New Mexico Sunset

The best sunsets that we encountered on our recent trip were certainly found in New Mexico. This picture was taken from Oliver Lee State Park just south of Alamagordo, NM. I really liked the campsite and watching the sky in the morning and evening. We were able to get re-acquainted with canyon hiking while walking up Dog Canyon which starts in the park. However, it's really close to the air base and several times some earth-rumbling aircraft would take off or arrive. That's the big drawback so I can't say that I'd highly recommend a visit.

We visisted the Space Museum in Alamagordo which certainly brought back memories of the '60's. The space shuttle actually landed near Alamagordo in the '80's. I've found it interesting that every time I'd refer to the name of this town I'd call it Armaggedon. And as soon as we got into the van following our museum visit I simply had to call up Bruce Cockburn's "If I Had A Rocket Launcher" on the ipod.

White Sands, NM

We really enjoyed our visited to White Sands NM just outside of Alamagordo, NM.
Perhaps it was because it was our first day of relatively warm weather. The sand dunes are interesting and it's great to see that the park allows visitors to go sledding on the dunes - we saw a few people with "saucers", but didn't actually see anyone using them. I had a good walk for an hour - and walking on sand it such good exercise! - and then we hiked a nature trail which was also really interesting. The big skies and the mountains north of Las Cruces were just what I needed to rid myself of winter blahs. The only drawback to this place is its location next to a huge military base and there is a pretty regular roar from aircraft. We were also fairly close to the Trinity site in this area, where the first nuclear bomb was tested. So let's just call this place a mix of wonderful nature and the worst of humankind.

Chiricahua Revisited

We made a second trip to Chiricahua NM because we had enjoyed it so much the first time. The park offers a wonderful service. A shuttle bus can take hikers up to the trailhead at the top of the canyons at 8:30 a.m. We'd used the service before and really loved it. This time, we completed the "Heart of the Rocks" tour which meant that we hiked almost every trail from the top of the mountain. The trail was in great shape and we enjoyed visiting the unusual rock features in the "heart of the rocks". This Pinnacle Balanced Rock is an example. This is the park which has some pretty unusual birds and we did see an Arizona woodpecker. Alas, no coatamundi appeared, but they do exist in the park. We also learned that this animal inhabits Big Bend in TX.

Our driver told us an amusing story about Tuscon - apparently they've brought in a "stupid drivers" law which requires the driver to pay for a rescue if they deliberately drive into flood areas and are stranded there. I have yet to see one of the flash floods famous in this region, but she said that people will drive into anything, even with the markers indicating how deep the water is - I do hope I get to see one of these rainstorms from the vantage point of a safe place.

Southwest Caves

We visited both Carlsbad and Kartchner Caves while in the Southwest. The major difference between them as I understand it is that one is "living" and the other is "dead". Carlsbad was the first one we saw and I really liked the fact that we could walk into the cave and gradually get into its deepest part. It's not really a world that I love, but it is certainly interesting and an incredible amount of work has been done to make it accessible to humans. The descent into the cave was about a mile long and we walked another one to two miles while at the bottom. All of this is wheelchair accessible. I'd love to be able to see the bats fly out of the cave from May through October!

Kartchner, the "living" cave is quite similar, but it is still building deposits and was also a truly unusual world. To visit this one, you must be guided and they have some pretty strict rules. Again, there's been a remarkable amount of work done to make the cave accessible but most of the cave remains "untouched" and continues to grow. The fact that two university students discovered it in the mid 70's and managed to keep it quiet is pretty amazing. They didn't want it to be exploited and neither did the people who owned the property where the caves are located. Even though thousands visit the caves each year, the human damage is actually quite minimal. It was interesting to compare the two caves, but I was probably more awed by Carlsbad. Was that because it was my first cave experience? I also liked being able to see it at my own pace and watch the changes as we made the descent into the earth.

America's Best #5: The National Parks

I know I've blogged before about the great American parks - something Canada used to have in an earlier time - and this most recent trip hasn't changed my opinion one bit. There wasn't a single national park or national monument or bureau of land management area that wasn't well-maintained and well-staffed. I spoke with one park ranger in Guadalupe who said that the parks had been severely hit with cutbacks. To the casual visitor this is simply not apparent. The trails were all in superb shape and every campground we stayed in was basically spotless when you think of the number of visitors who come to spend time in the south. I think many of the parks make excellent use of volunteers. Hurrah! The fee for a US National park pass is $80US which is cheaper than in Canada. Here, the parks still have pride in what they provide. I can't say enough good about the American national parks!

McKittrick Canyon

One of my favourite hikes of our entire trip was the one to McKittrick Canyon in Guadalupe NP. It was a fairly warm and windy day so I figured it would be a great day to be out of the wind inside a canyon. That worked fairly well, but the we could certainly feel the wind for the first 30 minutes of the trail until the canyon deepened. Because the trail was so good, we figured it was going to be pretty easy to access the plateau and it was, but the traverses were so long and flat, we actually did decide to give up 3/4 of the way up - we could see how windy it was. Came back to this spot called Grotto for lunch - these picnic tables and benches are made out of slabs of stone. It was a really beautiful spot in the canyon. We only saw 3 other people on the trail and managed to find a few spotted towhees along the route, but nothing really out of the ordinary in the birding department. We startled one smallish mammal who went into a small cavelike shelter and we're pretty darn sure that it was a skunk.

Bagging TX

Here is Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in TX. We were lucky enough to bag this within 24 hours of our arrival in TX. The hike was in great shape - there were extreme winds in the forecast so we were up early and on the trail by 7:30 a.m. Arriving at the top, there were 4 other hikers up there and another 3 arrived while we stayed on top. Counting hikers on the way down, (practising our numbers in Spanish) we came across 33 more. The winds didn't really materialize and I was pleased to see that everyone made it back down by dark. It's just a nice hike with nothing extreme about it and it's got lots of great views. Highly recommended, as is the park. It's quite a bit off the beaten track, although if you visit Carlsbad Caverns, NM, it's only an hour away. I liked the fact that there are lots of trails and not many people - at least not in January. Many of the hikes are on the top of the mountains and one big issue is water because there isn't much of it around. Doubt if I'll be doing any multi-day hiking here. Great sunsets and sunrises while we were visiting.