Pecos River

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Another slow day, but it was a beautiful one.  Lost an hour last night, so we started out a little later this morning.  In the afternoon, I decided to go for a bike ride down to the lake.  I was surprised to find that the primitive camping area was down next to the lake. 

Took the bike down the gravel road and there was no one in the primitive area.  It had a number of sites very near the water.  Unfortunately, they charge $10 for no facilities at all, and for $4 more you get water and electric, so we chose the latter. The grassland around the lake is beautiful and serene.  Bet there are lots of jack rabbits in there munching away. The lakeshore is not hospitable.  No walking along the shore at this lake.

After getting back from my bike ride, I took the jeep down to the dam  to take a look around.  Climbed to the top and looked back at our campground.Looking south along the lake berm holding the water from the desert floor below.My jeep waits for me to climb back down. 

In the trees in the background, is the Pecos River after leaving this dam.   I am now heading down to the Pecos River to get a few last photos before we leave the area tomorrow.

I had to walk through some gnarly trees to see the river.  Not an easy one to get to. Looking back.

There’s the Pecos River heading to the Rio Grande in Texas.

See you later.

Lazy Day

Saturday, March 8, 2014

This morning, it was cloudy and cool.  Not used to cool.  It only got to 56 today and the breeze off the lake made it feel cooler.   Didn’t have any plans today, so we stayed around the motorhome and watched TV.

This evening, around sunset, I went out to catch a photo of the sunset and the dam,  and there was a Black-Tailed Jack Rabbit nearby, watching the sunset too.  So, I got a few pictures of him too.

Here are a few more photos from yesterday near the Carlsbad Caverns.

Dolly and Fergie in Jail
Indian campsites in wash wall Trail on Rattlesnake Canyon	Dolly and Fergie walking out of Rattlesnake Canyon

See you later.

Carlsbad Caverns Scenic Drive

Friday, March 7, 2014

It is supposed to be a beautiful day, so after breakfast, we hopped in the jeep and headed south on highway 62/180 for Carlsbad Caverns.  We aren’t planning on going into the caverns because Fergie would not be able to go.  Since we both have seen them before, we decided to take the 10 mile scenic drive through Walnut Canyon. 

This drive starts at the top of the mountain where the caverns are located and winds around Walnut Canyon back down to near the entrance at highway 62/180. 

About a mile before reaching the Caverns entrance there is an old trading post.  Unfortunately, it was closed.  I am sure it had been there for many years.  Don’t see these too much anymore.    Here is Dolly and Fergie at the teepee.

We were soon at the entrance.  There was a two lane road that went seven miles up Walnut Canyon. When we got to the top, there is a large entrance building that sells lots of souvenirs.  Dolly had to do some shopping before we headed out for the scenic loop.

View of the Chihauhaun Desert from the top of the canyon at the entrance to the caverns.

About three miles into the drive, the trailhead for Rattlesnake Canyon was on our left.  Beautiful canyon. We walked a short way up the canyon and took some photos.

We continued on around Walnut Canyon.  There was a turn in the wash, so I got out of the jeep to investigate.  As I was walking toward the wash, Dolly yelled. “Look up"!”  I heard a clacking noise and looked across the wash and there was a Mule Deer walking along the hillside.

We were nearly to the end of our scenic drive, when I saw something long and slim move in the gravel road ahead.  Grabbed the camera and jumped out of the jeep to get a closer look. It was a very pretty Bull Snake.  Looked like it had recently shed its skin and was nice and shiny.  I guess it is about three to four feet in length.

By the time we stopped by Walmart for a few groceries and got home, it was already 5 pm and time to call it a day.  We had an enjoyable day.

See you later.

Hair Day

Thursday, March 6, 2014

We decided not to go anywhere today.  After breakfast, I drove into Carlsbad and got a haircut, beard cut and mustache cut all in one.  We will be going home soon and I couldn’t let my family see me like this. Instead, they will see this. I still have the locks, but the sideburns and beard are groomed now.  You can see my ears now, too.

We did take a little excursion to go see the lake just northeast of us.  It is named Lake McMillan and on my Microsoft Streets and Trips map, it looks bigger than Brantley Lake.  The Pecos River goes into this lake before dropping into Brantley Lake.  I did notice that there were no roads going to the lake and sure enough we did not find any.  And the lake must be high on a hill because we could not see it.  We could see a large berm, but I did not want to take Dolly up any of the rough roads that went up there.  We did see a large swampy lowland that may have been the Pecos River basin, but it did not have any roads either. That gray you see down there is not water, it is gray reeds or grass out there.  There was a fresh road going across it, but I did not dare try it in fear of sinking into the ground.  Maybe the lake is behind those hills over there.  Maybe the lake is the swampy lowland and there is no water in it right now. 

Did run onto some crude oil containers that are not in use anymore. Dolly and Fergie looked in one of them to make sure it was empty.

See you later.

Queen Road to Dog Canyon

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

This morning we decided to drive the 60 miles down Queen Road back to Dog Canyon in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  This road goes from Hwy 285 right across the road from the entrance to Brantley Lake State Park.  We drove part of this road, when we took Dark Canyon Road the day we arrived.  I just had to find out what it was like to drive the entire road till it came to a dead end at the Texas border.

The road started out following a wash through small mountains just west of hwy 285.  This one actually had water running through it. As we left the small mountains and came out of the wash, a large valley was in front of us.  This area has a number of gas refineries in it.

There was wind today, so it looked hazy in the distance.  The Queen Road runs to the west of Carlsbad and goes all the way down the state to the west of Carlsbad Caverns and through a section of the Lincoln National Forest and ends just on the west side of the same Guadalupe Mountains that we stayed in last weekend. 

Beautiful scenery

This guy was resting right next to the road. After about 35 miles, we started up into the Lincoln National Forest. Someone made a wrong turn!

We found out why the road is named Queen.  There is a very small community by that name.  Had an RV park and a fire station.  Also, there was a monument to the Flying Paper Boy.

The Guadalupe Mountains ran along to the east of us as we traveled south. Finally, the asphalt ended right at the Texas border.  Just ahead is Dog Canyon. They don’t allow dogs on the trails, so we didn’t hike into the canyon.  The trails lead up to the same mountains as the trails on the east side do.  The mountains don’t look as pretty from the west side as they did when we were camping at Pine Springs Campground last weekend.

Yesterday, as we were driving into the campground, I saw an animal on the side of the road for a brief second.  It looked like a small deer or a very large rabbit.  I tried to point it out to Dolly, but it was gone into the brush before she could see it.  She accused me of seeing things. 

So, this evening at about the same time, I headed back down the road with my camera to prove it to her.  I didn’t really expect to see it at the same spot, but Voila, he posed for me!  

 
See you later.