Las Cruces, New Mexico

Scoundrels in the Borderland

As we walked in Las Cruce's Walmart, a police officer was posted at the front door and another strolling through the isles. I got an uncomfortable feeling remembering the El Paso Walmart 45 miles away that just reopened after the recent shooting. The greeter at the front door said he was glad the police were there.

Overlooking Las Cruces are the Organ Mountains, named because of the steep, needle-like spires that resemble the pipes of an organ. This area of rocky peaks, narrow canyons and open woodlands shelters the Dripping Springs Natural Area, noted for its "weeping walls"overlooks the Rio Grande and the Mesilla Valley.

I asked the volunteer at the visitor center about the snake situation before our hike. She said that the few that they have seen were pretty docile. Except the 4 foot rattlesnake (scoundrel) that welcomed her to work the previous day and wasn't leaving his post without help from the rangers. Aghhh! Fortunately, we avoided any interactions with snakes.

The Dripping Springs Natural Area has over four miles of  hiking trails, including the Dripping Springs Trail which gradually climbs into the cooler box canyon.

It is a steady incline for the majority of the “out” portion of the trail but there are shade trees and even some benches along the way. 

In the 1870s, Colonel Eugene Van Patten built his Van Patten’s Mountain Camp resort. People would arrive by horse and stagecoach.

The scoundrel Doctor Nathan Boyd established a tuberculosis sanatorium on this property with a promise to pay $25 per year which he never paid even after Van Patten took him to court.

On our return we turned onto the Crawford Trail without shade on that trail even though the temp was 60 degrees, the sun felt hot. 

The Mesilla Valley

La Mesilla "Little Tableland"

 Apaches and other tribes regularly camped in Mesilla. After the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 that the first permanent settlers came to Mesilla to call it their home. 

In 1854, The Gadsden Purchase declared Mesilla officially part of the United States and became an important stop on two stagecoach routes, the El Camino Real and the Butterfield stage route.

Mesilla was as wild as the West gets, with outlaws frequenting many of the bars and dancehalls. 

In 1881, Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang at the jail and courthouse on the southeast corner of the plaza. The Gadsden Museum has the original jail cell doors that held Billy the Kid.

Mesilla's Plaza is similar to that in Santa Fe but much smaller.

After a morning walk through Mesilla's countryside of pecan trees and ugly fruit, we had brunch at "Josephine's". The green chile in my quiche was the best. We are in New Mexico after all.

While in Las Cruces, Mike's 1 year old Samsung phone's google play popups kept blocking his phone. After trying online suggestions, he took it to the Verizon store. The rep turned the phone off and on before handing it back to him saying he needed a new phone. She was pushing the "best" phone for a total of $900.  Another scoundrel. He passed and called tech support since he had insurance on it. They weren't able to resolve the issue but sent him another phone at no charge and free shipping to return the problem phone.

Rain was again in the forecast and walking in town isn't so pleasant. We headed out to Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park nearby.

The bosque (forest)

Texas is just around the corner.

Lincoln National Forest

More hiking

Yep, we are predictable. The locals raved about the hiking opportunities in Lincoln National Forest and they were right. We could have hiked a different trail for many days. 

We made the trip from Alamogordo's 4000 ft elevation into the Sacramento Mountains and the town of Cloudcroft at 8700 feet. We noticed a line in front of Mad Jack's BBQ and had to check out their chopped brisket with green chile, taking half home for dinner. There was a steady flow of airmen from the base in Alamogordo picking up their BBQ orders to take back to the base. 

  Fortunately, the roads were well marked. I'm not sure we would have found the Grandview and
Bridal Veil Falls Trailheads. The Rails-to-Trails rolls down a 3% grade to a seasonal waterfall.

Grandview Trail Overlook

The Mexican Canyon Trestle Trail is near Cloudcroft. The trestle was built in 1899 and the only one left of the 57 trestles taking people from Alamogordo and El Paso into the mountains when the valley heated up.

Breakfast in Tularosa, NM felt like we were south of the border, menudo for Sunday breakfast and lots of Spanish speaking going on.

