Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Moving right along - this is not our normal pace but with the high heat (low 100's) we aren't inclined to hang around places. Next stop, Carlsbad New Mexico to go to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. This is a long time bucket list stop that has finally fit into travel plans. We could have come here many times in the winter as we were fairly close, but, in the winter you don't see the epic flight of the bats because they aren't there.

The thousands of Brazilian free-tailed bats that call the cave their summer home, migrate south to Mexico in late October or early November. They will come back in April or May. When they come back the females are already pregnant and will give birth in June. By August the young bats are already almost full grown and will take their first flights out of the cave with the adults.

The nightly exodus of the bats can be viewed at an amphitheater near the natural entrance of the cave. A ranger gives a talk a little prior to the expected flight time preparing visitors on what to expect and the rules to follow. The main rules are to be quiet and all electronic devices need to be turned off including cameras. These things mess up the bats natural sonar system. We had a clear, perfect evening with a rising full moon and we were rewarded by the spectacular show of the waves of hundreds, maybe thousands of bats at a time swirling out of the cave and flying off across the horizon to feed. Forget the camera, mental pictures are the best - especially in low light conditions trying to capture a speeding bat.

I admit that coming to Carlsbad Caverns hit the bucket list many years ago for the flight of the bats. But let me tell you, you have to tour the caves, too! I had no idea how spectacular the caves were. We did the guided Kings Palace tour and then walked the self guided tour around the Big Room. All total, we walked 3 miles in the cave. Take the guided tour because you will see incredible rooms only seen with a guide and you will learn a ton of interesting information from the guide which adds to the experience. How many times can I say spectacular? We've toured quite a few caves and this one is right at the top of the enjoyment list. A word of warning, the wait for the elevator down and up can be long so plan accordingly. An hour wait to get the ride up is not uncommon and it can be longer.

I took pictures in the cave (as mentioned, none during the bat flight) but they didn't come out great. I'll include a few to try to give an idea.

On Kings Palace tour

On Kings Palace tour

On Kings Palace tour

On Kings Palace tour

Lions Trails in Big Room

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

When we left Las Cruces New Mexico we drove south to El Paso and then east to make a stop at Guadalupe Mountains National Park. In doing research prior to the trip we knew this was just going to be a short stop because this national park is all rugged land which can only be explored via hiking. With no campgrounds that will fit a RV our size within a hundred miles, combined with the temperature between 90 and 100, as much as I love to hike, hiking here wasn't in the cards on this trip. We were able to squeeze through the parking area of the Pine Springs Visitor Center and snuggle along the side of the road long enough to go in and find out what this park is all about and get information for a future hiking trip. 

The Guadalupe Mountains are among the best examples of a marine fossil reef formed 260-270 million years ago when a tropical ocean covered the area. The park preserves this extraordinary phenomenon and hosts geologists from around the world that come to marvel at this rare wonder. Over half the park, 47 thousand acres, is designated as protected wilderness. 

We did take time to do a little walk to the Butterfield Stagecoach Station ruins. The walk is a 3/4 mile paved nature walk that ends near a couple of stone walls. It got the blood flowing again after a 3 hour drive. 

White Sands National Monument

Dune Life Nature Trail

Our next stop was to visit White Sands National Monument between Las Cruces and Alamogordo New Mexico. We have visited a lot of places during our travels and quite often, like in this case, I think about all of the "mini" natural wonders of the world. There is a proclaimed list of the seven biggest or most majestic natural wonders, but there are countless others to see. This is one of them.

Dune Life Nature Trail

A place like White Sands National Monument (or Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado) is viewed by many as "just a bunch of sand". You have to look at the remarkable nature of it. You are driving along (in our case, but also imagine yourself an explorer, hunter or nomad hundreds or thousands of years ago on foot or horseback) across the Chihuahuan Desert and suddenly you come across 275 square miles of rare gypsum sand dunes. Really, what's up with that?

During the Permian Period, 275 million years ago, a shallow, salty tropical sea covered the area. The sea rose and fell repeatedly over millions of years leaving gypsum deposits behind as the water evaporated. These gypsum layers were eventually uplifted and became a part of the surrounding mountains. Water, mostly from melting glaciers, carried it down into the basin where we enjoy it today. Water is still there, just a few feet below the surface, acting as the glue to keep the sand from blowing away. When it rains, ponds and lakes quickly form in low areas.

Dune Life Nature Trail

Is this a place to plan a big trip to see? No. Combined with the Gila Cliff Dwellings and Carlsbad, you have a trip. If you decide to come to this place and go sledding, which is a popular activity, bring your own sled (coaster). The price and restrictions are very high at the visitor center. Do the short Playa and Dune Life Nature Trails to learn about the dune ecosystem.

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

We are back out on the road for another big trip. Our first stop after leaving our winter quarters in Arizona was in Silver City New Mexico. This is an historic mining town with some wonderful historic buildings and history. East of town is a gigantic open pit mine with a viewing area. It is quite the site to behold. We were here in November of 2013 and checked out the town (see that blog entry) but we are back this time to go to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.

These cliff dwellings were built in natural caves that had been used for thousands of  years by the Mogollon (pronounced mug-e-own) peoples. The structures date to just before 1300 which corresponds to the peak of the Puebloan people's building throughout the southwest. It is believed that the structures were only used for about 30 years. Later they were used by many people passing through who used the wood timbers for firewood so now only the stone structures remain. This is also the area where the legendary Apache leader Geronimo was born in 1820.

The Monument is only about 45 miles north of Silver City but it took us an hour and a half to drive up due to the road being very narrow with very sharp curves combined with many steep ups and downs. There is a small visitor center that provides all the information you need to check out the area. The cliff dwellings are accessible by a 1 mile round trip hike. You can actually go into the well preserved rooms which are about 80 percent original construction. We really enjoyed walking through the rooms while getting a lot of valuable information from an onsite volunteer. This was well worth the off-the-beaten-path excursion.

Just a short distance from the cliff dwellings you can make a stop and see some pictographs and another small dwelling. This is on the "Trail to the Past" at the Lower Scorpion Campground.  

We drove up via New Mexico 15 straight out of Silver City and came back via New Mexico 35 because it has fewer twists and turns. The return trip was 20 miles longer but took about the same about of time and was less stressful.

We also found it interesting that the area of the cliff dwellings is right at the continental divide and the headwaters of the Gila River. When driving north-south in Arizona we cross the Gila River as it flows (so to speak, as it is usually dry by the time it gets to the middle of Arizona) to meet the Colorado River near Yuma. 

Gila River at origins