Eagles Nest SP.
I drove north yesterday and stopped at Coyote Creek SP. It’s only 40 miles from Storrie Lake State Park which makes it a good place to serve my time away from the 14-day limit rule for New Mexico state parks. The rule is that you have to be out of a park 6 days, then you can go back for another 14. Some people will stay a week and then go out for 3 days to make it legal. I figured the weekend at Coyote Creek would give me another batch of time at Storrie Lake.
Both parks have pluses and minuses. Storrie Lake has great cell signal, a lake, and the city of Las Vegas only 5 miles away. Coyote Creek has trees, dump station, cooler weather, and hiking trails. It’s hard to pick one that I like best.
This morning I woke to chilly temperatures and overcast sky. I was planning on riding Honda 30 miles north to check out Eagles Nest State Park, Cimarron State Park, and a couple attractions on the way. After thinking it over for a while this morning, I decided to drive Minnie up to the state park and stay for a couple days.
The road North from Coyote Creek was under construction. For about 5 miles the road wound steeply up to a higher Alpine landscape. At times the road was only a little over one lane wide and I’m glad there was not much traffic. Once I broke out of the forest into wide valley meadows, the road was wide and nice.
I stopped in Angel Fire to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park. I walked around for a while looking at all the memorials to those who served during that war. The visitors center had many displays of all things pertaining to the war years. It was a sad place to visit, but important to remember those that served and the 58,000 young men that gave their lives.
No match for a tornado!
I arrived at Eagles Nest SP shortly before noon and was lucky enough to find one site open. The camp host came by after I parked and recorded my documents to put me on the time clock. He mentioned to me that there was a tornado that came through the park yesterday and showed me a 5th-wheel RV down the road that was tipped on it’s side. He said there were three other campers that had broken windows, but thankfully, no one was hurt. The people that own the 5th wheel we’re not there at the time. Tornadoes are so rare in this county, I guess I should feel safe tonight.
If the weather is good tomorrow I may explore some nearby places. I talked with another camper that told me it was 38 degrees this morning. That’s not good motorcycle riding temperature!
Brr, that’s a chilly August morning! Hope the storms stay calm while you’re there. Is Eagle Nest (the town) big enough to have a market?
I’m not sure what’s in town. It’s up the road a couple miles. Only 8 miles back to Angel Fire and they have stores there. I passed a Dollar general too.
IRI