#15 Aiming For Alamogordo

We were out of Texas like a wind storm and into the Carlsbad area of New Mexico looking for better weather and a little sitting time to regroup before we head home to California. We stopped at Brantley Lake State Park north of Carlsbad for a few days. We visited Carlsbad Caverns twice in the past so skipped it this time. While at Brantley we decided to drive due west to Sitting Bull Falls. This desert oasis boasts one of the tallest falls in the state at 130 feet and we had heard that it was a very interesting area. It is some 31 miles out into the Lincoln National Forest on the eastern edge of the Guadalupe Mountain Range. I personally love the Guadalupes because they are this ancient sea bed driven skyward by tectonics and worn down to their very essence. They sometimes show their bare bones, or perhaps I should say corals and shells, they are riddled with caves, underground rivers and springs and just seem like a wonderland in the middle of the southern American desert. Did you guess I was a bit excited to go out into them and to see one more of their wonders, this one above ground?





Our drive out along NM137 and County Road 409 took us through classic desert badlands where it seems the only things that move are the winds and range cattle. I admire these longhorn cross-breeds with their adaptability, survivability, patient curiosity and infinite variety.





Those intrepid CCC boys had a hand in developing and building a lovely picnic area filled with all important sturdy stone ramadas for wind protection. I think this part of the country will supply a huge abundance of wind generated power to a National Grid if and when we can get it up and operating. The winds are incessant and strong! This dead end canyon is remarkable in how quickly the flora changes with a small amount of water. As you climb up the stairs and pathways into the canyon you can see how the acacias, mesquite and creosote give way to stunted oaks and then mighty cottonwoods. The grasses change from dull tans to varying shades of greens and the stone walls become travertine then cliffs of tufa rock. You feel the wind whipped spray before you even hear or see the waterfall itself. I instantly understood why this canyon became a mecca for thousands of years for all who tried to traverse these dry badlands.









You literally round a corner and there it is – a veil and spray of life-giving force sliding, trickling down the cliff; caught and tossed by the wind only to settle in algae lined pools of calmness. Cokie’s ability to capture the toss and tumble, the ripples and rivulets, the colorful shades and subtleties of a water world is remarkable to me. I am always grateful for her artist’s eye and that you and I can see what she sees!









Well wow, I certainly waxed poetic that time but Hey! We had heard that there are Ranger guided tours into a cavern behind the falls that boasts some pretty spectacular formations and a small deep lake but we couldn’t find a Ranger and we weren’t brave enough to go exploring on our own. We chose instead to head on up to Oliver Lee Memorial State Park near Alamogordo and sit for a few weeks. We drove north on 285 to Artesia then west on 82 into the Sacramento Mountains, crossing our fingers that the road over the 8,650 foot summit at Cloudcroft would be clear and devoid of snow. It was until we started down the western grade toward Alamogordo when we ran into a few flurries; just enough to make for a few showy, snowy snapshots!





At last we drove out onto the basin floor and relative calm. Romping cats and rippling currents are part of the delights of Dog Canyon and Oliver Lee Memorial State Park. These are just a few of the small joys of this quiet place.

We were happy to meet Crassy & Cholla, two very friendly and entertaining camping cats who lived with their two legged friend, Jerry, who was our neighbor.











I know we have spoken about this nice, small State Park campground before so I will refrain from any more prose and just let the photographer’s eye take you on a journey of the spaces around us.