Motorcycle Camping in a Mysterious Canyon | Riding Solo in New Mexico Episode 3

Driving across the remote landscape of New Mexico, an abandoned ghost town with amazingly preserved history. A challenging motorcycle ride into a notorious canyon with ancient rock art and spooky caves and motorcycle camping in this unique location. This is the Motorcycle Travel Channel. I'm Sterling and today I'm in New Mexico. I've spent the last few days living out of my van and riding my motorcycle in the back country of New Mexico. Today I'm planning to go on another motorcycle adventure into the mountains near the old ghost town of Chloride. I spent the morning going over my motorcycle making sure that it's from Truth or Consequences to Winston. This is some wide open New Mexico scenery back here. What a perfect day to be driving down the road in the van, little bike on the back, heading out for another adventure. I just love this rolling desert landscape. This is so cool. Check out this old church on the side of the road. I wonder how old that is. Look at this old store. This looks like a pretty interesting building. What a beautiful twisting paved mountain road it is leading into town here. I'm going to go ride the next road in this adventure. It's the Chloride Canyon Road. That road is part of the New Mexico BDR. I remember going down it 10 years ago when we filmed that movie and at the time it was completely impassable. It's located in a canyon and it follows a creek bed. You actually cross the creek over a hundred times and so quite often it can be washed out and impassable. That's what happened to me 10 years ago so now I'm returning to Chloride Canyon. I'm going to see if I can make it through there. I just love these scenes of everyday life in little small towns like this. Check this out. There's a guy walking into the store and he notices one of the antlers is loose. He tries to fix it. He's not able to so he goes in and gets a stepladder. He comes back out and he gets it fixed. In the background these guys are loading up their ATV with big red fuel canisters getting ready for their own adventure. So then this white truck pulls up. It looks like it's got a load of feed or something in the back end and then there's a truck towing a trailer full of hay that goes by. This is life in the small town of Winston. I stopped in Winston to fuel up the van and the motorcycle. 25 gallons in the van and a gallon and a half in the bike. So now I'm heading up to the ghost town of Chloride. It's about two and a half miles up this road. Well it looks like we have arrived. Some cool old stone buildings here. Wow. This is the Chloride ghost town. Chloride was founded in the late 1870s when a mule skinner hauling freight for the U.S. Army discovered ore. He built this cabin in 1881 and staked a claim. However he was later killed by Apache. The town had businesses like general stores, butcher shops, hotels, saloons and more. The general store was kept open until 1923 when it shut its doors, locking all of its wares inside. This building was to be a bank but it opened as a saloon instead. So this is my parking spot right here. They do have power hookups right here but I don't need power because the van has solar. And over here there's all kinds of different historic buildings. This is a cabin that's for rent and this is the van parked right here. I've got my own picnic table. I'm gonna get the bike unloaded and make myself at home. Okay I've got some food. I've got cooking supplies, water, extra pair of shoes, toilet paper, bug spray, headlamp and here I've got my tools. This pan here has my tent, sleeping bag, air mattress, camping chair, riding gear, camera, tripod, got a drone, some extra lenses, tank bag. Down here is warm weather gear. Of course I've got the butler motorcycle maps right here, paved and dirt. And up front I've got some rain gear. Pretty much should be all set to go here. The town boomed as a silver mining hub but its prosperity declined after the silver panic of 1893. All mining stopped and citizens left. About 20 residents, many of whom are descendants of the original founders, still occupy the town. So this is the end of town here right where the dirt starts. Private property on both sides of the road so if you come up here don't go off exploring on the side. I think this is going to be a pretty rocky journey especially with all the creek crossings. The Chloride Creek Road starts at west end of town and heads into the black range of the Gila National Forest. It's a rugged unpaved route that winds through the mountains and crosses Chloride Creek numerous times. There's some down trees. They do get some wild water through here. Sign warning us of flash floods and fallen trees. We're heading into the Gila National Forest. Chloride Creek Monument Park cabin is 10 miles ahead. Oh something just fell off. Better stop. What was it? Sure felt like something fell off but I don't see anything missing. Top box is closed. I thought it was the water. That's secure and I've got my little bag attached right here so gosh everything looks