Deep Under New Mexico – Carlsbad Caverns

 

 New Mexico full moon.

Our time in Texas is over (Honest!). We left Davis Mountain on Monday, 5/20, and made our way to The Ranch Escapee Co-Op Park near Lakewood, New Mexico. We have enjoyed staying at several of the Escapee Co-Ops, so we were interested in trying out a new one. Each park is different and offers a range of amenities at a reasonable cost. Since summers are brutal here, many of the residents had already taken off for cooler climes. That worked out well for us, because we were able to rent a co-op spot and have hook-ups during our stay.

SKP Ranch - an Escapee RV Club co-op.

The Ranch House, happy hour is 4pm every evening!

One of the co-op spaces. 

Our plan was to use this location as a base to visit Carlsbad National Park. Carole and Bob were also interested in doing a day trip to Guadalupe National Park just across the border in Texas. Rog and I were there in 2017 and we hiked to the top – it’s likely to be the only mountain I ever summit. Lol.

March 2017, I did climb a mountain!
The highest peak in Texas (which isn't saying much, Lol).

Visiting Carlsbad National Park now requires a timed entry ticket. The fee is nominal ($1), but it helps control the flow of visitors through the caverns. We chose a 12:30pm start time on Tuesday, 5/21. We arrived early to enjoy the visitor’s center and, of course, the gift shop. 😊

The scale model of the caverns is my favorite.
Check out the visitor center on the shelf,
the acrylic tube represents the elevator that descends 750 feet.

We opted to hike down into the caverns through the natural entrance. This is my absolute favorite way to access the caves. It’s a steep 1.25-mile downhill hike with switchbacks revealing stunning formations around every turn. One of my favorite features on the trek down is Iceberg Rock, a single 200,000-ton boulder than fell from the cave ceiling thousands of years ago.

Decending through the natural entrance.

Looking back at the entrance from the cavern.

Whale Mouth formation.

Bob and Carole walk under Iceberg Rock.

Lion's Tail formations.

The hike down to the cave floor is just half the fun. From there, we walked another 1.25-mile loop around and through the 8.2-acre Big Room. This self-guided tour passes many of the caverns most famous features including the Rock of Ages (which I swear, looks like a dragon!), Mirror Lake, Crystal Spring Dome and many more. 

Giant Domes.

The ceiling was covered in thousands of stalactites.

Looking straight up.
Warp Factor 10 Scotty!

Rock of Ages.
I prefer to call him, Puff. 😄

In 1921, Jim White a local rancher used a ladder of wood slats and
bailing wire to descend into the unexplored caverns. 

Mirror Lake.

The Crystal Spring Dome, detail on the right.

The large columns and domes are amazing, but some of the most intricate and beautiful features are much smaller. The Doll Theater and tiny pool fingers are fascinating. We spent a good four hours strolling the underground maze before taking the elevator topside.

The Doll's Theater.

Tiny pool fingers formed under the ledges above pools of water.

A waterfall in stone.

This look likes an Elvish tree to me.

Which would make this an Elvish forest,
maybe something from Tolkien's Middle Earth?

Carole captured these amazing details.

I'm seeing a face. Do you see a face?
Creepy.

Thursday, 5/23, was a travel day. We passed through Roswell, famous for its obsession with all things extraterrestrial. In the summer of 1947, a rancher discovered unidentifiable debris in his sheep pasture outside the town. Although officials from the local Air Force base asserted that it was a crashed weather balloon, many people believed it was the remains of a flying saucer. Today, the town hosts an annual UFO festival in July that draws thousands of visitors. Many of the businesses in town have a lot of fun with the “little green men”.  

A (not so) little green man in Roswell.

We were intrigued by these huge (18 feet tall!) ranchers in an apparent standoff across Hwy 285 a few miles south of Vaugh, NM.  One points an accusatory finger at the other, who has adopted a “What, me?” stance. Poised in the middle of nowhere, “Cowboy Ruckus” is the work of artist John Cerney and depicts ranchers and brothers Mark and Mike Marley. A little (or maybe, very big 😊) sibling rivalry.

Cowboy Ruckus on Hwy 285.

We had one night reserved at Storrie Lake State Park near Las Vegas, NM. It was a miserable, windy drive and continued to blow hard the whole evening. Regardless of the wind, Riley still managed several dips in the lake. Lol.

Despite the winds, Riley made it into the water. Surprised? Lol.

We are excited about our next stop. Remember when I said Guadalupe Mountain would probably be the only one I’d ever summit? Well, about that. Come along for incredible mountain vistas at over 14,000 feet! (And yes, I cheated!)

A Star Party, Cha-Cha Pie, and Swimming with the Fishies

 

Davis Mountain overlook at dusk.

On Friday, 5/17, we moved to Davis Mountain State Park near Ft. Davis, TX. It was a super short drive, just 27 miles! We got a fantastic site with lovely shade trees and spent a relaxing afternoon just sitting under the trees with the pups.

A great campsite with shade trees.

