Thursday was a preparation & travel day. Our first stop was Elephant Butte State Park, which was more of a leg-stretching activity for the three of us. Blue had the most fun!
We then went to Silver City, NM to visit the Gila Cliff Dwellings. There were several warnings about the VERY STEEP section of trail along the one mile route up to see the cliff dwellings. Turns out, in some circles, VERY STEEP means steps about the equivalent of the steps in your home. Still, a beautiful drive out to a nice walk. Again, seems like Blue had the most fun - his first ever swim!
Next, we had a looooong drive (through Texas even!) to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. This one was pretty interesting - just over a mile descending over 700 feet into the 8.2 acre Big Room cavern. It was another mile or two to walk around and check out all there was to see. Overall, a pretty mellow walk, but very interesting. (You had to take the elevator to get back to the surface.) A worthwhile trip, but I'm not sure I need to go back and see it again...
Last but certainly not least was the Lincoln National Forest outside of Ruidoso, NM. This was the first place we made it to that was a real hike in a real forest along a real trail. I know I know - that's a lot to take in. There ARE forests and green trees and running water and true mountain beauty in New Mexico. It was amazing! AND - super fun fact: the Lincoln National Forest is Smoky Bear's home!
He didn't come by and visit us, though. I guess our fire was appropriatel
y sized and appropriately extinguished. Anyway, we went on a fabulous 2 1/2 hour hike that felt so good after all of the driving through all of the desert. And Texas.Lessons learned: NM is beautiful (in parts), Kate Blue & Liz are happiest outside in the trees, Labs are natural swimmers, and Orcas do not belong in the desert. Or at elevation. Sea level - key to an Orca's happiness! :) Lovely trip!!
No comments:
Post a Comment