Day 35: 173 Miles
Starting location: Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, Alamogordo, New Mexico – 40 degrees
Ending location: City of Rocks, Faywood, New Mexico – 55 degrees
Major Stops: White Sands National Park
Weather: Sunny with some cumulus clouds later in dayDays 36 – 38: 110 miles
Major Stops: Gila Cliff Dwellings and post office
Hikes: Table Top Mountain (5.3 miles) and Gila Cliff Dwellings (1.9 miles)
This post is going to be a bit long as there is much to cover; so, please be forewarned. I suggest getting your cup of coffee/tea or glass of wine/beer first.
Leaving Olive Lee Memorial, we stopped to fill the infamous propane tank, get gas and add some air to a tire. No duties at the campground as we had dumped and pumped the night before in preparation. So, off we went the 27 miles to White Sands National Park.
White Sands National Park
Being from a beach rich location, I just don’t get too excited about white sands, and that’s because it is missing one major element, water. So, the reason the sand is white is that it is formed from gypsum left behind when the Permian Sea retreated millions of years ago. Rain and wind eventually eroded it into sand.
Really, it looks a lot like Michigan in January. I did not take any pictures, but people buy sleds and slide on the sand. It is a bit cooler and firmer than our sand beaches, but it looks a lot less fun than snow. I’ll stick with snow sliding.
Leaving White Sands, I saw another animal that made me feel like I was in Africa. The nice man at the Visitor’s Center at Oliver Lee had told me they were in the area. I would never have guessed that we have Eastern Africa Oryx animals roaming the New Mexico landscape. This is not my picture, but this is exactly what I saw as I drove 65 mph on the highway just west of White Sands. My mouth hit the floor! They are very majestic animals!
City of Rocks
Arriving at the campground, I did not know what to expect. We were looking for Gemini site 14. I thought this meant there were loops, but after asking the ranger, it turned out that was not the case. I think they named the sites after star constellations that the rocks were meant to look like. Creative! So, here is our site.
Now these rocks are really unusual for the area. Notice as you look at the pictures, these rocks only appear within the campground. There are none in the surrounding landscape. This has been caused by a volcano exploding and these are the remnants of the lava that have been left behind after the wind and rain took their toll over the millions of years. Our climb up Table Top will give you an even better image of this odd area.
You can see Clarice about mid picture. She is all by herself with her three little rocks.
This rain cloud chased us off the mountain as we heard thunder.
A welcome bench at the very top!
Major Decision
After this hike, I decided I was having way too much fun to sit in one place all summer and be a campground host. Additionally, the Canadian border has remained open even with the new fast spreading COVID variant, so I am expecting it to remain open this summer. WE ARE GOING TO ALASKA for the summer! Woo Hoo!
Next, I pulled out the passport to check the expiration, as I knew this was a problem. It expires in November 2022, so I had to get it renewed. Usually they want six months when you enter a country and I would be coming back through Canada in September or October. So, I got on line to look up what I needed to do. Fortunately, I’m on the quick path since there are no name or address changes. Best of all, the Silver City post office offered Passport photos and could provide the form and help me get it to the right place. And Silver City was on the next day’s route!
I sent a note to Mallory, the Tahoe Forest Park Manager, letting her know I would not be coming, and quickly booked eight nights in Banff; and attempted to book Jasper’s newly renovated Whistler park. I was exactly on time, as the reservations would open tomorrow morning at 8am mountain time for Jasper.
Preparation for Alaska
Next morning, I felt like I was buying rock concert tickets. I turned on my computer and they had a queue that you waited in online before they let you into the reservation site. Had I known, I would have turned my laptop on sooner. I was 2,700 in line to make my reservation at Jasper! They kept updating it every minute, so you watched your position number go down….2200, 1700, etc. Fortunately, my desired timing is earlier than most people want, so after waiting for over 20 minutes to get into the site, I was able to book 9 nights at Jasper in a single site exactly when I wanted! Woo Hoo!
After buying my rock concert campsite, we headed to Silver City to hit the post office. It was perfect, they took my picture, gave me the form and then informed me I had to make out a check! A check? Who would have thought. Fortunately, I had checks, so I did all that, and was able to send it priority mail. They even provided me with a paperclip and stapled the picture onto the form. I love New Mexico people! It will take between 8-11 weeks! Just in time for my May entrance!
Gila Cliff Dwellings
Back to the original thread, Gila Cliff Dwellings is at a higher elevation (colder), so we chose to drive back and forth. It was only 55 miles each way, shouldn’t take too long, right? Wrong! Part of the 55 miles is the portion to Silver City which is really just a 2 lane highway at 75 mph. So, that was quick. The next 44 miles would be on this type of road.
The sign says expect 2 hours and it was! Fortunately, I only met a few RV’s going the other way and that was not at the 180 degree turn!
There was snow on the roads in some places, but no way to take a pic. I confess to being exhausted at the end of the day from the driving.
“Normally, yes but not this time. They are cliff dwellings.”
“That sucks!”
The Gila Cliff Dwellings were built between 1276 and 1287 based on the age of the timbers used. They were built by an ancient Puebloan people and this area is called the Mogollon area. Interestingly, the Apache leader known as Geronimo was born near the Gila headwaters in the early 1820’s. The Apache migrated to this area in the 1500’s. There is evidence of many different groups using the dwellings over time.
Very much enjoying your journey, Karen. This journal will be a wonderful keepsake to look back on for years to come. Great decision to do an Alaska trip! And you are going to fall in love with Banff and Jasper, I promise.
Thanks, Ang! So glad you are enjoying! I’m so looking forward to spending some time in the Canadian Rockies!
Wow both the White Sands and the Gila Cliffs were spectacular! The Oryx was pretty cool too! Going to Alaska sounds awesome!
Love your blog Karen! 💜
Thanks, Sue! I could not believe how large and majestic that Oryx is. So glad you are enjoying!
Hi Karen, so enjoying your ride! Especially here where you’ve retraced a couple of steps I’ve taken. I lived and worked near Silver City and had an epic weekend on my brother’s 19th birthday at the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Very cool-see you out there!
Thanks, Jay! Over a beer some day, you’ll have to tell me more about Silver City. I quite liked it as it was less desert-like, and the people were really very friendly and helpful. New Mexico has a special place in my heart, not exactly sure why. I have really enjoyed it.
So excited that you are going to Alaska! I think those are the same cliff dwellings Brittany and I went to when we went on a mission trip to New Mexico. It’s definitely something to see! Keep having fun!
Thanks, Tammy! Sounds like you and Jay can compare some notes! So glad you were able to see them, too.
I love the oryx and the cave dwellings! Your postings are so interesting, long & fascinating! Very few people would have the patience to write as much as you do and post so many pictures! I hope you do this on future trips as well! Thank you!
We plan to see Banff down the road and I heard so many great things about that park! Are you also planning to hit Glacier National Park? We plan to hit both after Yellowstone!
Thanks, Cindy! I appreciate your kind words. The picture reformatting is very time consuming and takes longer than the rest of the post.
I hope you enjoy Glacier and Yellowstone! Victoria and I went to Glacier three years ago and LOVED it! It has been my favorite park so far and I hope to hit it again, but not this year. We also did Yellowstone back in 2009 as our bonding trip. It is also wonderful. I recommend seeing the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse on your way to or from the parks. That is another favorite.