It Was A Good Trip - Part 4

Driving into the mountains of the Lincoln National Forest was a high point in my life. When most of your life is spent in the Coastal Plains of Texas, or the swampland of Louisiana, mountains are a treat. Besides the splendor, and vistas, the lower temperature is pleasant. Adding the lack of high humidity makes it even better. Photographs really don't show the depth, but the steep hills are something to see. 

It was early, and not that far from where we would stay, so we detoured to Lincoln, the central point of the Lincoln County War and the escapades of Billy the Kid. Any tourist attractions, or vendors were not there. Apparently, since it was before Memorial Day, everything was closed, except the local sheriff's office. I met him, when I pulled off the road for my wife to take a picture, and he sternly reminded me to be completely off the paving, if I wanted to stop. I pulled off, he gave me a dirty look, and drove on. I doubt he has much use for tourists, unless they open their wallets to help the local commerce. 

I'm thinking there's much to see inside the buildings. There's much history in the area, but without that, the following picture pretty well sums up how small Lincoln is. 

Maybe, one day in the future, we'll return during the on season. For those that are thinking of going, wait until after Memorial Day, and enjoy the trip to and from. That, and think of how rough life was during the late eighteen hundreds. Navigating that brutal terrain had to be tough, and herding cattle a nightmare.

This was the start of our visit to this part of New Mexico. Our motel was in Ruidoso, which is beautiful, but definitely a tourist town. There is an airport nearby, which allows those with airplanes to fly in for whatever reasons. I can't write anything bad about the city, and for those that like tourist areas, it's fantastic, and the people are nice. I'll just post pictures with notes to shorten the description of the next few days. 

Fort Stanton Cemetery, which is a national cemetery. Graves are from every conflict, and it takes hours to walk among them, if you decide to do so. There is a directory. 

Looking west toward the Gila Mountains across the White Sands. I don't know how many miles this is, but it's a substantial part of New Mexico.

Mexican Canyon Trestle. All that remains of a narrow gauge railroad used to haul the original huge Douglas Firs from the mountain to Alamagordo. Better photos can be found on the internet.

 

Trail that allows you to wander among the Three River Petroglyphs.  It's in the Tularosa Basin.

One that stood out to me. I'm thinking with the amount of access, some may not be original. This one looks very old. There are many, and if it's hot, wandering can be a dangerous effort. That, and unsafe for those that are not surefooted. 

Small Catholic church down the road from the petroglyphs. 

Ruins near the church. I'm thinking they're really old, since I've never seen those types of bricks at Lowe's.

Dry wash near the ruins and church. I don't know where the parishioners come from, but it must be far away. This area is best described as desolate. 

 

 Part of the Carrizozo Volcanic Fields. The history of the volcano that created the fields is interesting, and you're supposed to be able to see the cone, if you know where to look. I couldn't see anything that indicated a cone, which is around ten miles from where I was. 

After we came home, and I looked up the Trinity Site, I realized were not far from where the first atomic bomb was tested. That's something I'd like to see, but the rigamarole to go is complex, and offered only a few times each year. Even then, you ride a bus to the site and are warned to not pick up the green glass that is still radioactive.

One of the last places we stopped, before going back for our last night at the motel, was of a large area ravaged by a forest fire years before. The bare hills were once covered with Ponderosa Pines. Generations will never see them, and from what I saw of the forest, a substantial amount of forest was either logged, or burned. 

The trip home was basically uneventful. We chose a different path through Texas, which allowed us to see multiple miles of rolling hills covered with sparse, dry vegetation interspersed with hundreds of oil wells. We spent one night in Waco, and made the much shorter drive the next day.

I didn't have the time, or money, to spend the amount of time I would have liked touring New Mexico. There's caverns, the Gila National Forest, and multiple square miles of things I'd like to see. What I did see only made me want to see more, and maybe I'll get the opportunity again.

I have to add that when I started these posts, it seemed like something good to do. After it was all said and done, I realized they look like what I dread, which is someone wanting to show me photos of their vacation. It's not that it's a bad thing, but people lose interest after about fifteen milliseconds, and want to move on to something else, or go home.