good. I'll find out soon enough if I'm missing something. This road is part of the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route and it's known for its challenging conditions including mud holes and potential for winter closures. The challenges I face are little compared to those who came before me. Imagine the difficulty of constructing a road like this in a canyon so rugged and remote or think about those who traveled through here when there wasn't even a road at all. Well we're going pretty slow about 10 miles an hour. That's what this little bike is all about. This little mule. That's what I've come to the conclusion. This is not a horse. It's a mule. I'm not a cowboy. I'm a prospector. I'm out here looking for gold, images, and stories. Maybe I should call this little Honda Trail 125 old number 7. You guys remember old number 7? That was Jack's mule from Grizzly Adams. Maybe this will be old number 8. I remember this exact stretch of the road 10 years ago. I remember Chelle Marie got off route somewhere back in here and she was riding her motorcycle down in the creek bed. Funny how much I remember all of these scenes because I filmed this area. I have a very visual memory. A lot of times the things I remember from a trip are exactly the things that I filmed. Somehow the act of recording things cements the image in my memory. Well the big news so far is that there is not any water in the creek so we won't be contending with 100 creek crossings. Now I could have came back here in the van and posted up for free but these kind of roads are really slow going. Not to mention I like the safety and security of having my vehicle inside of a paid campground. It just seems a lot less likely to get messed with. There's some cows on the side of the road. Looks like a livestock pen over here with a windmill. So the topography of this journey is up and down. It's a 28 mile dirt road and the first 14 miles go up and then the next 14 miles go down. It gets up to over 8,000 feet. Right now we're at 6,400 feet. Well I'm here at the entrance to Chloride Canyon and this road up ahead is going to be pretty spectacular. I've done it before 10 years ago when we were filming the New Mexico backcountry discovery route. We could only make it so far before the road was completely washed out and there were boulders across the road. It was impossible to ride our motorcycles any further. But right now I'm going to see how far I can get on this road. With a little luck I'll be able to push on through the canyon and then make my way all the way up to the continental divide at over 8,000 feet. My biggest issue is power. If the hills get too steep I just don't have a lot of hill climbing power. This is the kind of road that I really like taking this little bike on because it's really fun to be honest as long as I'm not in a rush to get somewhere. I can take my time find the right line and just kind of ride this bike the way it wants to be ridden which is kind of poking around and exploring and that's what I'm doing right now in Chloride Canyon. Wow check this cave out. Numerous caves line the rock walls at the edge of the road. These were places where ancient people lived or slept. So the sign over here says there's some kind of petroglyphs here. Pictographs. Rock art basically. Chloride Creek Pictographs. They're part of the Mogollon culture that inhabited this area from 200 to 1400 AD. Boy this would be the perfect place to take shelter. Look at all of that carbon deposited on the roof. Look at all of them painted onto the rock right here. You can see stick figures, little hash marks, some kind of something that looks like water. Cool. There's some more over here too. There is some really cool rock art on this wall right behind me and some more over here next to this cave. I don't know the origins of this rock art but it's here pointing me towards thoughts of the people who came here long ago. Thousands of people have passed by here but you can still see the remains of this rock art. It hasn't been defaced which is a good thing. I feel like this is the kind of road this bike was made for. Rugged and challenging and you can just take your time and meander through, not going fast but really appreciating the scenery, appreciating the views. I have an open face helmet on so I can really get the full experience of the world around me. Not too concerned about crashing because I'm only going about 10 or 15 miles an hour. Just taking my time. Perfect scenario for a little Honda 125. Well this has just got to be about as much fun as you can have on a tiny motorcycle. This little Honda is just eating up this road. It's just the perfect way to have a relaxed safe motorcycle ride out here in the backcountry all by myself. That is why I love this bike so much. This is not a place that you want to race through. This is a place you want to take your time, enjoy the scenery, and a little bike like this makes it so comfortable, so easy, and so safe. It's just so easy to navigate this terrain and if I stop and see something and I want to turn around it's so