New Mexico: A Drive Home

Highway 82, between High Rolls and Alamogordo, New Mexico. October 2012.

Whenever I drove home to Alamogordo down from Cloudroft or other parts east on Highway 82, I'd think, when I got to this spot: Wow, I live here.

Highway 82, between High Rolls and Alamogordo, New Mexico. October 2012.

It was always uplifting to see the White Sands. 

Where the Sunset Draws a Crowd

On Saturday, I drove back to Alamogordo from Artesia on Highway 82. Doing this meant driving from a high, flat plain, then rising gently into the Sacramento Mountains, peaking at about 9000 feet, then starting a more precipitous descent down the western side of the range, onto the high desert.

The cumulative effect of passing through so much beauty of different forms can be overwhelming.  

In the mountains, the smell of pine saturated the air.

Where it had been stifling hot in Artesia, it became almost chilly in Mayhill, where I stopped for dinner and became an audience member at a roadside summer concert. 

I left at dusk, continuing west on Highway 82, toward Alamogordo. As I passed High Rolls, a spectacular sunset began to emerge.

After going through the Lincoln tunnel, it was imperative that I stop at the adjacent scenic overlook. Just to watch the sunset. I wasn't the only one. There were people already there when I arrived, and more pulled in after me, just to see the orangey-pink-yellow-red streamers over the San Andres Mountains on the west side of the Tularosa Basin.

A woman standing next to me said, "It makes you believe in God just to look at it."

Sunset over the San Andres Mountains, across from Tularosa Basin, New Mexico

 

The Spell of New Mexico, Chapter I: Tony Hillerman

Tularosa Basin and Valley of Fires view from Highway 380, New Mexico

Awhile back, Josh, a thoughtful reader, recommended The Spell of New Mexico to me. Edited by Tony Hillerman, and published in 1976, it is a collection of essays by famous creatives who lived in or visited New Mexico.

My local library had the book, but it was missing until now. 

From Mr. Hillerman's introduction in Chapter 1: 

[Oliver] La Farge treasured New Mexico because it offered - probably more than any place in America - a rich variety of human cultures, religions, and value systems, and because it attracted and held an interesting variety of immigrants. ...

'The breadth and height of the land, its huge self and its huge sky, strike you like a blow,' [poet Winfield Townley] Scott wrote ...

To the above, I say check and check.

Angel Peak, New Mexico

Mr Hillerman described one of his special places in New Mexico:

...Those places that stir me have features in common. All are empty and lonely. They invoke a sense of both space and strangeness, and all have about them a sort of fierce inhospitality.

One such place is east of U.S. 54 near the old Three Rivers service station north of Tularosa. The road jolts across the Southern Pacific tracks toward the foothills of the Sierra Blanca and passes a high, grassy ridge. On a July afternoon, the view from there suggests a hostile planet. The ragged stone ridgeline of the Sierra Oscura rises fifty miles to the west, and the Tularaso Basin below is lost in a haze of heat. If you climb high enough and the light is right, you can see to the southwest the glittering line formed by the gypsum dunes of White Sands and below the Oscuras the Black smudge of the lava-bed badlands. 

For me, this is one of many of New Mexico's magic places. 

This place Mr. Hillerman describes is within a Bureau of Land Management site, the Three Rivers Petroglyphs. The old service station is an art gallery, gift and coffee shop.

I have stood exactly where Mr. Hillerman describes, and looked out toward that "glittering line" that is White Sands. This place that Mr. Hillerman found magical is less than an hour from where I live in Alamogordo.


Every time I see that line of White Sands - or the distinctive Organ Mountains between Alamogordo and Las Cruces - I imagine people of centuries ago returning from a long trip, and when they see that glittering line, think, "we're almost home."

