Petroglyphs & White Sands

We left Demming and headed for Las Cruces on the way to Alamogordo. The wind was still blowing hard and the rig was crabbing most of the way. When we got closer to Las Cruces the dust was blowing out on the flats and laying up along the mountains. Rather than take the rig into a sandstorm, we parked in an abandoned K-Mart parking lot and unhitched the car. We figured it was about 200 miles round trip to go up to Three Rivers Petroglyphs Recreation Area and we could stop at White Sands National Monument on the way back.

Hopping on Hwy 70 we headed for Alamogordo. Like most of these desert towns, it is spread out far and wide. Leaving Alamogordo we passed through Tularosa and about 18 miles later reached Three Rivers Trading Post and the Gate to the Three Rivers Petroglyph Recreation Area http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/las_cruces/three_rivers.html. Five miles along a narrow desert road we pulled up into the parking lot. I talked to the ranger while Tina took the dogs for a walk, then we headed out on the one mile loop up along the ridge. All this time the wind was blowing with gusts up to 50 mph, bringing the temperature down around 35 degrees with the chill factor.

Over 20,000 petroglyphs were etched into rocks all along this particular ridge about 600 years ago. There are more than 35 different images along the trail. We hiked the loop and hurried back to the car to get warmed up. It was very interesting and would have been nicer if it had been warmer.

Once in the car we retraced our path back towards Las Cruces. Fifteen miles southwest of Alamogordo we came to the White Sands National Monument http://www.nps.gov/whsa/. This was really interesting with the stark white sands blowing across the road. We started out on the eight mile loop and made it most of the way before we were turned back - the road was closed - the sand was drifting across the road faster than it could be removed. It really is very pretty but with all the sand and dust in the air, you could feel the grit in your teeth, so we spent little time outside the car.

The drive back to Las Cruces was uneventful. We got back and hooked up the car. The wind had died down considerably but we decided to head to El Paso for the night before heading for Carlsbad. We jumped on I-10 and headed east to Texas, getting in to Mission RV Park and settling in for the night.

This leg, 110 miles plus the 200 in the car. Total so far, 2,309 miles.

To see all of today's photos click on this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski