3/11 Oliver Lee State Park, Alamogordo, NM

I have been here before, but it is such a quiet, peaceful, and beautiful place, I made reservations this time for the maximum 14 days you are allowed to stay here.  

The weather has finally been warm and sunny.  There has been a lot less rain here than in Arizona, but they have had enough that only a few places in the eastern part of the state has really been under a drought.  However, the Chihuahuan desert here is higher than the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona, and it mainly gets rain in the winter only, while the Sonoran Desert gets rain in both the winter and the summer.  Here is a map of the Chihuahuan Desert.  You can see how most of it is really in Mexico.

There are a lot of cactus in this desert, but there are no large saguaro or organ pipe cactus.  The most common plants seem to be yucca, mesquite, and creosote bushes.  Anyway, here are some photos I took this week of the campground and the mountains behind it.  

First, the state park is four miles from the main highway that goes past it.  This makes it nicely quiet.  Plus, it is on the slope of the mountain range in the background, so you have a terrific view of the plains opposite.

This area used to be a ranch, and the first thing you notice as you drive up to the state park is this canyon which provided the ranch with water for its animals and the home that was here. 

 

You can walk up the canyon to find the little stream that still exists here. 

 Looking south, there is a good view of the mountain range. 

Looking to the west, you have a very long view. 

 

 

And looking slightly northwest, you can see a line of white sand dunes, which are part of White Sands National Park and the still being used White Sands Missile Site where rockets for the space program were originally tested.  There are still a few days when the nearby military base closes the road past the national park.  

 

On the day I took this photo using my camera's telephone function, it was very windy, and the white sands looked like a big sandstorm, except the "sand" is not really sand.  It is actually gypsum, which is the same material used to make drywall.  It is softer on your feet than sand and never gets hot. 

About half a mile down the slope from the state park campground is a place where people are allowed to camp without water or electric hookups.  Personally, I like electricity so i can have satellite TV, among other things like air conditioning. 

This is looking north towards the canyon from the far south part of the campground.

 

If you look carefully on this photo, you will see an old exploratory mine and a line of rocks going from top to bottom just to the right of this mine.  The low rock fence was intended to keep cattle from getting into the ranch house and canyon area where the stream was located. You can walk up to the mine, but it might be a bit much for me. 

 

 

This photo shows another rock cattle fence on the north side of the canyon and stream.  

A long view through the campground to the southwest.  I wonder how far those mountains are away??

 

 

This is my campsite.  It is large, but unfortunately, the only level place is about two feet about the roadway.  It takes a little wheel spinning to back up those two feet.  Then, I have drive back and forth until I get the while rig on the higher and more level part of the site.  As it is, I have to put a board under the right front wheel to raise it up a bit and have put chocks on two of the tires to prevent my home from rolling downhill.  The result is that it is mostly level.   

Most campgrounds have long narrow campsites at an angle that you can easily back into.  This one has some of the hardest sites to get into, but the view is worth it.  The electric and water hookups are on the far side, but that is OK.  I have to drive about a quarter mile to dump my tanks every 3-4 days, but I am used to that and just plan my outings for those days.

There is a small botanical garden near the visitor center.  I took some photos, but need to take more, so check back tomorrow.  I just wish I were here about a month from now when these are in bloom. 

The cactus below is a strawberry hedgehog cactus.  Hedgehog cactus grow in clumps and are only about 8-10" tall.

The sign on this one says it is a blind prickly pear cactus. 

 

 

This display is under development, but it looks like some kind of old farm wagon.  Will check at visitor center tomorrow.