Cold Weather Camping, Villanueva State Park, Villanueva, New Mexico

January 28-30, 2022

Cold weather camping was something I’d wanted to do since I started getting outdoors. The last weekend of January was my first opportunity.

Planning

After what seemed like eons of planning, Alan and I finally cemented plans to take a camping trip that would include cold weather and snow. We landed on heading north to the banks of the Pecos River at Villanueva State Park.

I spent the week leading up to the trip making sure all my electronics were charged, batteries were good and my stuff was packed. On the evening of January 27, I packed my car up and headed to work loaded down on the 28th.

Brandy decided she was going to head up to Walsenburg, Colorado, to visit her friend Christy while I was away. She left during the day while I was at work so when I stopped and got Ash after work, it was a quick pick-up and go. We made our way east on I-40 to exit 230 then headed north. As we made our way up state highway 3, I really had to pee. Highway 3 has no turnouts, rest stops or even a shoulder, really, to pull over to pee, so I wound up pulling over onto a grassy area that sloped pretty aggressively to the right. I hopped out, peed in the grass and got back in. I didn’t want to crank back left to get onto the road because of the heavy bank to the right, but I saw a spot up ahead that seemed to level out as it transitioned back to the road. I put the car in drive and headed forward.

I bumped and jostled over the grass and suddenly, BAM! There was a sudden lurch forward as the car came to a quick dead stop. Ash wound up in the front seat with me and I banged my knee pretty hard on the underside of the dashboard.

I found a culvert.

It was overgrown with grass so there was no perceptible change in the terrain which is why I didn’t see it. I tried backing out of it, no luck. I tried pulling forward through it, no dice there either. I got out and saw I was pretty solidly on a patch of mud, combined with the fact that I was high-centered on the lip of the ditch.

I looked at my phone and, obviously, had no service to call for help. Alan was already at the campsite so even if I had service, he likely didn’t. I was still a good thirty miles from my destination and there was nothing back at the offramp from the freeway. I was screwed.

I racked my brain for a way to gain traction to get out of the mud. I didn’t have any wood planks or kitty litter.

But, I did have a cooler with a removable lid. I took it off and wedged it under the front left tire, which was the one that was spinning when trying to escape.

I got back in, had to rock it a little, but eventually wound up pulling out of the ditch. I made it back onto the road and continued on to the campground without further issue.

Villanueva State Park

As I pulled in to Villanueva State Park, the sun was starting to go down. I made my way through the grounds to the sites that Alan had previously reserved for us.

The campground is essentially in a slot canyon, with the Pecos River running to the east with tall sandstone bluffs across the water. To the west are more towering cliffs, nestling the park in it’s shadows. There was plenty of snow on the ground left from a recent snow shower in the preceding days.

Alan was already set up and dinner was going by the time I arrived. He had been slow cooking a stew concoction since he arrived earlier in the afternoon.

I pulled into his site, poured a drink, took my chair out of the back of the car and sat to let the adrenaline from the accident wear off. It was 20 degrees out, but I was sweating, even without my hoodie on.

I chatted with Alan for a bit about the incident and when my breathing slowed, I drove to my spot and set up my spot. I found a dry spot under a tree that wasn’t covered in snow and set up my tent and inflated my air mattress, then headed back over to Alan’s spot for dinner.

All of the liquid had cooked out of the stew by the time we were ready to eat. I recommended adding some water and letting it simmer in the pot for a bit, which he did. As we waited, I took an assessment of the damage done to my car. I tore off the valance under the front bumper as well as both the front wheel well liners. I later came to find out that my windshield washer fluid reservoir is now busted; I poured a gallon in not too long ago and it was on the ground before I even got back into the car.

Anyway, once the stew had a bit to simmer, we served ourselves up and sat to eat. The flavor on this stew was amazing. Seasoned perfectly and the slow cooked aspect of it really took it out of the park.

We continued on having some drinks as the night darkened. We were visited by a very large bird that Alan identified as a heron. It flew with a massive wingspan while calling its screech (if you’ve never heard a blue heron call, check out this YouTube video:)

It was very reminiscent of Jurassic Park.

It was very cold out. Ash was not comfortable. I decided I’d let him into the car with the engine running and the heater on. I left the door open so he could come and go as he pleased and there he stayed for the remainder of the evening, toasty and comfy.

As we made ready for bed, Ash and I headed over to our site and packed in. My air mattress had been leaking so it was sagging pretty good by the time we laid down. Ash kept rolling on top of me and we couldn’t get comfortable. We fought and tossed and turned for what seemed like an eternity before I finally called it quits. I grabbed my CPAP and Jackery and we headed to the car to finish out the night in there. It wound up being a creature comfort. Sure, laying in the driver’s seat of my car all night wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was far more comfortable than laying in a sagging air mattress with Ash rolling on top of me. Plus, I had the added benefit of being able to run the heater if I got too cold.

