GUADALUPE PEAK A-SIDE TRAILS
Tex/NewMex/Guadalupe Trip
Pursuing the 50 U.S. state high points will indeed veer you from the beaten path (Yes!). In the past we've done 7, 6, 5, and lesser state hp-gathering circuits. Guad Pk turned out to be stand-alone for us and we chose mid-April, supposedly cooler for this hp goal. Having spent the $$$ for an El Paso flight, we decided to spend a fair amount of serendipity time exploring thisaway, mostly in NM.
Once landed and into our rental wheels, rather than head hell-bent for Guad Pk, we drove to Alamagordo then eastward from the desert into the cool, green Sacramento Mountains and Cloudcroft at 8663ft. We hoped to acclimate here a bit for the TX hp at 8749ft. Cloudcroft is a definitely nitty-gritty highpointer kinda place. Old hippies, earthy-types, and laid-back retirees populate this 1 1/2mi. high, 60's kinda-place. We stayed 2 nights at "The Lodge," old, quaint, and up-scale-ish with a B&B feel at the hp of town. There are no chain motels or many overnight lodging choices on this mountain top unless you take a cabin which are plentiful. We hiked from the town's old railroad station in Lincoln NF to the remains of the "Mexican Trestle." Later, a scenic drive took us higher to 2 nearby observatory sites for great views and even thinner air.
After our Guad Pk gig, havin
g stayed in Whites City, we did Carlsbad Cavern. Though not cave people, we circled the Big Room. Cool, literally, and soooo touristy. Next was Roswell because we wanted to be a nut. Whether you're a UFO freak-o, whatever, the unpretentious museum in downtown Roswell is a hoot. The exhibit is mind-boggling and the library even more so. There are a number of Main St. sources for ET paraphernalia including inexpensive green ET blow-ups. Buy one for your kitchen.
Then it was Santa Fe where we enjoyed perusing the many artsy/crafty shops in the old, old downtown Plaza. Diane wanted to see St. Francis Cathedral, close-by, with it's noted wooden, hand-crafted spiral stairway. Next, we soared across northern NM to 4-corners, the extreme end of our NM trip. We bypassed Albuquerque, beyond our trip-scope, on the way toward White Sands NP, a must-do. We hiked the tourist 1-mile desert-loop feeling like Lawrence of Arabia. The glistening, surreal landscape is like nothing else. Local school children were being bussed into the park on field-trips to scoot down the dunes on plastic saucers. A few white-haired scooters were doing the same. Saucers were available at the Visitor's Center to rent or buy.
El Paso's downtown needs work. It was Saturday morning and Juarezians crossed into Texas by the hundreds to shop at the bazillion stores in lower downtown. Comment: The quality of the goods looked like they were already made in Mexico and the repetition of offerings seemed to leave little space for competition. Go figure. Defensive driving was of the essence and we were relieved to return our rental unscratched after motoring around that city.
If you go: Eat Mexican food or acquire the desire. Akin to and north of Cloudcroft is Ruidoso with chain motels, a touristy downtown, and gambling. We stayed there for an 'ok' time 2 nights and hiked high at Ski Apache as part of our 12-day trip windup. But...we liked Cloudcroft best.
