Day Thirty-Four

It was twenty-one degrees and very windy this morning. We went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park first thing and while Kudzu slept in the truck, I took the self-guided tour through the Big Room. To get to the Big Room, one must first take a 750 foot elevator ride down into the mountain. Caves have never held much fascination for me, but I have to admit the place is pretty spectacular with it's many miles of winding trails through what seem to be endless caverns. The many cave formations and the eerie quietness are almost other worldly.

Fresh snow at Cloudcroft

Decision time came when we left Carlsbad Caverns. We had planned on progressing north to Sante Fe and maybe on to the Grand Canyon until we heard that Northern New Mexico had received eighteen inches of snow and many roads were closed to vehicles without chains. We opted to travel west and south instead. Through the cities of Carlsbad and Artesia there was nothing but high winds and blowing snow making for lousy visibility. At Cloudcroft in Lincoln National Forest we very suddenly emerged into blue skies and eight inches of fresh snow. At 8,000 feet, the pine covered Lincoln National Forest reminded me very much of the Pondersa from the television show Bonanza. On through Mescalero, Alamagordo, and White Sands, we arrived in Las Cruces for the night. White Sands National Monument looked really interesting but the driving wind and rapidly dropping thermometer made us decide to leave it for another day.