GETTING LOST
This is easy to do.
Imagine hiking to a lake and you go off trail for a minute or inadvertently take a side unmarked trail, and you go for a while before you notice that you’re not where you’re supposed to be. In this big wild country, it’s easy to get turned around or lose your bearings.
You can take some precautions to avoid this or to be prepared in case you do get lost. Buy a GPS device. Buy a standard compass. Buy paper maps of the areas you will be traveling and put it in your car or your purse or backpack. These may come in handy if your GPS quits working or runs out of juice. Read the map before you go out driving or hiking.
Look for landmarks before you get lost, and be aware of your surroundings. Know the trails and how they interconnect. Consider if you have a flat tire or if the car breaks down—what then? Are you prepared? Fix up a bag with some survival supplies. What if you slide off an icy road? What if you have to spend the night where you are? Make sure you are prepared for anything that may come up—you won’t regret it.
Architecture and Influences of the Region
As you drive through the towns, you will see differences in architecture that emerged from the various historical eras and cultural influences. The Pueblo-style architecture that emerged from Spanish colonial rule is exemplified in the fortified towns with protective walls to hold off against Indian attacks. In these villages, typically some of those along the Rio Grande, you’ll see low-slung, flat-roofed adobe houses built around small courtyards called placitas, and narrow streets or lanes.
Taos is the perfect example of this time period. As the Indian threat lessened, the plaza became the center of activity as it attracted people to its annual trade fairs. The French and American fur traders came to the region in the early 1800s and brought Anglo tastes in architecture. Houses built in the Spanish Colonial and Territorial styles stand side by side with Mission and Spanish Pueblo Revival structures. Thick adobe walls made from straw and clay mud kept constant temperatures year-round. Tiny windows held Indian attacks at bay. Houses close together were a Pueblo design, great for efficiency and community.
The Pueblo Indians, prior to invasion, had built condominium-style communities of adobe and stone bricks, with the buildings as high as three or four stories. Their communities were centered on plazas complete with spiritual chambers known as kivas. These Pueblo peoples used the waters of the Rio Grande and its feeder streams to irrigate fields of corn, beans, and squash.
Unique adobe architecture can be seen throughout the Enchanted Circle.
As you walk by the older buildings, you’ll see some with round logs protruding from their upper walls. Inside, you can see that these are long round logs, timber rafters, used for structural support. These are called vigas. Warming these adobe buildings are circular adobe fireplaces, usually shallow and built roundly into corners of a room, and also called kivas. These were named after the spiritual centers of Pueblos because of their round shapes.
Vigas inside the Kit Carson House.
Other architectural details that make area homes interesting and distinctive include the colorfully painted doors, window trim, gates, and intricate or colorful tiles everywhere in and out of the house. Adobe needs periodic maintenance, and one thing to note in Taos is that many of the buildings were not originally adobe but have been stuccoed in recent years. The churches are often the best way to see architecture from history, although each one has to have periodic maintenance and construction from time to time.
Colorful doors adorn the adobe walls.
Hornos are the bee-hived shaped outdoor ovens you will often see in a courtyard (like the Kit Carson House). People can cook many things in these outdoor ovens including bread, but they were used often in summer because it was too hot to fire up an oven inside the house.
CAMPING
If you look at a map of the Enchanted Circle, you’ll find more campgrounds than you can quickly count, everything from primitive ones off the beaten track to full-fledged hookups, in high desert or alpine, by river or lake, for the tent or big RV, and everything in between. You can camp along numerous rivers including the Rio Grande, Red River, and Rio Costilla. Our favorite might be on the aspen-filled Santa Barbara River. Because of the sudden weather changes, the amazing scenery, proximity to so many outdoor activities, and the varying quality of the campgrounds, camping is always challenging but rewarding in northern New Mexico.
There are countless camping opportunities along the Enchanted Circle.
The campgrounds are all over the map in terms of what they offer: some provide clean restrooms, Wi-Fi, water, and electrical hookups, and some offer (at best) a Porta-Potty, if that. You can camp at state parks, national forests, and national monuments, and as crowded as it gets during holidays, it seems there are always some campgrounds with room on the Enchanted Circle.
If you camp, put up your food at night, and don’t leave out anything that might tempt wild creatures. Use common sense about fires and learn if your campground is under a campfire moratorium. Not all campgrounds have potable water, nor do many have waste water dumps.
WILDLIFE
Don’t pet bears. That’s for starters. Along the Enchanted Circle, as remote as it is with so little population, the wildlife is plentiful and diverse and interacts often with the towns and their people. In Red River, it is common to see deer feeding in yards or walking across the street. Bighorn sheep can be found on the roadside east of Questa among other places. If you drive, hike, or spend any time outdoors, you’ll see wildlife.
Respect the wildlife. Don’t feed the animals. Respect distance with any animal, not only for your safety but for theirs. You might see eagles, marmots, bighorn sheep, deer, and elk all in one day. Marmots are known as whistling pigs, the fat furry critters that crawl around the rocky slopes. In the lower elevations, you might see snakes—in particular, rattlesnakes. Just watch where you put your hands and keep an eye out as you hike or climb.
We see lots of birders around the Enchanted Circle. The Enchanted Circle is great for birding, or so we’re told and so we read, but we aren’t birders. We see birds and know Western Tanagers, redtailed hawks, golden eagles, hummingbirds, magpies, Canada jays, chickadees, and woodpeckers, but other than that… we just don’t know our birds.
Wildlife You Might See around the Enchanted Circle
• Marmot
• Bighorn sheep
• Mule deer
• Elk
• Rattlesnake
• Peregrine falcon
• Black bear
• Tarantula
• River otter
• Red-tailed hawk
• Bald eagle
• Golden eagle
• Hummingbird
• Albert squirrel
• Wild turkey
• Prairie dog
• Pika
• Mountain