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| Hiking | 1.20 Miles |
187 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.20 Miles | | | |
| 187 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Warning - this may read more like a TripAdvisor review than a triplog ... if you don't like it, don't read it.
First few days of vacation.
Didn't leave Roper til after 12pm.
Stopped at Coal Creek Campground to check it out - despite being next to Highway 78, it's a nice spot ... it would definitely do for a night - especially if the little creek was running. I spent three hours eating lunch, reading, relaxing and chasing birds around. Added 2 new birds - Black-Headed Grosbeak and Townsend's Warbler! 
Decided to move on towards Glenwood with no real plan - figured I'd camp at the San Francisco Hot Springs trailhead or the Bighorn Campground, neither of which is a "destination" camp, but just a place to sleep near the hot springs and the Catwalk. Turned out the Bighorn - humble as it is - was pretty much full, so that was a "no" for me ... I headed back down the highway a half mile to impulsively check out the cute looking little Lodge cabins right at the Catwalk Rd turn.
Best decision I've made in a long time ... the Los Olmos Lodge is a-freaking-mazing! Within a half hour, I decided to extend my stay another day and night so I could take advantage of the beautiful, lush, peaceful grounds and the amenities. Aside from my Catwalk hike and going to patronize the local businesses for food, I never left the place. It instantly became a favorite and I plan on returning regularly to this relaxing retreat. Highly recommend. So what about camping? Well, I slept with the windows open (in a super comfy bed) and was awakened each morning by many, many chirping birds so that counts right? 
In the morning, after breakfast at the Golden Girls Cafe, I headed 5 miles up the road to the Catwalk - the only other folks at the Lodge, a group of 5 from Florida, were coincidentally right behind me and we were the first/only ones there. Saw a couple more people on the way out, and a couple more back at the trailhead - not bad at all.
The Catwalk itself is super cool and fun - it's all good up to about the .5 point, where the old swinging bridge is gone. I went down to the canyon bottom there, and could see where to scramble back up to the continuation of the trail, but I don't know what happens to the trail after that because I headed back from that point.
The canyon is beautiful, the birding is good, and I will definitely return - without my binoculars and good camera weighing me down - and hike farther up canyon.
There are only 3 places to eat in the area, and they were all good. I enjoyed a green chile cheeseburger from Mario's Pizza, and later the best burrito I've ever had - a beef/bean/green chile & cheese burrito from the Alma Grill ... yes that's a lot of green chiles, but when in New Mexico ...
The owners of the Los Olmos are working on opening their own restaurant on the property, as well as opening the gas station/store across the street - hopefully they can help bring cute little Glenwood back to life!
After my little hike, I went fishing in one of two ponds on the property (caught some trout) and then swimming in their cute little pool - refreshing! Mostly I wandered around (sometimes with the host dogs) photographing birds ... later watched the nightly emergence of thousands of bats from the water tower - love those bats, as despite all the water around, there were no bugs/mosquitoes!
Best trip in a long time. Cabins like this rock - I may never camp again! LOL, okay no - I'm camping on Monday and Tuesday. |
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