Carlsbad II

On Sunday, April 3rd I decided to hike from White's RV resort to the Carlsbad Caverns visitor center.  By car it is 7 miles, but if you hike the ridgeline it is 4-1/2 miles.  It takes about 3-1/2 hours to do the hike, but you can hitch a ride back down with the shuttle bus.  However, the ridgeline trail is not well marked and I ended up following dear trails up the wrong ridgeline.  I figured this out when I reached the top and saw that to get to the right ridgeline I would have to hike down into the gully and then back up to the right ridgeline.  I had already been hiking for two hours, so I decided  to just hike into the gully and back to base camp.  It was still a very interesting hike with a lot of beautiful desert cactus, blooming yucca, other wild flowers and dear.  Following are a few photos.  For a better view simply click or double click on the photo.

After returning to my trailer I packed up and headed south into Texas.  Southern New Mexico and West Texas are full of wide open spaces, sand and sagebrush.  I stopped for the night in Fort Stockton, Texas, pulled into a dusty RV park and slept through another dust storm.  Heading for San Antonio, Texas tomorrow.

Carlsbad Caverns

On April 3rd I drove the 7 miles from White's RV resort to Carlsbad Caverns.  I had forgotten about it being Saturday and was glad I got an early start because the crowd was awful by noon when I was leaving.  The road up is very scenic and the "natural entrance" to the caverns is spectacular.  It takes about three hours to hike all of the cavern, but the path is well paved and there is a snackbar and restrooms at the 750' level so you can take a break.  The caverns are everything that they advertise, but the camera cannot do justice to what your eyes can see after they adjust to the artificial lighting.  Without the lighting it would be pitch black.  Following are two of the pictures that I took.  Again, most cameras cannot capture the beauty.  I think you are better off just enjoying the view and then purchasing a professional CD of pictures that they sell in the gift shop.

To see all of my cavern photos just click this link:  Carlsbad Caverns

NEW MEXICO

I pulled out of Safford, AZ early morning on April Fool's day and headed east on Hwy 70.  There is not much to see along this stretch, just sand, sagebrush and tumbleweeds.  I crossed into New Mexico around 10AM and merged into Hwy 10 at Lordsburg, NM.  Just west of Demming, NM, I ran into a dust storm that lasted all the way to Alamogordo, NM.  The winds were blowing 45 mph with gusts up to 55-60 mph.  Luckily they were blowing toward the east and provided a tailwind for me.  If they had been blowing against me I would have had to stop or have the paint sandblasted off of the car and trailer.  You can see the dust storm as I approached in the next two photos.

The wind and dust was still blowing when I reached The White Sands Missile Range, but I decided that since I wouldn't be coming back this way to stop and see the museum.  It is worth the stop if you're in the area, but not a special trip just to see it.  Following is one picture.  If you would like to see them all click on this link:  White Sands Missile Range

On April 2nd I awoke to calm winds and a beautuful sky.  I decided to leave early and tour the White Sands National Monument before the winds picked up in the afternoon.  I wouldn't have driven here just to see this park if I had not been on my way to Carlsbad Caverns in the first place, but if your in the area it is well worth the visit.  Following is a teaser shot of the dunes.  Tell me you don't think it is snow.  Double click the photo for a better view and if your interested, click this link for all of the photos I took: White Sands National Monument

After taking a couple of hours to explore the dunes I headed for Carlsbad by way of Hwy 82 from Alamogordo to Artesia and then south on Hwy 285 to Carlsbad.  This route takes you east through the mountains and snow country.  Here are a couple of pictures showing the mountain terrain and the ski lift in Cloudcroft New Mexico.

Carlsbad Caverns is approximately 20 miles south of the City of Carlsbad so I drove on down to the CC junction and checked into White's RV Resort which is only 7 miles from the Caverns.  They also have a motel, store, restaurant and gift shop.  Here are two pictures of this area.

My next post will cover my CC tour.


GaryTheSpy