Saturday’s Hikes

The next morning, we woke up and made our requisite camp breakfast burritos and coffee. We got nice and warmed up and full of food to give us the energy boost we would need to hike the El Cerro Trail. We strapped on our gear and walked through the park to the trailhead at the parking lot at the end of the drive. On the way there, Ash decided to head down to the banks of the river. Being a water dog, he wanted to go it, but it was cold and iced over. It wasn’t thick ice though, but he decided to try it anyway, despite my protests. Sure enough, he fell through the thin ice into the frigid water. He swam around for a bit as I called for him to get out of the water. Finally, after he’d gotten his fill, I guess, he decided to climb the banks and rejoin us on the walk to the trailhead.

As there was no one really at the park and definitely no one on this trail, I decided to let Ash go on the hike off leash.

AllTrails lists this trail as a moderate 1.2 mile out and back hike with a 291 foot elevation gain.

And we started our ascent.

It was a bit of a struggle for me. I hadn’t been on too strenuous of a hike since our jaunt on the Fourth of July Trail in October. The hike took us up the bluffs on the west side of the canyon. With that side seeing plenty of sun during the day, most of the snow had melted off, save for some patches that stayed perpetually in the shadows. There were some icy spots throughout but nothing that caused any major problems.

Just before the half-mile mark, the trail makes a large horseshoe turn atop the edge of a steep cliff that I would guesstimate at 60 or 80 feet almost straight down.

At this point, I thought it’d be a good time to get Ash back on the leash. We hooked him up and continued on, losing the trail as we started over the cliff’s edge.

We wandered for a bit, checking with AllTrails to try to find our way back to the path, before Alan finally got us back on track.

The end point of the trail was only a tenth of a mile beyond that point. We shrugged off our packs, took a water break and munched on some trail mix, taking the the views of the canyon some 300 feet below us.

After our brief break, we shouldered our gear once more and made our way back down the hill.

All told, with our wrong turn wandering and stops for me to catch my breath, we took about an hour and a half to complete the trek. We made it back to camp and had lunch. Soon after, Alan decided he was going to take a nap. Having no desire to do so myself, I leashed Ash up and we headed south down the drive to the Viewpoint Loop trailhead.

Getting to that trail included a walk across a cool bridge that spans the Pecos River.

The snow that had melted had re-frozen making the walk across a bit on the treacherous side but we made it across without issue.

Once across the bridge, we turned left and headed north on the trail. I wasn’t intending on hiking this trail, I just wanted to see what was on the other side of the river. We made it up to the point where we were directly across the river from our camp, and the trail became a little more technical. I decided to call it good and we turned back and made our way back to camp.

Shortly after our return, Alan woke up. We started our dinner of leftover stew and poured ourselves some drinks. As the day went on, we periodically heard stones tumbling down the cliff face across the river from us. It made me wonder what as over there causing such a ruckus. Later on, we were revisited by the heron that had flown by the day before. He screeched as he flew overhead then settled and perched on the bluffs across from us. It sat there quietly for some time. It didn’t really call or anything, it just sat there, assessing.

We saw some people walking by to do some angling. They were walking on the banks but were still wearing waders, occasionally dropping into the water to put their lines in. I thought those people were crazy; even in waders, that water had to be cold.

But the craziest person I’ve ever seen in my life showed shortly after. A guy, wading down the center of the river, wearing what appeared to me to be jeans and tennis shoes. Alan and I checked with each other to make sure we’d seen that right. We both confirmed, that’s what it looked like he was wearing.

Hey, brother, more power to ya.

The night went on. Alan and I sat next to the campfire while Ash stayed warm in the heated car. We had some very deep, philosophical conversations about religion and politics. That’s why I love Alan so much, we can have these kinds of conversations without anger or argument, despite our differences in beliefs.

After the last of our booze was gone and the fire was dying out, I drove Ash and myself back to our campsite and settled in for another night in the car.

Sunday’s Departure

I woke up Sunday morning and headed back over to Alan’s site and started some coffee. He got up shortly after and we made some breakfast before breaking camp and making the sites better than we’d found them.

Packing and leaving was uneventful. I made it home without incident (no more pee breaks on the side of the road for me, thank you very much!) I took in the bare essentials (my blankets and pillows and my CPAP) and waited for Brandy to get home. She showed up shortly after I got there and we called it a weekend.

Final Thoughts

So, what did I think about cold-weather camping? Well, I had some issues with this particular trip that made it not quite as enjoyable as I felt it could have been. The accident on the way there and the leaking air mattress being the main issues.

It was cold, yes. I do wholeheartedly believe that if my air mattress had stood up to the task, I would have been fine sleeping in the tent. I believe I could have slept comfortably, as I did during my solo trip to the Jemez in September.

As it was though, it was not a bad time. I got time with Alan, I got to take a hike and half, I got to see a new part of New Mexico and I got to check cold-weather camping off of my to-do list (which never really was on my official To-Do List, but was on my “internal” to-do list.)

Will I do it again, if given the opportunity?

Absolutely.

Of course, I have all of the pictures I took on this trip up in my Photo Diary, head over there and take a gander if you desire.

The Immediate Future

At this point, I am officially caught up on my posts. All of my outings have been reported on and pictures are up in my Photo Diary, and all of that not a moment too soon. Our next four or five weekends are jam packed with outings and activities that will warrant posts of their own. We will be breaking the Iowa state line THREE times in the five weeks with a potential trip to a National Park shortly after that.

Stay tuned for more as it comes, and as always, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate you.

-Phil