Bisti Wilderness, New Mexico

Apache Point Observatory, Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

Apache Point Observatory, Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

I got the idea from the NSO tour guide that the astronomists at nearby Apache Point Observatory, also on Sacramento Peak, have a rather good sense of humor. Alas, Apache Point Observatory only offers two public tours per year, and I've missed both opportunities.

But I walked around the grounds.  

Apache Point Observatory, Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

Not only do the astronomers have a good view, presumably, of the skies, they've got a kick-ass view of the mountainside and the Tularosa Basin off into the distance.

Apache Point Observatory, Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

   

Sunspot, New Mexico: National Solar Observatory

National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, Sacramento Peak, New Mexico

The word on the mountain is that the observatory operation in Sunspot, New Mexico, will have new owners soon. What this might mean for future access to the site, or even what will be happening here - don't know. But if Sunspot's been on your list of places to visit for awhile, now's the time to do it.

National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, Sacramento Peak, New Mexico

Regardless of whether or not there'll be new owners, many of the scientists will decamp to Colorado or to the National Solar Observatory's new solar observatory in Hawaii:

NSO currently has offices and ground-based observing facilities at Kitt Peak, Ariz., and Sacramento Peak, N.M., which will cease operations when the new Advanced Technology Solar Telescope is completed.

National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, Sacramento Peak, New Mexico

I visited the observatory recently, and made the once-daily tour at 2:00 p.m. Pleasant tour albeit a little rushed, as a Scout group was scheduled afterward.

















The drive up to Sunspot is lovely, cutting through the Lincoln National Forest and private lands, with numerous opportunities to stop at a trail head for hiking, a place for a picnic lunch at the restorative Upper Karr Canyon Recreation Area, and a kicking view of the Tularosa Basin at the Haynes Canyon Vista lookout.

Haynes Canyon Vista, en route to Sunspot, on State Road 6563, New Mexico

I even discovered the terminus for the mysterious Binoculars 58!

Sunspot has its own post office.

National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, Sacramento Peak, New Mexico

 You can tell that nerds live here because Sunspot's street names are so .... practical.

National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, Sacramento Peak, New Mexico

 There is also a Trailer Drive, on which there are trailers.


And, as with the Very Large Array, I loved the irony of old-school technology in a field that is so literally out there scientifically.

National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, Sacramento Peak, New Mexico

National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, Sacramento Peak, New Mexico

National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, Sacramento Peak, New Mexico

Inside the main observatory, I wondered about the interior design - the warm color on the walls and the giant globed lights. It wasn't til I processed my photos that I had an aha moment - the large globe lights are like the sun.

National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, Sacramento Peak, New Mexico

There was an intro video that preceded the tour. Original scientists atop the mountain shortly after the end of WWII, when denied money for a real observatory, repurposed a grain silo, ordered from Sears, as a work-around. This historic building is still onsite.

National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, Sacramento Peak, New Mexico

For now, there are about 50 people who live for all or part of the year up in Sunspot, but evidently a number will move out in the fall to Colorado as the operations from New Mexico to Colorado or Hawaii transition.

National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, Sacramento Peak, New Mexico

 
Our tour guide, a graduate student living at Sunspot this summer, noted that bears are a common sight around their residences, and one scientiest encountered a mountain lion while walking between the visitor center and one of the observatories.

National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, Sacramento Peak, New Mexico

   
As I said, don't put off a tour to the observatory at Sunspot for too long - it may not be there a year from now.

Bosque del Apache, NM: Festival of Cranes: Rescues

Great horned owl, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

I spent the first part of my day at Festival of the Cranes at the fun duck-banding activity. For the balance, I visited the many exhibits outside the visitor center.

Kestrel, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

Lots of raptors! I think there were perhaps four separate rescue organizations represented, each bringing owls and hawks, and one bringing a wolf.

Harris hawk, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

Back of great horned owl, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

Great horned owl, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

Screech owl, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

Wolf and penitent owner, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

About the man with the wolf. He bought the wolf when it was eight weeks old, and quickly realized that raising a wolf is not like raising a dog. His current mission is to educate people about the stupidity of taking on wolves as pets. His wolf, now about three years old, lives in the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, where the man now also lives and works.

