrain went through a change that made the last half tough. Everything went dry and vegetation sparse. The heat intensified and with the heat at my back, I wasn’t pushing much air causing my natural cooling system to malfunction. I had to make several stops for water and let the wind cool me. All I wanted to do was eat, drink and sleep, which I did.

Grants was established in the 1880s when three Canadian brothers were given the contract to build a section of the new Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The brothers first called the town Grants Camp, then Grants Station and finally Grants. Grants is located on the north end of a large lava field known as “El Malpais” (the badlands). A little west of the City is the Continental Divide and the Zuni mountains. This area is high desert with sandstone and lava flows.

Originally the town’s major economic base was the railroad logging in the nearby Zuni Mountains and was a major train stop for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The town prospered as a result of railroad logging in the nearby Zuni Mountains, and the timber was shipped to Albuquerque where there was a large sawmill where the wood was used for products that were shipped all around the west. It served as a section point for the Atlantic and Pacific, which became part of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Empire.

Probably the most memorable boom came to the town when a local Navajo shepherd by the name of Paddy Martinez discovered uranium ore near Haystack Mesa. This created a mining boom that lasted until the 1980s, but once the mining business collapsed the town went into a depression. Rt66 Tourism is still a strong base for the economy.

There you have it. One more history lesson, not extensive just enough to give a little insight.

Tomorrow Grant to Albuquerque

Take care Love ya all

Old man burning.