Around the Southwest Once More

Since moving to Alaska, I’ve made a point of heading back to Chicagoland to visit family around Christmas. It’s always been a special time in my family and has only become a richer experience as I’ve grown older, where I’ve been able to introduce, start, and continue traditions with Alana and now our kids*. Logistics have become slightly more challenging but the friction hasn’t been enough to avoid traveling as normal, at least until this year. The cheapest airfare for the 4 of us was $2k, far more than I could justify for a few week excursion. We explored a few alternatives but flying really was the cheapest option, at least within the box.

*Yes, dear reader. You read correctly. There are two of them now

But what else was there? Driving was out of the question from Alaska, due to timing and cold weather. Though what if we didn’t start in Alaska? I noticed that one way flights to Phoenix for all 4 of us were $400 total. I also saw that Arizona’s DMV offers 90 day “drive out” registration for non-residents for $15. If we were able to find a car, we figured we could do a road trip around the southwest just as we did after Enedina was born and then sell the car at the end in Chicago.

I checked Facebook marketplace regularly leading up to us deciding to go,then going, to make sure there were enough viable options for us to settle upon something and get outfitted over the course of just a few days in Phoenix. There seemed to be plenty of options, so we narrowed our focus, intent on finding something lower on the depreciation scale, something reliable, didn’t need major work, and had good resale value. For us, that meant a Toyota. We planned 5 days in Phoenix to find a car and found a winner on day 2, a 2004 Highlander with lowish miles that had been well kept for $6k. Registration was a breeze and after a few days in town getting everything in order, we set off.

Our plan was similar to that of our first go around. Try to maximize hiking and minimize driving. We planned to head north through Arizona into southeast Utah, then down through New Mexico and then over to Texas where we’d finish up, stopping at spots both new and old. We also brought along our packraft, planning to do some trips on the San Juan River in Utah and the Rio Grande in Texas to prepare for a larger trip we have in mind for next summer.

A Rough Start
The Superstition Mountains were our first stop, where we figured we could iron out any difficulties with the option of returning to Phoenix if need be. There weren’t many sites that lent themselve to camping, leading us to settle in a large gravel area a little ways off the highway. There was broken glass on the ground and uncertainty around the environment made Din very hesitant and unsure of herself. During our first night, I discovered my sleeping pad had a small hole, which continually deflated throughout the night. Adding to the fun, both of the kids woke up screaming and/or crying multiple times over the course of the first 2 nights. The days offered no respite either, the strong southwest sun beat down on our maladapted northern skin. Combined with our fatigue, these hardships made for low morale.

That’s not to say it was all bad at first. For our first excursion, we followed a creek uphill after visitng a cave and found a small pool and sandy shore that made for an oasis with a great view of the mountains. Driving out the next day we came down a hill to find a dozen desert bighorn sheep just standing in the road.

At our next stop outside Sedona, both Alana and I mentioned to the other that we weren’t particularly having much fun. maybe doing this with 2 kids was beyond our capabilities Yet, neither of us wanted to return home and it was hard to see how we wouldn’t have the same or different problems elsewhere. Over the next couple days, we went on longer hikes, going for 8-10 miles through some canyons nearby. Along with the end of the nighttime hijinks, this served as somewhat of an antidote and we began to feel better about the trip.

Those two spots early on would prove to be our worst experience of the trip by far. Our general MO was spending 4-7 days at each site, hiking just about everyday besides some travel days. When possible, we took advantage of any swimming opportunities*. We tried to minimize driving time as much as possible, aiming for 2.5-4 hrs per travel day on state highways.

*Notably Fish Creek in Superstition Mountains and Colorado River in AZ; Gila Hot Springs and Black River in NM; Balmorhea Springs, Rio Frio and Rio Grande in TX

Hiking with the kids
Alana would carry baby Rory in an ergo carrier and I’d carry Enedina in a backpack. It was a lot different than our first go around. Din was twice the weight, meaning that my baseweight with just her and the pack alone was just shy of 50 lbs. I’d carry food and water which added to that total, likely topping out near 65 lbs on our longest hike.

In the end, the kids didn’t end up limiting us too much. We were still able to do much of what we wanted along the way, including some of the most strenuous and challenging trails in these areas like Guadalupe Peak (High point in TX, ~9.5 mi round trip with 3000’ gain), Spencer Trail at Lee’s Ferry (2000’ gain in 1.7 miles), and the South Rim trail in Big Bend (12.5 mi total with ~2k ft gain). Mentally we were often tested by Enedina, who was more than happy to let her demands be known. At times this proved to be very taxing, but it usually did not last too long. In that regard, one of the downsides of the trip is that Din wants to be carried everywhere now and is walking for shorter distances than when we started. I expect that will revert soon, but its unlikely to happen without a few tears along the way.

Either way, our good fortune and ease of hiking seems likely to end soon once Din grows beyond carrying size. I have heard of young kids walking long distances (up to 15 mi in a day!) but having your own actually do it is another story. I certainly aim to try.

Saved by Karaoke
We quickly found our groove in the Marble Canyon area, camping where we did on our last trip and spending time with a friend of mine from the Arctic who was traveling around herself. Continuing onto Cedar Mesa in SE Utah, we were quickly jolted from any complacency that may have set in as temperatures dropped to 23 F our first night in the area. Unprepared for such cold temps, we went to the nearby town of Blanding to check their thrift store for blankets. Soon after entering, the owner informed us that we were there on karaoke day, meaning that singing one song would give us 50% off! Karaoke happens to be one of Alana’s favorite past times so she was more than happy to sing, belting out “ A Bullet with Butterfly Wings” as a half dozen other people milled about the store. Her performance allowed us to walk away with 3 blankets and some infant clothes for just $11. Blankets plus morning and evening fires staved off any lingering chill for the rest of the week on the mesa.

