Cochiti Lake and The Rio Grande

Location: Cochiti Recreation Area (el. 5,500 ft); Cochiti Lake, New Mexico

all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia Icon 929 Cell Phone
click pictures to enlarge

I pulled out of Storrie Lake State Park about 11:00 a.m. with only a 100 mile tow ahead of me. I couldn't dump my waste tanks because the dump station was closed. I asked the camp host how long it had been closed and he said for a couple years. That tidbit just added to my list of reasons not to return to this state park. In all my travels, there are only a couple of campgrounds that I wouldn't return to, given the chance. Storrie could be a nice campground, but it is in desperate need of maintenance and management. Oh well, one or two bad campgrounds out of 150 or so isn't too bad.

Last look at Storrie Lake before hitting the road.
The lake sure was pretty.

Interstate highway 25 heading south parallels the hills/mountains/mesa's/plateaus on the left.

This is after exiting the interstate onto this two lane road. The campground is about 10 in the distance, closer to those mountains. The sky around here is usually a bright blue with puffy clouds. Very nice.

In contrast to how poorly the last campground was maintained, this current campground is great and one of the top 10 best maintained I've seen. It is a Corps of Engineers campground which are usually very well maintained. It sits on the hillside of the Cochiti Lake which was created by the Cochiti Dam. The dam is on the Rio Grande River and was completed in 1973. Its primary purposes are to provide flood protection for Albuquerque and to ensure a steady flow of water for the Rio Grande. The Rio Grande begins in the mountains of Colorado and then flow right down the middle of New Mexico before forming the border between Texas and Mexico.

I had to empty my tanks before setting up camp. You can't ask for a better view when doing this chore.

My campsite. Yep, those are paved streets with painted stripping. Streetlights too. 

It is a very large dam and pretty lake but a bit isolated. The small town of Cochiti Lake has a gas station with a convenience store and laudromat attached. If you need anything more, the nearest place is Santa Fe about 30 miles away.

This is taken from the overlook above the campground. Part of the dam is on the right.

This is looking down on the campground. Liberty is on the left side of the picture.

Storm clouds with rain and lightening forming in the distance.

Storms getting closer. 

The only restaurant is at the golf course located only about 2 miles from the campground. I tried the restaurant out after setting up camp on Sunday afternoon. The burger and fries were great. The golf course looked very green in comparison to the drab colors of the surrounding area. After eating I talked to the guy in the pro shop about a good time for me to play around of golf by myself. He said they are usually very busy and that I should try sometime after 2:00 pm. If I play, it will be on the fanciest golf course I've ever played. We will see.

Part of the golf course as seen from the pro shop.

I will be here until Friday when I will start making my way slowly back to Louisiana. I'm enjoying these cool nights and not too hot days. The temperature in Liberty at night has been getting down in the low 60's which to me is perfect sleeping weather. I've found myself sleeping soundly throughout the night which doesn't usually happen for me when it is warmer. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.