easy to just quickly do a 180 in the trail. Very little effort, a lot of enjoyment. Absolutely loving this. Oh man this is just a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. So we're up in the forest now. There's some big towering pine trees around. This road is not nearly as difficult as I would have imagined. You know rumors that you hear about a road like this they kind of develop a sense of infamy. Floride Canyon is kind of notorious for that and I've had some personal experience down here in the past but so far so good. You know you might think that a little bike like this doesn't have a lot of power and you'd be right. That might seem like a negative thing but I always turn it into a positive thing because I imagine myself hiking down this road with my backpack and I can imagine if I were in that situation I would think how nice it would be to have a little bike like this to be able to carry all of my supplies and I could just motor down the trail. And so that's a perspective I like to bear in mind is that despite its lack of horsepower and other attributes the fact that it can do what it does, do it with such grace, is a huge benefit. Let's see we've went about eight and a half miles so far. Eight and a half miles of pure adventure and delight. It's like going through an obstacle course. You don't just plow over things. You got to choose your line really carefully and always on your toes. Okay it's getting rockier here. I will say this road has been pretty consistently like this. Lots of rocks, embedded rocks, loose rocks, but I think it's well traveled enough that they're kind of packed down. There don't seem to be any giant surprises. Then you get these flat spots like this so it's kind of a back and forth. Whoa hit a rock there. These sections here make it feel like you're on pavement compared to the rough and rugged rocks that we're going through. Oh this is a steep hill here. Come on baby. Oh I might have to get off and push. Holy cow. As I traveled further the road became more rugged and steep as it climbed the mountains towards the continental divide. Tell you what this is hard work at 8,000 feet. Puffing and puffing and pushing and It's not very often that I meet a hill that the little Honda can't make it up, but this is one of them. Wow. Altitude really affects your ability to do physical work or exertion. We're up at 8,000 feet and pushing this little motorcycle up the hill. Wow. Make sure I'm in first gear. Well let's have a look at the map here and see how close we are to the high point. I think we still have about two miles to go to get up to the top. Well let's just keep going. So far so good. Come on. Oh it's loose here. I'm giving her all she's got. Come on baby. Wow. That has got to be taxing on the engine. Well how quickly things can change when you're on an adventure motorcycle ride. I feel like one minute I was just down in the canyon enjoying a peaceful leisurely ride and then a few minutes later I'm struggling. My bike is struggling. A whole different world. Things change so quickly on a ride like this. We've got to be pretty close to the top now. I'm looking for a cabin that's supposed to be in the vicinity here unless I passed it already. Well it looks like I found the cabin or what's left of it. I'm not sure what the story is about this place. All that remains are the foundation and the old hearth. Plenty of firewood up here. There's even a bathroom up here. Now if I look at the map here you can see we're about halfway through. It looks like Continental Divide cuts through right about here or just ahead of us so maybe just a little bit more uphill and then big downhill then we're at the end. So I have to commit to going through all the way or turn around and go all the way back downhill. Well let's go see if we can't make it up to the Continental Divide. It'd be nice if they put a marker up at the top letting us know that we're at the Continental Divide. I made it to the top. This is a significant location. I'm standing on the Continental Divide, the line of high ground. On one side rain or snow melt will flow into rivers and streams that eventually reach the Pacific Ocean. Water on the other side of the Divide flows toward the Atlantic Ocean. Right now the only water that's flowing is into my mouth as I rehydrate and get ready to ride back down the mountain. Well here I am trying to make a decision about which way to go. It's downhill in either direction. Chloride Creek was pretty spectacular and there were some cool places I could camp. This direction would be new territory but I don't think it would be as spectacular. And I would have to make a big pavement loop to get back to the van. What really sealed the decision for me is that my tripod is missing. I think perhaps that's what fell off the motorcycle at some point. So I'm going to go back the way I came see if I can't find my tripod. And uh yeah I don't remember using it so far today but I don't think I left it back at the van either. Gosh I just don't know. Let's have one last look back here. No it is not here and that's