Part 5: Chiricahua Mountains to El Paso, TX

20080807

Navigation Links

 


The Trip

We spent a great night in the camper at Barfoot Meadow. We had barbequed pollo asado, beans and tortillas while we watched a DVD on our laptop. Next morning, we would depart for El Paso, TX by descending the eastern flank of the Chiricahua range and then traversing southern New Mexico near the border. The photos below are what we saw.

A good example photo of the vegetation on the eastern slopes of the range. The brush was dense with alligator juniper and manzanita. The thunderheads were building again to the west.

Near the exit of the canyon, we came upon these large rocky structures. Note the cave near the peak.

The flanking ridges had nice structures as well.

To the south were large ridges too.

Several of the structures had cave-like formations. Note there are several near the bottom center of the photo above.

Note the odd shapes at the top left of the outcropping.

A view of the Chiricahua range from the floor of the San Simone valley. The thunderheads were towering over the range.

In the flats of the San Simone valley, there was evidence of much rain. And, the rain brings flowers.

There were a variety of flowers visible from our roadside stop. I stopped to check the air pressure in the tires, but couldn't resist shooting the blooms.

Closer to Columbus,NM we spotted these interesting flowers on the roadside.

The flats to the east of Columbus, NM were heavily covered with flowers due to the recent heavy rains from ex-hurricane Dolores.

Oversized load indeed. We had to get into the ditch to let this guy pass us.

Yet another great day. There were no mechanical issues and the weather held until we got to El Paso. For a variety of reasons, we decided to stay in a motel and during dinner at a nearby restaurant, the rains finally came. It rained hard for about 1/2 hour, but then abated long enough to allow us to return to our room. Tomorrow, we would explore the El Paso area and then head east toward the Guadeloupe Mountains and from there to Carlsbad Caverns.


Navigation Links
Previous Adventure
Top of this Page
  Next Adventure
Trip Home Page  
Bill Caid's Home Page

Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2008, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.