Day 3:

• On this day, we rode a Metric Century (68 Miles/109kms)
• We went from nearly freezing in the morning to the low 90sF/30sC in the evening.
• We descended in elevation by 4000 feet/ 1220m (10,000'/3050m to 6000'/1830m).
• We stopped and toured around Chama, NM, at the Western Terminus of the
  Cumbres-Toltec Scenic Railroad and the Foster Hotel and Restaurant.
• We stopped and toured at the Tierra Wools Store near Los Ojos, NM.
• We stopped at a well-known Mustang Gas Station/Grocery Store in Cebolla, NM [Spanish for Onion].
• The good news is that we rode through a couple sprinkles and it rained at night, cooling the earth.
• We spent the night at the Echo Amphitheater and Campground (a wonderful experience).

Day 3 - Colorado to New Mexico: Cumbres Pass (10022'/3055m), Colorado-New Mexico State Line,
Cumbres-Toltec Scenic Railroad, Chama, Los Ojos, Tierra Wools, Cebolla,
Tierra Amarilla, Echo Amphitheater and Campground

Above: Terry Struck and the Bee at Cumbres Pass (10022'/3055m).

Above Left: Off we went ...

Above Right: ... Deer, just around the corner!

Above: Coasting downhill on CO-17 (too cool to pedal).

Above Left: Fantastic Rock Art.

Above Right: Deer.

Above Left: The Cumbres and Toltec rail comes close to the highway.

Above Right: Will it rain or not? It did rain last evening and last night.

Above: Starting a long descent on CO-17.

Above Left: East side view.

Above Right: A Tandem Selfie (it's difficult to smile and think about the camera at the same time).

Welcome to New Mexico

Above: A really good attempt at a self-timer picture, too bad the bike cargo blocks Mexico.

Above Left: Terry Struck and the Bee at the Colorado-New Mexico State Line, Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, 18 July 2016.

Above Right: Our view to the east on NM-17.

Above Left: Welcome to New Mexico.

Above Right: The Toltec Cometh.

Above Left: Southbound on NM-17.

Above Right: The Toltec crosses here.

Above: The sun is out on NM-17, nice views.

Above Left: Deer.

Above Right: Railroad Bridge.

Above Left: Old RR Watertank Tower.

Above Right: We hear a Train coming.

We Found the The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Train

Above: The Cumbres & Toltec Train is here, it is under the smoke!

Above Left: Cumbres & Toltec Train #480.

Above Right: All engineers and workers on this short train. We finally got a wave.

Above Left: Caboose.

Above Right: We (Terry) put away some middle layers.

Above Left: Southbound on NM-17.

Above Right: Welcome to Chama, NM (the western terminus of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic RR).

Welcome to Chama, NM

Above Left: RR Crossing.

Above Right: Welcome to Chama, NM.

Fosters Hotel and Restaurant, Chama, NM
Directly Across from the Railroad Depot

Above: The Famous Fosters Hotel and Restaurant (directly across the street from the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad entrance and Depot).

Above: Fosters Hotel and Restaurant.

Above Left: Fosters Hotel and Restaurant.).

Above Right: Warm enough for Dennis Struck to Take Off his Lowers.

Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad Depot and Western Terminus

Above Left: Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad Entrance and Depot).

Above Right: One of a few engines (all engines operate).

Above Left: Coal Yard.

Above Right: Coal Burning Notice.

Above Left: Track Layer on the left, Diesel Engine in the center, and a Caboose on the right.

Above Right: Depot and Cargo Car (aka Box Car).

Above Left: Larger view of the Rail Yard & Depot. It is an active place.

Above Right: We were cycling south through Chama.

Above Left: We were cycling south through Chama.

Above Right: Heading south, we passed by Rio Chama, now on US Hwy-84.

Above Left: South on US-84.

Above Right: Passing by Los Brazos (the village of Brazos).

Above Left: The Rio Chama zig-zag parallels US-84 to the west, and where this picture was taken the river heads away southwest to Heron Lake. This will be the last open water that we will see for the day.

Above Right: We were near Los Ojos, NM, and we kept seeing signs for the Tierra Wools Store. So we followed a sign off and away from our route. We did not know how far to go, so we stopped at a church yard full of parishioners and we asked this kind lady [pictured]. She and Terry had quite the interaction and we were brought up to date on the towns 'going-ons' and the lady's health (Terry asked). The Wools Store was 150 yards/meter further down the road.

The Tierra Wools Store, near Los Ojos, NM

Above: The Tierra Wools Store.

Above: Heritage art painted on the Tierra Wools Store.

Above Left: Heritage art painted on The Tierra Wools Store.

Above Right: A view from the entrance of the Tierra Wools Store.

Above Left: Wool yarns in various colors.

Above Right: Before and After Wool Products.

Above: Many Weaving Machines, some for sale, some for rent, and some for teaching.

Above Left: A placard above the stone fireplace.

Above Right: This lady is spinning yarn.

Above Left: The church where we asked for directions (was only this far away).

Above Right: We stopped in the shade on the roadside for a snack.

Above Left: Fort Lowell was located about here in 1866.

Above Right: Points of interest (on the flip side of the Ft Lowell sign).

Above: Southbound on US-84.

Above Left: At 11AM, it is 80F/26C and it will reach 92F/33C by late afternoon.

Above Right: About the Tierra Amarilla (Yellow Earth) Land Grant. We have worked our way far enough south to enter the Old and Historic Spanish Land Grants for what was Old Mexico (a Spanish Possession).

Above: On US-84 heading for Cebolla (Onion).