where I usually put it. So back we go. After the difficult climb to the top the little Honda screams with delight at the opportunity to go downhill. Now I can see everything from a different perspective going down the road that I came up. Oh big views. Loose. Loose and rocky. Oh yeah. Yeah this was the hard part going up here. This is where I was pushing it. Oh man. Skidding around the corner. I think this was the really steep part that I had a hard time going up. A lot easier going down this hill. Big big views all over. I had my back to the views on the way up. My hands were full pushing this bike up this this hill right here. But now we're just going to go down it. Oh yeah smooth sailing. You just can't tell how steep this hill was. Yeah this was a real mother coming up this. But we made it didn't we. All the way up to the Continental Divide. Now we're off in search of a lost tripod. I haven't seen it since we've been on the road. Maybe it's just sitting back in the campsite somewhere. Hopefully not going to get a good night's sleep unless I go back there and check. But that's okay. We were only about 14 miles away and it's all downhill from here to there. And I suppose I could still turn around come back into Floride Creek and go camping. Yeah this is where the really steep hill began. Right here at this corner. The creek bed re-emerges at the bottom as I enter Chloride Canyon from the west. Where the creek would be. Wow. I love this so much. This little obstacle course of rocks. Trying to keep my feet up on the pegs. That was my first dab. Well what do you know. Look at that. My tripod is right there on the ground. Yes. Oh that makes me so happy. Now I don't have to go back to the van. I can stop and find a really cool place to camp. It's going to be a great night. Oh yeah. All right I'm going to put it back where it goes. Very unlike me to do that. I am so good about not setting things on the bike and riding away. I can't think of hardly another time where I've lost something because I set it on the bike and just rode away. But it can happen pretty easily. Fortunately I was able to recover it. Okay here I go into Chloride Canyon. Okay I saw a trail off to the side here. I'm going to go check that out. See how that looks for camping. I want to be able to see the cliffs. Have a little bit of a view. Have some nice rock walls right next to me. Look at this little area down here. What a cool little grotto back in here huh. Not too bad. Don't have much of a view. Hey it's going to be interesting to make it back up that little hill that I just went down. Oh no problem. Okay this is a potential campsite. It's flat. I could park my tent right there. Got some nice rock walls right here. I think I remember seeing some other possibilities up here that are rather unique. Camping in a cave. Although I have to be respectful of the law. There's some archaeological sites up ahead. Camping is not allowed. But look at this spot right here underneath this giant boulder. Hope that wouldn't come down on me in the middle of the night. Wow. Might have to go have a look inside of this one. Another camping option would be good in a snowstorm. Look at this little spot back up here. Holy cow. Yep it's a cave all right. I'm just not sure that I want to camp inside of a cave tonight. It sounds kind of dark and eerie and spooky. I'd rather be out in the open where I can see all these beautiful rock formations. I've decided to camp here in the heart of the canyon. It appears I'm not the first person who has stayed in this place. Someone else stayed here long before I did. Got a strange figure here. A hand print. Some crow's feet. Some slashes. Wow this is pretty unreal. This is probably the coolest rock art that I've seen yet. I am no expert on this stuff at all but I just love the colors. How pronounced it is and this strange figure right here. Very cool. Well I found my place to camp right across the road from the best rock art that I've seen. I thought I'd camp right across the road from it so that I can sit here this evening and contemplate the meaning of life staring at this artwork that's been here for centuries. Who knows how long it's been here. As long as people have been coming through this canyon. And as it turns out I rode all the way up to the Continental Divide. That's about 14 miles and then 10 miles back to here. So I'm actually only about four miles away from the van and from the town of Chloride where I started. But I had all my camping gear with me so I decided to make the best of it and do a little motorcycle camping here in this really gorgeous location. And then I'll just get back up in the morning and go to the van and it should be a pretty easy trip out of here. There is a little forest service sign across the road here that says no camping right there by that rock art. Understandable. I think I'm okay here on the other side of the road. And of course I'll leave no trace and clean up everything and come out of here and it'll be just like I was never here. Man what a contrast this is to camping in the van. I love them