Oliver Lee State Park is set against the Sacramento Mountains a few miles from Alamogordo with a beautiful campground in the Chihuahuan Desert. Can't beat $14/night for hookups.

Before arriving at Oliver Lee State Park, we had agreed to keep our hike easy since we had hiked the 3 previous days. It was so pretty but only had two options. The short Riparian Trail which would take 15 minutes or Dog Canyon Trail.

We gave the challenging Dog Canyon Trail a shot since we were there. (How difficult could it be?) We soon found out. Knowing that we could turn around when we had had enough, we started up. Of course, there is always the wonder of what is around the next corner that keeps us going. I was glad we had our poles for the downhill.  

The distant views include White Sands, the Tularosa basin, and the Organ and San Andreas mountains.

Three miles in is the remnants of a cabin built by a rancher many years ago. An elevation gain to the cabin 1834ft gave our hearts a reason to pound. I passed on the next 2.5 miles which is straight up with a long drop on the side and a long walk back.

Someone was thinking when they built this spot.

"Frenchy" Roccas, a French emigrant, lived alone at Dog Canyon in 1889 where he tended his cattle, grew a vineyard and orchard before he was  found with a gunshot to his chest.  What a view!

After our hike, while sitting a restaurant a couple struck up a fun conversation. By the time we left, we had an invitation and directions to their house. We love the people we meet along the way.

Alamogordo, NM

They grow pistachios here

We took this trip through New Mexico south rather than Texas's panhandle due to the cold front that was hitting the state. 

There isn't much to see in some of the towns of southern New Mexico that have seen their better days. Alamogordo had a different feel with the Air Force base and Border Patrol just outside of town. It's crime rates are less than some of the places we have visited.

New Mexico has a big problem with crime. Hence the recent criminal sweep of 327 people this week in Albuquerque. 

While walking along the Rio Grande River Trail in Socorro, we found a homeless camp and made a u-turn on our walk. The same thing happened as we walked across town to the park in the middle of town.

As I took the picture of the church in Socorro, a homeless man was standing outside of the church hitting up the Christians for a handout as they left the morning service. He asked me if I had anything to spare. I rarely carry money and told him "Honey, I think you have more than I do." For some reason, he didn't offer me his spare. 

The other side of the coin as they say, we met so many welcoming people and the poblano enchiladas were the best.

On the way to Alamogordo, we made a quick stop at the Valley of Fires Recreation Area next to the Malpais Lava Flow and took a walk on the paved Malpais Nature Trail to stretch our legs. It had a nice campground for $7/night.

This area was primarily Apache and Navajo until the Spaniards made their way there. The Apache would steal their horses and cattle. Then the Spaniards would steal them back until they were rounded up and put on the reservation (the people not the horses). That is the dummied down version. 

White Sands National Monument

White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico is wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert, creating the world's largest gypsum dunefield.

White Sands Missile Range regularly conducts missile tests. For visitor safety, the only road into the dunefield, Dunes Drive, may be closed for periods of up to three hours during missile tests.

We checked the time for scheduled missle testing before driving out to avoid seeing this sign requiring a 2-3 hour delay.

The white sand looked like snow. Even though we knew it wasn't slick, our brains kept saying we were going to slip and slide.

The 2 mile hike on the Alkali Trail was rated difficult. It didn't seem so hard at first. But the further we walked the harder it was to climbthe dunes. But we enjoyed White Sands NP more than we have thought.

We took this disc someone had left at the parking lot for a couple of rides before handing it off to another couple that had just arrived.

Mike missed a photo of my face plant and I took home more gypsum than I think is legal. It took a while to get the sand out of my parts.

The picnic area looked like it was on the moon.

The National Christmas tree made a stop in Alamogordo on the way from northern New Mexico to Washington DC. The high school marching band and most of the town was at the high school for the visit.

We have days when we get tired and wonder if it is time to throw in the traveling towel. A nap is usually the remedy for that. My youngest sister's passing this week reminds us that we had better live the life we desire instead of the life other people think we should live. Time is passing faster than we realized.