Above Left: Our view of the land to the west (an in-motion photo).

Above Right: Our view to the southeast.

Above Left: Our view west.

Above Right: Our view ahead (south).

Above Left: Looking southeast at the beginning of a cloud buildup.

Above Right: Heading south on US-84. So far, big shoulders.

Above Left: A Lone Tree struggles to survive.

Above Right: Looking southeast.

Above Left: Looking east.

Above Right: That hill was tough. The natural air temperature before reaching this climb had been in the 90sF (33C+) and this road ahead had a rock surface bank which acted as a sun reflector. It had to be in the 100sF/40sC abeam that rock reflector on top of black road reflecting all of its heat and light on us. We successfully performed the climb but it just took the wind out of sails.

Above Left: Boundary and sign for the San Joaqinn del Rio de Chama [Spanish] Land Grant.

Above Right: Cebolla (Onion) village limit.

Mustang Gas Station, Country Store, and Bar
Cebolla, NM

Above: This is the proprietress of the Cebolla Mustang Gas Station, Country Store, and Bar. We really appreciated her help and her sharing of local Cebolla Heritage. We filled our water bottles there and Terry and I each ate an ice cream bar to help cool our core temperatures from that 100F degree bicycle hill climb (40C).

Above: Check out the wall paper, everywhere!

Above Left: Check out the wall paper.

Above Right: Terry and Dennis Struck pose with Tuaca and Makers Mark at the Cebolla, NM, Country Bar!

Above: Explains the local derivation of the Cuerno Mountains.

Above: Explains how the village of Cebolla, NM, came to be.

Above Left: [Kit] Carson National Forest. As soon as we departed the Cebolla, NM, Mustang Gas Station, Country Store, and Bar there was an overcast and the temperature had gone down to the mid-eighties (Fahrenheit). This was good.

Above Right: Terry held the bike while I (Dennis) visited a tree.

Above Left: We're under Verga, the temperature has dropped, we're in the shade, and occasionally we feel a drop of rain. This feels good to us.

Above Right: The road to Canjilon is to our left/east.

Above Left: A trail leads to the east from US-84.

Above Right: Southbound on US-84, we probably have about 10 more miles to go.

Above Left: Verga to the southeast.

Above Right: Verga to the west.

Above Left: Verga to the southwest.

Above Right: The road is wet, humidity had gone up, but we remained dry.

Above Left: We had a mid afternoon snack under that tall tree on the roadside of US-84.

Above Right: We crossed a hill that leads to out next and last flat-elevation-run.

The Old Spanish National Historic Trail and Canyon

Above Left: This was our last flat-elevation-run ...

Above Right: ... then it was a long downhill run through a canyon for about 7 miles.

Above: We were also on the Old Spanish National Historic Trail and the canyon that leads to Abiquiu Lake.

Above: We will have descended 2-3,000 Feet just in this canyon.

Above: Still descending on US-84.

Above: Interesting geography.

Above Left: An old pole coral.

Above Right: We started to see some color on the rock walls.

Above: Colorful canyon walls.

Above: Colorful canyon wall.

Echo Amphitheater and Campground

Above Left: Echo Amphitheater, our destination for that day is located directly above that motor vehicle on the road. We later learned that the Yellow Top Finger indicates its location. The Curved wall of the Echo Chamber is nearly impossible to see unless one is directly in front of the curved canyon wall.

Above Right: A sign guides the way to Echo Amphitheater.

Above: These pictures of Echo Amphitheater are directly in front of the curved wall.

Above: These pictures of Echo Amphitheater are closer.

Above Left: We're looking for a campsite at the foot of this hill.

Above Right: We found a campsite. We selected a site close to the west wall so that we would be in the shade of the setting sun sooner and we had the advantage of seeing the rain runoff tails of the latest thunder shower from just an hour or two before our arrival, so we avoided the rain tracks too.

Above Left: The ball is our front dynamo.

Above Right: The tent is up and Terry is opening the self-inflating mattress. The temperature is in the high 80s in this campsite and 90s inside the tent.

Above Left: Camp is set and we are walking to visit the Amphitheater.

Above Right: That yellow-top finger ridge lets us know where we are. The campsite is to the right end and the Amphitheater is to the left end.

Above Left: The left side view of our tracking ridge.

Above Right: The back wall of the Echo Amphitheater.

Above Left: Rain lines in the main chamber, the edge of the roof is almost straight up.

Above Right: Fallen debris.

Above Left: More fallen debris from the roof and the back wall of the main chamber.

Above Right: Looking left or north at the exit of the main chamber.

Above Left: A lizard let us get pretty close.

Above Right: The water faucet does not like me.

Above: A covered picnic pavilion is available, it is cool, out of the sun, and no one else is around.

Above Left: Dinner is hydrating.

Above Right: One of the last cactus flowers (Prickly Pear).

Above: When you see her? Like a R.C. Gorman Painting
We are looking at the south canyon wall of Echo Amphitheater
There are a few hidden images here ...

All Above: Images of R.C. Gorman Paintings from his own web site.

Rudolph Carl Gorman was a Native American artist of the Navajo Nation (1931-2005). Referred to as "the Picasso of American Indian art" by the New York Times, his paintings are primarily of Native American women and characterized by fluid forms and vibrant colors ... Wikipedia

Above Left: A beetle scrounges for dinner.

Above Right: Our last picture after cleaning and packing for the night - It rained two times during the night, one of the rains was a heavy rain with lightning, and the other rain was a sprinkle on us but heavy in the mountains.