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Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic SiteHueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site

Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site

Wednesday – Thursday, November 13-14, 2024

After leaving Carlsbad Caverns on Wednesday and driving into the state of Texas for the very first time, we made our way west towards El Paso and detoured into the Hueco Mountains later in the day where we made a quick stop at Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site to verify that their campground was actually closed this night like their website had stated, and it was. Since we couldn’t camp in the park and there wasn’t any public lands nearby, we drove a few miles to the east and found a site to setup our tent just before sunset at the Gleatherland Ranch Campground, which was mostly empty this evening. We ate dinner as the temperature dropped rather quickly, read in the tent for a while and then went to bed early. This would be our first bag night in Texas, too!

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Carlsbad Caverns National Park and the GuadalupesCarlsbad Caverns National Park and the Guadalupes

Carlsbad Caverns National Park and the Guadalupes

Lost in the Land of Enchantment | Monday – Wednesday, November 11-13, 2024

After spending a cold and snowy weekend at Bandelier National Monument and elsewhere around the Pajarito Plateau we headed further south into New Mexico until we reached Carlsbad, which is located in the Permian Basin just east of the Guadalupe Mountains. It was quite a bit warmer here which was a pleasant change from the previous couple of days further north. After checking in to our hotel we still had plenty of daylight left, so we drove over to Carlsbad Caverns National Park so we could start getting acquainted with the park and maybe even find a place to catch the sunset. This turned out to be an excellent idea because as we entered the park we noticed a sign that said there was a Bat Flight program this evening at the Bat Flight Amphitheater. According to the park’s website the Bat Flight Program only takes places from Memorial Day weekend through October, so I didn’t think we would be able to go to one on this trip, but since it was still happening we were excited to check it out!

CONTINUE READINGCarlsbad Caverns National Park and the Guadalupes
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White Rock Canyon of the Rio Grande & Pecos NHPWhite Rock Canyon of the Rio Grande

White Rock Canyon of the Rio Grande & Pecos NHP

Lost in the Land of Enchantment | Sunday & Monday, November 10-11, 2024

After spending most of the weekend hiking around a snow-covered Bandelier National Monument, we left Tsankawi late on Sunday morning and headed over to White Rock Canyon so we could spend the rest of the day exploring the Red Dot Trail along the Rio Grande. Although I knew there were some petroglyphs in this area, I didn’t know where they were and how many we would be able to find, but we were pleasantly surprised to find quite a few along the way which kept us busy until shortly before sunset. Afterwards, we drove up to Los Alamos and had a nice dinner at the Pajarito Brewpub & Grill. Then on Monday morning we returned to Overlook Park in White Rock at sunrise and hiked a short way down the Blue Dot Trail before we left the Pajarito Plateau and started heading further south into New Mexico where we hoped it would be a bit warmer for the rest of the week. Here are a few photos from our time in White Rock Canyon.

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Bandelier National Monument and the Pajarito PlateauBandelier National Monument and the Pajarito Plateau

Bandelier National Monument and the Pajarito Plateau

Lost in the Land of Enchantment | Saturday – Sunday, November 9-10, 2024

We don’t seem to have very good luck when it comes to planning a trip to visit Bandelier National Monument. We have been trying to make it down to Bandelier for the past couple of years and have made plans to go there on at least three separate occasions, but each and every time something has prevented us from making the trip, including park closures due to flash flooding and a wildfire. This year I decided to plan a trip to Bandelier in early November thinking it would be a good time to avoid some of those previous issues, but apparently I was wrong since an early and unusually strong winter storm impacted Bandelier, along with the rest of eastern Colorado and New Mexico, on the day that we were supposed to arrive which closed the park yet again! Talk about bad luck!

CONTINUE READINGBandelier National Monument and the Pajarito Plateau
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Halls Wagon Road to Halls Crossing, More or Less…Halls Wagon Road to Halls Crossing: More or Less...

Halls Wagon Road to Halls Crossing, More or Less…

Friday – Sunday, November 1-3, 2024

I started this weekend trip off with two main goals in mind as I headed west into Utah on Friday. The first one was to drive The V Road in the Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument before it’s closed to motorized vehicles in December, and the second one was to finally take a ride on the Charles Hall Ferry across Lake Powell while it’s open and there is still enough water for it to be in operation. Although these two goals might seem like they can’t possibly be connected in any way, there is a historic route which was known as the Halls Wagon Road, Hall Road or Halls Trail, that went from Escalante to Halls Crossing and does kind of tie these two areas together. So even though I never followed any part of the actual Halls Wagon Road on this particular trip, I did roughly parallel the route on modern day roads the entire way. Plus, I have already hiked a couple sections of the historic route including Silver Falls Creek, Muley Twist Canyon and Halls Creek, and I hope to do more sections in the future. I had all of this information on my mind as I left from work on Friday and made my way over to the Escalante River Country near Harris Wash.

CONTINUE READINGHalls Wagon Road to Halls Crossing, More or Less…
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