Wilds of New Mexico

From Deming we motored east through Las Cruces, which has a beautiful setting beneath the Organ Mountains. Surprisingly green valley. One could be quite happy in a house with that view out your window. We didn't stay there, but headed NE to White Sands National Monument. What a place. With the plowed roads it looked like a surreal snow setting, stretching out forever. We got out and hiked about, but a little of this place goes a long way. Definitely worth the stop, but not much to tarry over after the initial impressions. We exited and passed Hoffman AFB, home of the German Air Force, which was to celebrate Oktoberfest in a few days. Yup, they train Germany's pilots here. Go figure. Stayed the night in Alamagordo and visited (i) the oldest zoo west of the Mississippi and (ii) the Museum of Space History. Both were good stops. The zoo was small and low key, but good exhibits of puma, coatamundi, ocelots, and ... African Crowned Storks. Say, what? The space museum was interesting, especially the rocket sled exhibit and the story about the poor guy who accidently decelerated at 81G's and lived to tell the tale. Yikes.

From Alamogordo we went up into the mountains through Cloudcroft and the Lincoln National Forest. Beautiful scenic drive. Lots of mountains and pines and a river. We bypassed the National Solar Observatory as they only had tours of the exterior, nothing of the scopes. We headed for Carlsbad and camped at Brantley Lake State Park, which was 6 miles off the main road. Nice, level sites, hot showers, and EW, so we decided to make this our headquarters. It was 20 miles into Carlsbad, and another 23 to the Caverns, so this would be a good test for getting around on the scoot. We're putting a lot of miles on it, and as I write this we're at nearly 600, and it's time for the mandatory first oil/filter change. We helmeted up and set out for the Caverns, which turned out to be a rather pleasant ride, semis and all. We're not bothered by the wind from oncoming trucks, but overtaking trucks (they all travel 70-75 here) do set up a backwash that buffets us.

Carlsbad Caverns was everything I hoped for. The entrance sits up in the mountains, and provides a 50 mile view to Mexico, Texas, etc. Everything is FLAT other than the Guadalupe Mountains, where the Caverns lie. There are two ways to enter the Caverns, by the mile-long switchback path (all paved and handrailed), or by the elevator. Either way you descend nearly 800 feet. The path is the only way to go, despite the dire sign warnings of "severe exertion," etc. I guess given the general state of health of America, the signs are warranted, but it was no big deal, and you see a lot of formations along the way, and it builds the anticipation for the "Big Room." Wow, is it spectacular. Huge. Theatrically lit (in the good sense), and lots of mites, tites, curtains, pools, columns, you name it. Of course, yours truly forgot the tripod we bought specifically for this, and I had to hand hold the camera, with typical blurry results. The circle tour of the Big Room is another mile plus, and it is "wows" all the way. Definitely on the must see list. You are required to take the elevator to exit, so we got back to the surface in a minute or so. We killed time for four hours (awful lunch, typical of federal concessionaires, and only points out what a good job the state parks do by comparison) to wait for the evening migration of the bats out of the cave mouth. At least 100,000, and up to 300,000 depending on the time of year. Eerie sight. They can't all come out at once, so they swarm out in groups, get their act together, and then head off for the nearest water source, which here is the Pecos river. They don't allow photography, as the electronic emissions from cameras screw up the bats' sonar. Everyone has to be still, so you can actually hear the faint flutter of thousands of bat wings as they circle out of the cave. I suppose it goes on for quite a while before they finish, but 15 minute was enough to give us the experience. Besides, we wanted to get on the road before it got pitch black. We did, but it got dark almost immediately. This was our first night ride, nearly 50 miles back to the camp. Hmmmm. No moon, 2 lane road in the middle of nowhere, no streetlights, semis coming at us, and us blasting along at 60 in order not to hold up the traffic behind us. Baptism by fire. We made it just fine until about 10 miles from camp when a sudden wind gust nearly toppled us. Where did THAT come from?

More for this post sometime later. Gotta pack up and get on the road.