I-40 Holbrook to Albuquerque et al...

[Desert_Captain]

Just returned from a quick {4 day 3 night} trip to visit friends in Angel Fire New Mexico. There has been a lot of discussion/speculation regarding Arizona highways lately so here is what I found:

We went north out of Payson and the 260 is a mess all the way to Heber. Lots of potholes and ravaged asphalt. Just west of Heber expect a 10 - 15 delay as it is down to one lane and will be for a while. North to Holbrook from Heber was all decent and when we got on eastbound I-40 life was good once again.

I-40 has some of the heaviest commercial truck traffic in the country but the interstate is by in large as smooth as a babies backside. Lots of fresh paving and great maintenance even through Gallup which has always been problematic. It does drop down to one lane west of Grants for several miles but other than that it is a smooth cruise all the way to Albuquerque.

North on I-25 out of Albuquerques is also in excellent condition. We took the Santa Fe relief route {599} and skirted northeast to Taos and up and over the pass {64} on into Angel Fire {check the Durango to Angel Fire thread for the latest including some pics}. The trip was just a little over 1,000 miles total and since we were in my Honda Ridgeline made great time running with the trucks at 80 {+/-} on the interstates.

Gas was all over the map for price but in Espanola we filled up for $3.18 and averaged 24 -26 mpg throughout the trip which involves a lot of climbing. Most of the run is well above 6,000' with numerous 6 - 8 and even 9,000' passes to negotiate. Looks like they are getting serious about recovering our highways from the ravages of what was a serious winter.

:C

[Cptnvideo]

I've been thru there in a 43' DP towing a Chevy Colorado from Raton to Taos.
The longest grade from Payson via 260, 60, 54 to Santa Rosa is the climb up to the rim on 260. I haven't driven from Santa Rosa to Eagle's Nest so I don't know about grades there. But I hope to drive it some day. It would be pulling our 42' 5th wheel.

[Desert_Captain]

Cptnvideo wrote:
Desert Captain, have you ever taken US60 (and a little US54) to Santa Rosa then north to Angel Fire? A lot of 2 lane, but that is what we prefer when we tow our 5th wheel.

Never took that route, always go I-25 to the Santa Fe relief loop and up and over the pass from Taos to AF. That's all nice country and I have logged a lot of miles up there on my motorcycles over the years. Our friends have a big house so some times we just drive the truck and stay in their guest room but he put in an RV pad {complete with 30 amps} so leaving the Class C and bike trailer is always an option if we want to go exploring. Over the last 7 years we have been to AF 22 times.

He has 2.5 acres at 9,000', here is a shot of the rig sitting in our favorite RV site:



Here is a shot of the house:



:B

[Cptnvideo]

Desert Captain, have you ever taken US60 (and a little US54) to Santa Rosa then north to Angel Fire? A lot of 2 lane, but that is what we prefer when we tow our 5th wheel.