We were so taken with the Georgia O"Keefe collection in Santa Fe, especially her landscapes, that we decided we needed to see the area for ourselves. We also have fallen in love with it. We pulled into a camp spot on the Abiquiu Reservoir, picked out a site and and paid our $5.00 early in the day as it was a weekend and campgrounds were scarce on the map. We intended to visit Georgia O'Keefe's house in Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch were she spent many summers. The scenery
here is breathtakin
g
. Before we did the O'Keefe places we decided to explore a Forest Service Road that the Taos couple had told us about up the Rio Chama River into Ghost Canyon just past Ghost Ranch were she had her house. It was 13 miles long, a one lane, red dirt track up the canyon of the river and one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen. The canyo
n walls are painted in rusts and oranges and mauve and purples with green stripes. The canyon floor is wildflowers and meadow and cottonwood and aspen. Trees alternate on the ridges with the colored walls and other than a ranch going off up a split in the canyon the place is deserted. The contrast in colors and the light is incredible. We went nearly to the end and found a small free campground on the river and could not turn it down. We set up our camp and sat in awe at our surroundings. Steve tried a little fishing, but the river is still high and not yet clear. We c
amped under a big cottonwood with a scarlet tanager nest. The coyotes were audible but distant during the night and the moon shone half full. Such a magical place. No wind, it was warm, and we slept with all the screens open and got back into our shorts at dawn. This morning we went up the last mile where there is a monastery that has been there for over 40 years. It was still early so we did not snoop around but it is enough to make you want to join just so you could live there. We took a pile of photos and we are disappointed in all of them. They just cannot capture the color and the
scale and the sheer grandeur of the place. We have been really taken with Northern New Mexico and find it hard to leave here. We came back out today and it took an hour to travel the 12 miles. We got more ice for our cooler and some more bread and we gave the campground hosts in Abiquiu some song and dance about why we were not here last night before they locked the gates and got another night, but the wind is blowing and I am missing our camp at Rio Chama already. We plan to head to Chaco Canyon tomorrow ... but we may just go back up that canyon and let the 'ghosts' capture us again for a little while
longer.
We were so taken with the Georgia O"Keefe collection in Santa Fe, especially her landscapes, that we decided we needed to see the area for ourselves. We also have fallen in love with it. We pulled into a camp spot on the Abiquiu Reservoir, picked out a site and and paid our $5.00 early in the day as it was a weekend and campgrounds were scarce on the map. We intended to visit Georgia O'Keefe's house in Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch were she spent many summers. The scenery 
here is breathtakin
g
. Before we did the O'Keefe places we decided to explore a Forest Service Road that the Taos couple had told us about up the Rio Chama River into Ghost Canyon just past Ghost Ranch were she had her house. It was 13 miles long, a one lane, red dirt track up the canyon of the river and one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen. The canyo
n walls are painted in rusts and oranges and mauve and purples with green stripes. The canyon floor is wildflowers and meadow and cottonwood and aspen. Trees alternate on the ridges with the colored walls and other than a ranch going off up a split in the canyon the place is deserted. The contrast in colors and the light is incredible. We went nearly to the end and found a small free campground on the river and could not turn it down. We set up our camp and sat in awe at our surroundings. Steve tried a little fishing, but the river is still high and not yet clear. We c
amped under a big cottonwood with a scarlet tanager nest. The coyotes were audible but distant during the night and the moon shone half full. Such a magical place. No wind, it was warm, and we slept with all the screens open and got back into our shorts at dawn. This morning we went up the last mile where there is a monastery that has been there for over 40 years. It was still early so we did not snoop around but it is enough to make you want to join just so you could live there. We took a pile of photos and we are disappointed in all of them. They just cannot capture the color and the 
scale and the sheer grandeur of the place. We have been really taken with Northern New Mexico and find it hard to leave here. We came back out today and it took an hour to travel the 12 miles. We got more ice for our cooler and some more bread and we gave the campground hosts in Abiquiu some song and dance about why we were not here last night before they locked the gates and got another night, but the wind is blowing and I am missing our camp at Rio Chama already. We plan to head to Chaco Canyon tomorrow ... but we may just go back up that canyon and let the 'ghosts' capture us again for a little while 
longer.
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