Today we took the trail from City of the Rocks near Silver City, New Mexico to Lyman Lake State Park near St.Johns, Arizona. The route was slow as we went up and down mountain passes. We started at 5,000 feet above sea level the to over 7,000 feet the down to 4,400 feet then up again to over 8,400 feet then finally going down.
Lyman Lake State Park:
Today, we went by Honda to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. A very slow drive on switch back roads.
We had lunch at the trail head then went off to the cliff dwellings.
The people who built the cliff dwellings were part of the Mogollon culture. They combined hunting and gathering with faming and traditionally built pit houses or surface pueblos in the mountainous areas of Arizona and New Mexico. The Mogollon found abundant game and fertile soil in the Gila River Valley for both native vegetation and their crops of corn, beans and squash. Breaking with tradition, the Tularosa Mogollon built inside the caves of Cliff Dweller Canyon with rock, mortar and timbers from trees cut between 1276 and 1287. But by 1300 the Gila Cliff Dwellers had moved on.
Approximately 40 rooms were built inside several natural caves in Cliff Dweller Canyon. Artifacts and architectural elements show that these ancient cultures traded not only materials but ideas. The Gila Cliff Dwellers left behind macaw feathers from Central America, and the built T-shaped doorways also used by other cultures.
We did see some small wildlife:
And some large trees on the trail
More Photos:
We left the White Sands valley today to go to the City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico near Silver City.
We arrived early in the afternoon to this:
The Rocks are formed of volcanic ash 30 million years ago and sculpted by wind and water into rows of monolithic Blocks. The rock formations at the park are so unique that they are only known to exist in six other places in the world. Until 1200 A.D, Mimbres Indian roamed this area and left arrowheads and pottery shards as evidence of their culture. Spanish conquistadors also spent time in the area, carving crosses into the rooks.
More Photos:
On the first Saturday in April and October, the Trinity Site is open to the public. We took the escorted Trip starting from the Tularosa, NM at 7:15AM and entered the missile range through the Tularosa Gate at 8 AM. Just before 10 AM we arrived at the Trinity Site 80 miles into the White Sands Missile Range.
The area was declared a national historic landmark in 1975. The landmark includes base camp, where the scientists and support group lived; ground zero, where the bomb was placed for the explosion; and the Schmidt/McDonald ranch house, where the plutonium core to the bomb was assembled.
More Photos:
We left the Trinity Site through the unescorted Stallion Gate on the north end of the White Sands Missile Range. We headed west to the valley of fires Recreation Area.
From the nature trail circular:
The harsh and beautiful Carrizozo Lava Flow developed from extrusions in the earth’s relatively thin crust in the area. Lava vents extruded lava which flowed on the earth’s surface about 1,500 to 5,000 years ago, making this one of the youngest lava flows in the Continental U.S. The lava flowed south down the Tularosa basin, burying everything in its path except the land you are standing on and a few other islands called Kipukas, The flow is 2 to 5 miles wide and 44 miles long. In places, the lava is 165 feet thick and has a surface area of 127 square miles. The lava is olivine basalt, similar to Hawaiian lava flows. The hill you are standing on is made of Dakota Sandstone, Pushed up from the floor of an ancient sea 130 to 140 million years ago.
Then off up the mountains to Capitan, NM to see the “Smokey Bear Museum and Park”. The park pays tribute to a courageous little bear that has become the nation’s symbol for fighting and preventing forest fires. Smokey’s body is buried in the park that bears his name.
Today we went to Three Rivers Petroglyph Site about 40 miles north of Alamogordo, NM. It was an amazing outcrop of rocks with over 20,000 petroglyphs over 600 years old.
More Photos of the petroglyphs:
At sunset in Oliver Lee State Park:
The view the other way:
We started off the morning with a walk to dog canyon at sunrise.
Dog Canyon in Oliver Lee State Park (our camp)
Wild Yellow Columbine on the trail.
The sunrise at the visitor center in Oliver Lee State Park.
Then off we went to the ‘New Mexico Museum of Space History’ in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Very well done.
Some Photos:
Then we went up highway 82 to Cloudcroft then on to the top of Sacramento Peak to the National Solar Observatory at 9,200 feet. The valley is at 4,200 to 4,300 feet above sea level. The trip was only 18 miles to Cloudcroft, then 16 miles to the top of Sacramento Peak. The views are great and we learned a little about how you study the sun.
Some Photos:
On March 31, 2009 we moved to Oliver Lee Memorial State Park near Alamogordo New Mexico.
Our first stop on April 1st is White Sands National Monument. Wikipedia says,
The White Sands National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located about 25 km (15 miles) southwest of Alamogordo in western Otero County and northeastern Dona Ana County in the state of New Mexico, at an elevation of 4235 feet (1291 m). The area is in the mountain-ringed Tularosa Basin valley area and comprises the southern part of a 710-km² (275-mi²) field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals.
It was a great day, except the winds are very strong. The sand starts to move at 17 mph, but today was more like sandblasting.
More Photos:
