Starting where we ended, we visited the Organ Mountains which, along with the Rio Grande, are the most prominent physical features of Las Cruces.
Here are the same peaks as seen from the other side at Aguirre Springs
And now the peaks as seen from Mesilla, the old heart of Las Cruces
And a view from the Organ Mountains of Las Cruces and Mesilla stretching along the Rio Grande
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| You'll have to click on the image to actually see it. |
One more view from the Organ Mountains of White Sands in the distance, which is the location of the most well known photo of me. It's not a great photo but the historical interest compelled me to include it.
The Organ Mountains are where the colorful and gregarious hermit died in the 1860s. Here is Cyndi standing outside of his last cave and where he was murdered.
The Hermit is buried in the old Mesilla cemetery and we spent some time wandering thru the graveyard looking for his headstone, but they kicked us out before we could find it. A few pictures to give you a feeling.
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| I'm not sure what this means. But this is just one of many reasons I'm glad I'm not a Cowboys fan. |
We had dinner at La Posta because the well-known gourmands Billy the Kid and Pancho Villa ate here.
Cyndi was exceptionally eager to get to dinner this night.
Cyndi looked like that after just one sip.
It was a long walk back to the RV after dinner.
Before we got to Las Cruces we visited the Gila Cliff Dwellings.
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| The walls and the wood beams are original, about 800 years old |
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| Of course, the ladder and steps are not original. Cyndi is a modern addition, too. |
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| Nice View. The commute sucks, tho. |
We started out at the Bosque del Apache, where we took a walk thru this nice canyon.
Cyndi saw a sign that said mountain lions were in the area, so she picked up this stick to defend herself.
It must have been effective, because we weren't attacked.
On a Stairway to Heaven.
Given where she started, Cyndi has a lot of climbing to do.
The Bosque is in the northern-most Chihuahuan Desert. Spring rains brought lots of flowers ... very small flowers. The largest was about the size of your thumbnail, the smallest about a quarter the size of the nail on your little finger.
The Bosque is a wildlife refuge, mostly for waterfowl but by this time in the spring, most have left for the northern parts. We did see a few ducks, geese, egrets, cranes and ibis. And swallows. Spring brings bugs and bugs brings swallows and the swallows are happy.
And to end where I began and the trip ended, here is a panorama of the Organ Mountains as seen from Aguirre Springs. You'll have to click this to see anything, but then you can zoom in and out and pan back and forth and have a whale of a time.
Thanks to Google for the viewer software.
Bonus homework assignment for you: find the solitary tree clinging to the side of the batholith in this photo. You'll have to zoom in quite a bit. It's a very determined tree. (Hint: "batholith" is geologist speak for "big ass rock")
And for my Chinese fans
强风造成坚强的分支
异议者使国家更强大