US-54 out of Alamogordo is a pretty boring, straight four-lane road, but things began to get interesting as we turned west on US-380 in Carrizozo, NM. About four miles out of town, we came upon the Valley of the Fires Recreational Area. Valley of the Fires appears to be a large burned-out area, where the rocks looked scorched from black smoke. In actuality, it is several square miles of buckled and twisted basalt lava that is more than 160 feet deep and over 45 miles long. It was formed when several volcanoes in the area erupted and the flows joined.
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| Pic Source: Internet |
As we continued across US-380, we abutted the northern boundary of the White Sands Missle Range, complete with signs indicating the road is sometimes closed during middle testing. We didn’t see any, but enjoyed the desert scenery.
In Socorro, we turned west again on US-60 and passed through Magdalena. About half-way to Datil, we saw what appeared to be many, many huge satellite dished on both sides of the highway. As we closed-in, we saw signs indicating it was a National Radio Astronomy Observatory facility. This particular facility houses the Very Large Array (VLA), which has been used to find black holes in space. VLA = Very Cool. I now wish we’d stopped to tour the small museum onsite. Oh, it’s also the location where the movie Contact was filmed.
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| Pic Source: Internet |
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| Pic Source: Internet |
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| Pic Source: Internet |
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| Pic Source: Internet |
In Datil, we turned South and eventually west on NM-12, riding through the mountains in the Gila National Forest - a beautiful road chocked full of twisties and elevation changes. Sadly, a large portion of the forest, as well as the area around Alpine, were burned in the Wallow Fire (2011) which was started by a campfire. The two men responsible were fined $3.7 million. If you’re going to play with fire...
In Alpine, we checked into the Sportsman’s Lodge, a quaint mom and pop motel run by a nice couple (Phyllis and Frank) who are also motorcycle riders. After checking-in, Phyllis brought us a little brasket with motorcycle cleaning supplies and micro fiber towels. Nice touch! The porch is complete with comfortable chairs and the view overlooks a large open meadow that usually have elk grazing in the evenings, though none appeared today.
During happy hour, we met Spencer, a BMW adventure biker who was also staying at the motel. He ended up joining us for dinner at the Alpine Grill and Still. He is from Santa Fe and rides AZ, UT, and NM extensively. He gave us some great ideas for enhancing the route around Phoenix and Flagstaff. Thank you, Spencer!
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| Bar at Alpine Grill |
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| Protect the One-Eyed King Size Pecker |
Bonus of the day: the temps stayed below 75* the whole way!
Tomorrow we ride the Devil’s Highway (US-191) and pick-up the wimmins in Phoenix in the evening. They will join us for the rest of the ride.
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