Dean &
Ginny's excellent adventures... Main
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Road
Trip
to the SW Desert--04/07: Part 1
Part
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Part 4 >>
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After a couple of days on the road, we stopped at The Guadalupe
Mountain Range, just 10 miles from the New Mexico
border. These mountains are fossilized reefs--not
volcanic. The low areas around
the mountain range are salt flats, and there was a salt
war in 1877 when people fought over salt rights. We
camped in the park for two days, took a few moderate hikes, and took in the
scenery, large and small. 
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We found some shade under a Texas Madrone tree
for our lunch break. As we hiked farther up the slope we
saw this great striped rock shaped sort of like a ship's prow.
Various cacti were blooming--the bright colors
seem startling in the drab, gray & tan surroundings. >>
After two days of hiking, we set out before dawn
to the Carlsbad Caverns. We wanted to see the bats fly
in. No luck, it was too early in the season. But we
still witnessed a great sunrise over the natural entrance, and
plenty of swallows or swifts flitting around. |
<< Madrones have
smooth whitish or reddish bark, but the new wood grows around the parts of the tree
that have died. This makes for contorted, bonsai-like shapes.
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You can walk in through the natural entrance, >>
but we opted for the ranger-guided lantern-lit tour and
then our own walk around The Big Room.
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Our ranger uses his flashlight to point out that there are no fish in the
water. Most of the tour was lit only by candle
lanterns--very pleasant.
After the tour we stayed down in the cave and took
the 1.25 mile trail loop around The Big Room. It's 8.2 acres
and the largest
natural limestone cavern in The Western Hemisphere.
Here are some of the cool formations... and
oh yes, it was a cool 56° in the caverns.
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<< After
leaving Carlsbad, we drove over the Sacramento Mountains through
an aptly named town called Cloudcroft. It was not only in
the clouds, but there was a pretty good snow storm!
Next stop was White Sands National Monument--what
a contrast to the snow.
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 These
dunes can move up to 30' a year, which makes it hard
for plants trying to grow here. But these hardy plants make good subjects for our
photos.
The sand is white because it's made from gypsum
crystals. The darker bits peppering the white are
various fossils.
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The pillar under this big shrub will eventually give way,
but for now the roots hold it in place.
After White Sands, we drove through Las Cruces, and
just before we crossed into Arizona on Rt. 10, we stopped at
Steins on the advice of Lucia Robson.
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On to Steins and more >>
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