We had reservations for the McDonald Observatory Star Party at 9:30pm and were watching the skies change from clear blue without a cloud in sight to solid gray overcast. The weather apps assured us we only had a 6% chance of cloud cover by 9PM so we kept our fingers crossed. For once the weather guessers came through and we had clear skies by dusk. We arrived at the McDonald Observatory a little early so we could see the exhibits. They had information on light pollution, scientific exploration using telescopes, and how the equipment has evolved and improved over time.

At 9:30pm, we gathered outside in the amphitheater for a guided tour of the stars. Out guide pointed out constellations and talked about a little bit about the mythology. Then we got to look through several telescopes, some were focused on star clusters hundreds of light years away and others were focused on the moon. It was very entertaining and educational! Unfortunately, no cameras or phones were allowed, so I wasn't able to get any pictures.

Telescopes at the McDonald Observatory.

There were several exhibits on old and new telescopes.

Starry sky over Big Bend Ranch State Park. (pic from the exhibit)

Radio telescope.

We tried to take Raney for walkies on Saturday, but we didn’t get an early enough start. She is bored, bored, bored just hanging out in the coach, but it’s waaay too hot for her to be outside in the sun. Even wearing a reflective coat (Riley’s baked potato jacket, lol) she was panting hard before we we’d made it up the first hill. We turned around and got her back into the air-conditioned coach. My pups are turning into pole princesses. Lol. To be fair, they didn’t ask to be dragged into the desert with these triple digit temps and brutal sun, so I guess we do what we need to, to keep them happy.

On the Quail Trail, for a little bit anyway.

While we were trying unsuccessfully to hike, Bob and Carole drove over to Fort Davis. The fort has six furnished buildings restored to the 1880s period as well as another 20 buildings and 100 ruins. The fort was a frontier military post during the Indian wars. From 1854 to 1891, Fort Davis was strategically located to protect emigrants, mail coaches, and freight wagons on the Trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road. It is also known for the Buffalo Soldiers that were stationed here. Here are a few pictures from their visit.

Ft. Davis Ntional Historical Site.

Restored buildings at Ft. Davis.

Since we’d missed out on DB’s Iron Grill in Terlingua, Rog mentioned that the one thing we hadn’t had yet was good Texas BBQ. He checked Yelp and found a place in the nearby town of Ft. Davis that had excellent reviews. OMG. Let me just say that Rock n Raul’s Smokehouse is a must do if you’re within a hundred miles of Ft. Davis. It’s a small family-owned restaurant reviving the award-winning barbecue recipes of its founders’ Great Uncle Raul. From our appetizer (smoked deviled eggs) to the entrée (pork ribs and brisket) and the sides (funeral potatoes, ranch beans and elote corn) to dessert (Nanna Pudding and Cha Cha Pie) there was not a single missed note. Everything was excellent!! I left out of there sooo stuffed. Everyone else took home doggies bags – underachievers. Lol.  

The rather plain exterior gave no hint to the awesomeness that awaited within.

The dining area was in the back through a curtain, giving it a speakeasy vibe. 

Heaven on a plate.

We did take home extra servings of the Cha Cha Pie and Nanna Pudding, a favorite of Bob’s that he said was the best he’s had since Savannah, Georgia. The restaurant is owned by a young couple and they smoke the meats and make everything from scratch. The owner waited our table and told us the story behind the Cha Cha Pie. She was working on new recipes for a chocolate crème pie and prepared one for her then two-year-old daughter’s birthday. Her daughter was obsessed with it, but couldn’t pronounce chocolate, so kept asking for Cha Cha pie. The name stuck and now I’m obsessed with it too! Lol.  

Nana Pudding and Cha Cha Pie. Yummmmmmm!

Since the evenings were cooler, we took that opportunity to get the pups out and about. We drove to the park’s overlook and a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed stone building for the sunset. The pups enjoyed both the drive and some social time, even if I did make them sit for pictures.

Evening light on the mountains.

Riley, Raney, and Ruby - the best puppers!

Smile everyone!

Stone shelters built by the CCC.

View through the window of the stone building.

Another super cool CCC building - perfect for sunset viewing.

Another one of Carole's awesome sunset pics. 

On Sunday, 5/19, we visited Balmorhea State Park, home of the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool. Constructed by the CCC in 1936, the pool covers 1.75 acres and holds 3 million gallons of water! It varies in depth from 3 feet to 25 feet and is fed by the San Solomon Springs that put out about 16 million gallons of water a day. Even more awesome, much of the pool is a natural habitat so you get to swim among plants and with thousands of fishies and some shy Texas Spiny Softshell turtles too.  The temps on Sunday were over a 100°, so we found the 72-76° water delightfully refreshing. The only bummer was my underwater camera gave up the ghost after just a few pictures. At first, I thought it was a bad battery, but the display screen had died. If you have suggestions for decent waterproof camera, please let me know! Considering I bought the camera in 2005, I have no cause for complaint, but the timing did suck. I really wanted to share more pictures of my new fishy and turtle friends. Lol.

The pool is incredible!

Lots of fun in the water.

A great way to beat the heat!

One fishy friend.

Lots of fishy friends!

A spiny softshell turtle.
They were in the pool too, but my camera died before I could go turtle paparazzi.

In our next post, we’re going deep underground, so there’s awesome cave pictures coming your way.