Barbara and I landed in California just before Thanksgiving and have not been feeling well since. Approximately 10 days ago we were both diagnosed with Covid-19. Due to this I have not been taking any photos and have not been posting to my blog. I did get out and take a few photos before I got sick and then again today. I am feeling much better and Barbara is on the mend. The photos I took this morning at Lake Minden almost look like oil paintings. Take a Look!
This morning Barbara and I decided to brave the cold and visit the Garden of the Gods. As it turned out it was a good call. The last time we visited the park there were so many people that in most places we couldn’t find a parking spot and when we could there were so many people getting good photos was difficult. When we started this morning the temperature was 34 degrees and it topped out at 37 degrees. Not exactly t-shirt weather.
The outstanding geologic features of the park are the ancient sedimentary beds of deep-red, pink and white Pennsylvania age sandstone, conglomerate and limestone that were deposited horizontally, but have now been tilted vertically and faulted into “fins” by the immense mountain building forces caused by the uplift of the Rocky Mountains and the Pikes Peak massif during the Laramide Orogeny. The movement of ice during the Ice Ages (Pleistocene Epoch) resulted in erosion and glaciation of the rock, creating the present rock formations. Evidence of past ages can be read in the rocks: ancient seas, eroded remains of ancestral mountain ranges, alluvial fans, sandy beaches and great sand dune fields.
This morning Barbara and I took the cog-train to the top of Pikes Peak. Pikes Peak is my favorite place in the entire world. I have been to the top every way a person can. I have taken the cog-train up, twice now, I have driven up and down the road more times than I can remember and I have even climbed the peak twice. In addition, I have ridden in a limousine to the top with my mom and one brother. What a ride. Back in 1975 and 76, I even worked the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, on July 4th, with my cousins. Great memories!
When we arrived at the summit this morning I was so excited that the wind and the cold didn’t bother me. At the summit the temperature was 25 degrees with a wind chill of 5 degrees, but I hardly noticed. I walked around the summit like I was walking on air. I felt at home as this is a place that always makes me feel that “Rocky Mountain High”. I took several photos, marveled at the views and then went into the summit house to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate with Barbara before the return trip to Manitou Springs. The trip to the summit is almost nine miles long, with an elevation gain of 1.5 miles and at one point the train climbs a slope of 25 degrees. The train uses between 60 and 70 gallons of diesel during its accent of the peak and less than one gallon on the decent back to Manitou Springs. I know that I am getting up in the years, but there is still that young man in me that hopes someday soon I will get the chance to scale the summit one more time. Back at the trailer I think to myself, when will I get the chance to go back to that place where I most feel at home?
This morning Barbara and I woke up to an outside temperature of 38 degrees. Due to this I had to break out my “Big Boy Pants”. I believe this is the first time this year I have had to wear long pants. This past winter we were in Florida where the temperatures ranged from 70 to 77 degrees night to day. And this past summer we were exploring the New England states, so there was no need for long pants.
Well after breakfast we headed east to the Capulin Volcano National Monument in northern New Mexico. After visiting the visitors’ center and a short drive to the observation deck, Barbara waited patiently in the truck while I hiked to the summit of the Capulin Volcano and all around the ridge of its cone. Capulin’s cone rises 1,300 feet above the surrounding plains and tops out at 8,182 feet above msl.
The Capulin Volcano is a cinder cone made up of unconsolidated volcanic rock. During the eruption, the Capulin Volcanoes magma contained a lot of trapped gases which is the reason for its explosive nature. Once the gas rich magma had been depleted the subsequent eruptions were nonexplosive, emanating from the base of the volcano. This is a common occurrence of cinder cones. There were four known lava flows emanating from the base of the Capulin Volcano. The Capulin Volcano is the center piece of the 8,000-square-mile Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field. The volcanism here began approximately 9 million years ago when crustal extension created cracks in the earth’s crust, which allowed the magma to rise to the surface. By comparison the Capulin Volcano is only 60,000 years old. In that 60,000 years weathering and breakdown of the rock by organisms like lichen have created enough soil for plant, and subsequently, animal life to thrive here. Take a look!
This morning Barbara and I traveled to the White Sands National Park. This park was created for the purpose of protecting 275 square miles of dunes made predominately of gypsum. On the Mohs hardness scale, which goes from 1, softest, to 10, hardest, gypsum is a 1. What makes these dunes different from other dunes is the gypsum. Most dunes are made up of quartz sand where these dunes are made up of gypsum sand, and White Sands National Park is the largest collection of gypsum dunes anywhere on earth. In fact, this collection of dunes is visible from the International Space Station.
