Jan 16 - The Road to Taos

I-25 North toward Santa Fe

Today we took a quick trip up to Taos, NM. It was approximately 120 miles from our house to Taos. Getting there we took I-25 to Santa Fe, used the Santa Fe by-pass, Hwy 599 to Hwy 285 then connected to Hwy 68 on into Taos. Most of the route was very scenic, especially once we hit 68 and neared the Rio Grande. We will certainly have to go back that direction to explore the Rio Grande Gorge.

Along Hwy 68

View heading into Taos along Hwy 68

Taos is a historic town north of Santa Fe that is now well-known for it's art galleries, tourism and nearby ski resorts (Taos Valley, Red River and Angel Fire). Taos was the preferred home of the infamous and controveroverial, Kit Carson between 1826 and 1868, although he probalby actually lived there about 9 of those years due to his extensive traveling as he helped settle the American West. His third wife Josefa, lived there with their 6 children. Taos is also home to the oldest, continually inhabited settlement in the US - the Taos Pueblo. It has been home to the Tiwa tribe for more than 900 years!! While mostly a peace-loving people, they are best remembered as spearheading the only successful revolt by Native Americans in history, the 1680 Pueblo Revolt.

We did not visit the Pueblo on this trip, mainly just walking around the plaza, having lunch at Ogelvie's Bar & Grill and touring Kit Carson's home & museum. While I'm not exactly sure how I feel about Kit and the part he played in the settling of the west and near extermination of the Native American's, I am fascinated with most things historical and since we have read the book, Blood & Thunder, which outlines his life and documents the settlement of this area - it's neat to be able to see & touch the history described there. With that being said, I think the Kit Carson Museum was very much lacking... it was neat to see his three room house where Josefa raised their children and Kit entertained many formidble historical figures; it was a bit sparse on artifacts from that era, from Kit's actual life etc. For $5 you view a 20-min documentary on Kit's early-life produced by the History Channel and starring his great-grandson then you get a quick overview from the curator and allowed to walk through the sparsely furshished 3 rooms of the house. There were a few storyboards regarding Kit & Josefa but that's about it. Read the book mentioned above (which they sell in the bookstore) and you won't need to read the storyboards. :-)

Walkway in Taos

Taos Plaza

Taos Plaza

Walkway in Taos

Kit Carson's House & Museum

Courtyard behind Kit Carson's house

View along the High Road

We decided to brave the snow and take the Taos High Road home. Much more scenic than Hwy 68, more mountainous, but definitely slower. And no snow, at least on the roads. Yea!

We are anxious to head back to the Taos area to explore more, there are several forest service roads begging to be explored, rivers to raft, trails to be hiked...