Along with the cold, we discovered that our floating plan likely wasn’t going to work. A few days before we were set to begin our San Juan float, we thought we’d see how Rory fit in his Type I infant life vest. The vest dwarfed him. He wasn’t happy in it for a minute and there’s no way he’d be comfortable in it for days at a time. Both the San Juan and Rio Grande aren’t over technically rivers, but in the very unlikely event that we flipped and all went overboard, we’d be toying with catastrophe. With that in mind, we shelved any notions of floating and ended up just ferrying around our unused packraft, PFDs and paddles for the duration of the trip.

New Mexico
With the weather and newfound time from not going on the river, we decided to change up our plans. We had planned on hanging around northern New Mexico, spending time around Taos and then the Jemez mountains. The colder than expected weather changed that. Instead we decided to make our way south to the Gila National Forest, meeting up with one of my best friends for a few days who was traveling through the area on a bike trip.

Besides the above, we also stayed at and/or went to El Malpais National Monument, the wildlife corridor along the Rio Grande, Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, White Sands Missile Range (very cool museum!), White Sands National Park, and Carlsbad Caverns (which Alana calls one of the top 5 coolest things she’s ever seen). We’ve had nothing but good experiences during our time in New Mexico. So much so that for a couple weeks Alana was conspiring to move there and get her sisters to do the same.

The Lone Star state
From the moment we entered Texas, there was a stark difference with everywhere else. Away with the open range and in with the fences. Parts of Texas are often lumped in with the western states but it’s really just its own thing and this trip cemented that for us. Texas does not have an abundance of public land unlike any other state to its west. 4-5% of the state is composed of public lands with the bulk of that located in the western portion of the state. Even still, there is so much private land. We passed multiple decently sized mountain ranges that were entirely private. I don’t know of anywhere else in the US where something like that is the case. Combined with the economic zone that is the Texas triangle, you have a very unique state.

The state is not as friendly camping wise as a result of the above, and we were not able to find a single free campsite or dispersed camping area in our ~3 weeks traveling around the state. Nonetheless, we greatly enjoyed our time in west Texas. During the trip, I read Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and both Alana and I read his Border Trilogy. Combined with other books I read about the area previously, it was somewhat surreal to travel and hike through these areas. None more so than the times in Big Bend walking along the Mexican border. Place based reading is underrated.

Don’t Mess with Texas
Traveling in Texas proved to be very stressful for other reasons. Our temporary Arizona plate proved to be no issue for 2500 miles through 3 states to that time. But that wouldn’t last. On our first day driving in Texas outside of parks, we were pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy and his trainee who came up to the window to tell us our registration was expired (It was obviously not). They then put our VIN number into their system wrong and came up with a different vehicle and suggested we had bought a stolen vehicle. Discovering that I went to an express DMV only cemented that notion. Apparently they don’t have any in Texas and the deputy had never heard of them and thought it to be some type of scam. They brought up a couple of other BS items as they seemed to be fishing for something and trying to justify their stop before discovering that we were in fact legit and operating legally.

We felt harassed and after that became wary of law enforcement, which unfortunately despite the lower population density, is abundant in west Texas. We spent a couple days at a state park then a week at Big Bend without issues. Leaving Big Bend (our third day traveling outside of a park) a state trooper was driving in front of us on the highway, moving over to the shoulder to let us pass. After passing, he proceeded to ride up and tailgate us at 75 mph (the speed limit) for the next 5 minutes. He backed off before the ensuing border checkpoint and we passed through without incident. No more than 2 miles after passing the checkpoint, a county sheriff’s deputy drove past us traveling the other direction, promptly making a U-turn with our passing and speeding up to tail us. Thankfully we were approaching a gas station and after pulling over there he eventually backed off. We traveled a few hundred miles along the border that day, seeing some type of law enforcement every 3rd or 4th vehicle. Despite doing nothing wrong, we felt like we were on the run and had a tense 250+ miles of driving until we were able to move sufficiently north of the border region.

We made our way further north and east until eventually reaching family elsewhere in the state, thus concluding our trip. Despite the above, we very much enjoyed our time in Texas. Yet because of the issues with police and lack of public land, I don’t think I’d ever live in the state full time. I remain fascinated by the landscape, history, and culture.

The trip ended up being a massive success. We enjoyed the extensive time outside as a family in beautiful places and it served as a great introduction to life outdoors for Rory. It also forced us to be present and get outside the routine of our life at home, which contributed to strengthening Alana and my marriage. Alana has already been busy scheming up future trips. If there is a next one, it’ll likely be via other means.

The car ended up being the perfect vehicle for our trip. It did need some light repairs, some of which I tried to fix en route. Those simple problems necessitated complex repairs due to our remote and tool lacking circumstances. The most noteworthy repair involved an hour of sawing a stubborn nut with a 6 inch hacksaw. All ended well though and after a couple weeks in Chicago, I listed the car for sale. It sold for $500 less than what we bought it for, resulting in ~$1400* of vehicle costs for 2 months of travel. Not bad!

*Paid price plus new tires & miscellaneous repairs

Our Route
Phoenix->Superstition Mountains->Sedona->Marble Canyon->Cedar Mesa/Bears Ears->San Juan River->El Malpais National Monument->San Antonio, NM->Gila NF-> Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument->Guadalupe Mountains->Davis Mountains->Big Bend->Texas Hill Country->Dallas

~3500 mi traveled. Less than 10% on the interstate!