There was also a rather large representation of snake lovers at the festival.

Bull snake, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

I had in mind to take a walk at the refuge, but by the time I finished visiting all of the exhibits, I was ready to push on, thinking perhaps to swing through Capitan on a circuitous route home to Alamogordo. 

On the way out, I stopped by a lake with snow geese.

Snow geese, Festival of Cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

Heading home, I took Highway 380 east, the reverse of my way to Bosque del Apache in the morning. What a pretty highway, and the foliage is changing color, resulting in soft yellows and ivories, deep oranges.

Colored hills in November, near Fite Ranch, Highway 380, New Mexico

November colors, Fite Ranch, Highway 380, New Mexico

November colors, Highway 380, between mile markers 56-57, New Mexico

November colors, Highway 380, between mile markers 56-57, New Mexico

I passed a tall cholla cactus with what I thought were yellow flowers, but on further research, must be buds, which will transform perhaps to violet-colored flowers. If so, I look forward to seeing that. Anyway, I passed this tall plant, so turned around and went back to get photos. I found a herd of them.

Cholla cactus, between mile markers 56-57, Highway 380, New Mexico

Cholla cactus, between mile markers 56-57, Highway 380, New Mexico

Cholla cactus, between mile markers 56-57, Highway 380, New Mexico

And now that this has been maybe my third trip down this highway, and the spectacular basin view, here's a pretty-good photo of same:

Highway 380, New Mexico, between San Antonio and Carrizozo

But I hope to get many more opportunities to find that perfect shot.

It's pretty special to live in New Mexico for this year, to be able to look at these spectacular sights so often. 

Coming up: Another pass through Carrizozo. And Tularosa.

Oliver Lee Memorial State Park: My Temporary Home

Hello! Thanks for dropping in to my temporary place in the Tularosa Basin!

(And between you and me, I'm happy you've only got the two legs.)

Let me show you around.

So here's a pretty good view of the campsite shelter. Not all the sites have them, but they're a must to keep the sun at bay and also protect me from the rain, although a fellow camper said when the rain hits really hard, there can be veritable creeks running right through the living room.

The tablecloth there? Every day, a hummingbird stops by and re-confirms that, no, these aren't real flowers. I bought this tablecloth in the Yukon more than 15 years ago when my daughter and I took a road trip to Alaska.

Oliver Lee Memorial Park, Alamogordo, New Mexico

Here you can see a view of the Sacramento Mountains behind my site. 

Oliver Lee Memorial Park, Alamogordo, New Mexico

And here's my living room. The table I bought from friend Jackie at her garage sale when she moved to Tennessee. That Playmate cooler figures prominently in my road trip pack list.  The plastic trash bag affixed to my chair - the campsites are bereft of places to attach things like trash bags, clotheslines, and the like, though I did learn of one trick from a fellow camper. More on that later.

Oliver Lee Memorial Park, Alamogordo, New Mexico

This is the view from my dining table: the Tularosa Basin.

Oliver Lee Memorial Park, Alamogordo, New Mexico

Since I've been in the area, I've seen six tarantulas, a rattlesnake, and other ominous-looking critters.

This visitor just barged right in without asking. We agreed that if I left it alone, it'd leave me alone.

Oliver Lee Memorial Park, Alamogordo, New Mexico

On the way back from a ranger talk, I saw this long rattlesnake crossing the road.

Oliver Lee Memorial Park, Alamogordo, New Mexico. Rattlesnake.

When I first arrived at my campsite, I found these four pennies on the picnic table. In case they were somehow maintaining order in the universe, I left them on the table, though I did rearrange them in a fashion more pleasing to my eye. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

Oliver Lee Memorial Park, Alamogordo, New Mexico.