After we left the national park we drove to McGinn’s Pistachio World to see the worlds largest pistachio.
Last evening after we arrived in the town of Alamogordo, New Mexico, where we are currently staying, I stepped outside to view the moon and Venus low in the western sky. It was a great view. I tried taking photos of the two, but they just don’t do it justice. I did get a nice shot of the waxing crescent moon.
This morning Barbara and I got up at 6:30am to go to see Sitting Bull Falls before the crowds arrived. We were in luck as we only encountered one other visitor while we were there. As it turned out, we arrived at the same time as the ranger who opened the gate. On the drive there Barbara and I were wondering if there was going to be any water when we arrived. The first thing we asked the ranger was, “is there any water for the falls?” He said there was, so our trip wasn’t for not. It’s amazing how things in the desert change, as far as vegetation goes, when there is water present. Take a look!
Today Barbara, Hopper and I traveled back to Texas to visit the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The Guadalupe Mountains are home to the four highest peaks in the state of Texas. In addition, these mountains contain one of the best examples of a marine fossil reef. Geologists come from all over the world to marvel at this extra-ordinary phenomenon that formed, during the Permian period, approximately 265 million years ago. The reason that this area is preserved as a national park was to preserve this amazing fossil reef.
Barbara, Hopper and I visited the visitors center and then proceeded to take a short hike through this quiet, rugged mountain/desert landscape. Hopper enjoyed the hike from the comfort of his backpack on my back. Spoiled dog! According to the brochure that we were provided, there are a lot of wild animals that call this park home. The only ones we saw during our hike were two ravens watching over us from the branches of a dead tree. As far as national parks go there isn’t much here, but it does have a rugged beauty that I hope I captured in my photos.
Yesterday Barbara and I explored Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We took the self guided tour through what is known as the Big Room. This is supposed to be a 1.5 hour stroll through the largest open area in the cave. However, it took us 2.5 hours to complete our tour. Honestly, I could have spent the entire day in the cave exploring, but I had to get Barbara out of there because after about an hour she started hallucinating. She started seeing things like dragons and Disney characters in the rock formations.
The geologic story of Carlsbad Caverns began 265 million years ago when a shallow sea covered this area. What became Carlsbad Caverns was then a 400-mile-long, horseshoe shaped, reef composed of mostly algae and sponges. Several million years later tectonic forces lifted the reef out of the shallow sea that covered this area.
Around 15-20 million years ago tectonic forces started pulling the southwest portion of this country apart like that seen today in the state of Nevada called the Basin and Range geomorphic province. This tectonic activity created the faults which created the parallel mountains and valleys seen in today’s Guadalupe Mountains. Over time caves developed in the area of the shallow sea and reefs. Hydrogen sulfide gas, sulfuric acid, water, bacteria all worked together to form what today is known as Carlsbad Caverns. Carlsbad Caverns is not the only cave in the Guadalupe Mountains. There are hundreds of caves in the area, known and unknown.
Carlsbad Caverns is also a sanctuary for hundreds of thousands of Brazilian free-tailed bats. Not to worry though as they only come out at night and head outside to get their fill of insects. This time of year they are gone due to their annual migration to Mexico.
Carlsbad Caverns is by far the most beautiful cave I have ever been in and I have been in a few. Take a look!
Yesterday Barbara and I left Medina Lake and headed northwest to the town of Fort Stockton, Texas. After an overnight stop there, this morning we headed north to Carlsbad, New Mexico. Tomorrow Barbara and I are going to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park and then later in the week we are planning on visiting the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The Guadalupe Mountains are home to the world’s most extensive Permian fossil reef and the four highest peaks in the state of Texas.
This evening while we were relaxing at the RV park we were treated to an amazing New Mexico sunset. This is something I really enjoy about the southwest desert. Generally, when there are clouds in the sky and it’s not raining a colorful sunset is almost a given. Take a look!
Early this morning thunder showers rolled through around 4:00am, so this morning when I got out of bed it was a pleasant 60 degrees and sunny with not a cloud in the sky. After breakfast, comprised of French toast made from cinnamon-raisin bread we bought at Kneaders bakery in San Antonio yesterday, I set out on my early morning hike. Now since it rained heavily last night the trails were muddy, but that’s part of the fun of hiking trails. Everyday I try and take a different trail, so that I can explore as many trails in the area as I can before we leave. I explored a lot of the trails the last time we were here, two years ago, but I won’t even come close seeing them all before we leave.
RV There Yet? 