Trip Report August 2, 2009

The road trip through the Zuni Mountains took 9 ½ hours. We started out with 33 people in 10 vehicles, and finished with 9 people in 2 vehicles. We visited the indenter exposures in a pine forest along a gentle rocky ridge, and walked down into and along a grassy valley to examine the various rocks exposed in the streambed. Our drive wound its way trough the deeper, denser forests of the mid Zuni mountains, decorated with wildflowers and a wayward bull, snorting and pawing the ground. The driving hazards included deep muddy water holes that had formed in the road, and large boulders in the road on the side trip to the indenter. We were able to make another side trip to the mile long exposure of red sandstone slick rock that some dubbed “Ayers Rock of the Zunis”. The length of the drive and time required, caused some participants to leave before the trip’s end, but it was difficult to plan how long the trip would be. Now that we have seen what an extensive ride and study of all the Zuni Mountains entails, we can better plan for another trip soon. Other factors that need mentioning are:

1. Adequate drinking water supply
2. Length of stay at each stop
3. Number of stops, were they all necessary?
4. Vehicle requirements, high clearance, 4x4 drive
5. Possibility of shorter trip or split the trip into two days
6. Don’t try the trip during wet or rainy conditions

Another trip is planned in the coming weeks or months for those that couldn’t make it the first time, maybe September, if the rains don’t prevent it.

Please leave your comments and suggestions for future trips if you would like. My email is: rschafer51@yahoo .com, and I would be happy to post any comments for all to read.