both but I really love having my little bike with me and being able to park the van go off for a day or for a night like this. Motorcycle camping it's kind of the best of both worlds. Get a little quality R&R in the van. Some creature comforts and then a chance to come out here in a wild and beautiful place. Rough it for the night. I'm not really roughing it. I had a hot dinner. I've got a tent and an air mattress and a sleeping bag. I'm gonna get to sleep as soon as the sun goes down. So if I get eight hours of sleep gosh I'll probably wake up at five o'clock in the morning before sunrise. It'll be cool. I might have a cup of coffee. I might just hit the road and ride the four miles back down to the van but I would like it to be light out when I do that. Sun doesn't come up till about six so maybe I'll sleep in. What a cool place this is. Well the sun is going to be going down in just a little bit so I'm going to call it a night. Climb into my sleeping bag and get a good night's sleep. With a little research we can learn more about the origins of places like this and the people who inhabited this region. But so much of their existence remains a mystery. These rock paintings left a powerful impression on me and would remain etched into my consciousness for a long time. Well good morning. What a great way to wake up and what a great place to wake up in. Chloride Canyon here in New Mexico. I've just got a few miles of riding before I get back out of the get to the van where I left at camp in the little ghost town of Chloride. So that's where I'm going to head next. Probably going to go through about 20 creek crossings. Shouldn't be an issue. I rode in on this road last night. I'm going to ride out this morning. What a beautiful way to start the day. Birds are chirping. The sun is just coming up. I had a great morning at my campsite. Hot coffee. I am ready to go. Let's do this. On the road in New Mexico. Chloride Canyon. What a place. You guys are ever around the truth or consequences town in New Mexico. You might head a little bit further to the west. Go to the town of Winston. Go a few miles up the road to the ghost town of Chloride and then you too can experience Chloride Canyon. Rough and rugged and rocky road that leads into some spectacular rock formations. Rock art. Beautiful peaceful place to camp. Well this road is just as rocky as I remember it. Little bike seems to be running fine this morning despite the hill climb that we put it through yesterday. I do have to fix some vibrations that I hear coming probably from my bash plate. Well I think I've got a few more miles to go before I get out of here. I'm going to get back to the van and unload everything. Pack up the bike and head down the road to the next adventure. I've already got my next dirt road planned out thanks to my butler motorcycle map. So today is going to be a van transit day over to the next destination. Well so much for wildlife. I get a bunch of cows. That's my reward today. There's a big steer here. Come on get out of the road. Let's go. Hey come on. I don't want to get in a fight with this guy. He's got big horns. Haha. Well for some reason I didn't feel like trying to pass right next to that guy when he's got his family next to him. He had some big old horns. You never know. The last thing I want to do is get in a wrestling match with a cow and there was an easy workaround. Discretion is the better part of valor as they say. Just so many things out there in this big beautiful world that we live in and all you need to do is get out there. Get after it. Whether you're doing that on your motorcycle or in your vehicle or hiking or what have you. It's a big beautiful world out there and I really encourage you all to get out there and explore it in your own way. Whatever way is possible and if you're new to this sport of adventure riding or you want to get into it, I would highly recommend getting started with a little motorcycle like the one that I'm on right now. A Honda 125. It's economical. It only costs four thousand dollars which is a lot cheaper than most new adventure motorcycles. It's safe because of its small size and small displacement. It won't really get you into a lot of situations and it's just a heck of a lot of fun. It brings me back to my youth and my childhood when I was eight years old and got my first motorcycle, a Honda 50, and I would take off poking around in the woods and trails where I lived in Michigan and now 50 years later here I am doing the same thing. It's been a lifelong ride. All right this is the end here. Made it back to Floride after a successful oh 28 mile journey. The van is just over there in that direction. They left the gate open for me. Home safe and sound. Floride Canyon in New Mexico is a challenging ride into a unique environment with a fascinating history. I've seen a lot of interesting things out here and I'm looking forward to seeing more in the coming weeks as I travel further in this land of enchantment. I hope that you've had a good time riding with me on this trip. We'll see you in the next adventure.