26 September 2011 Heading northwest from Pecos on 285 and 652 I passed through some of the Permian Basin oil country, lots of oil rigs, both drilling and pumping, and pipeline works.
It was pleasantly not hot this morning, and continued that way as I rode to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park visitors center. I was disappointed to find that there are no roads through the park and the only scenic views are from the main road. So I took some photos heading north to Carlsbad Caverns National Park and the State of New Mexico. Through either bad signage and/or a narcoleptic episode I managed to miss the turnoff for the park and arrived in the city of Carlsbad wondering how that had happened.
It was in the low 90's by 10AM and I was dreading another scorcher of a day as i headed north from Carlsbad to Artesia then west on 82 to Alamagordo. There was lots of dry desert and parched farm land. Then I started climbing up to Cloudcroft and found an oasis in the desert at 8000 feet. The air was cool and dry, we were in pine forests and there seemed to be plenty of water for irrigation and farming. At the summit was the Cross-eyed Moose Cafe which served up a great burger for my lunch.
Continuing west from Cloudcroft I descended the mountain into Alamagordo, and the heat, with stunning views into the valley and the White Sands. Heading southwest to Las Cruces I stopped into White Sands National Monument. It was like riding through hot snow and was well worth the time.
On through Las Cruces and north on I25 I ran out of daylight in Hatch, New Mexico, and stayed in the worst motel I have encountered thus far. I am way behind on trip planning and will spend the evening planning out my last few days of this journey.
Americana for the day: the obsession with ice filled, ice cold, drinks
Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/108481211284683809830/USA20113?authkey=Gv1sRgCInJ3fTt3fO0Mg
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