Sleepy Little Cactus Wren - City of Rocks State Park

I don't know what fascination this little guy had with my parents living room window on their 5th Wheel but for 5 days he gave it hell.  Our guess was he was fighting himself in the reflective window.  And he managed to catch a nap on occasion.  He was adorable!  He would sleep then his head would fall back and he'd jerk awake.  He had a time with the wind but would manage to hold on.

Hmmm... what is this I spy?  Another wren 

horning in on my territory???

I see you...

Take that you evil twin

And here's the little guy catching a little

shut-eye before the next attack.

Damn the wind for blowing me off my 

napping perch!

City of Rocks State Park, NM - Part 4 - The Catwalk, New Mexico

The Catwalk, a National Recreation trail along the canyon of Whitewater Creek, is a unique feature of southwestern New Mexico. Located five miles east of Glenwood (take Hwy. 180 to 174), it presents an always vibrant journey along a path reflecting the region's mining history. The canyon was used as a hideout by both Geronimo and Butch Cassidy.
The Catwalk follows the path of the pipeline built in the 1890s to deliver water to the mining town of Graham. Workmen who had to enter the canyon by crawling atop the narrow pipeline named the route the "Catwalk."

In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps rebuilt the Catwalk as a recreation area for the Gila National Forest. The Forest Service built the metal walkway in the 1960s. Parts of the trail have been rebuilt several times since then due to the flooding of Whitewater Creek.  (http://www.southernnewmexico.com/Articles/Southwest/Catron/TheCatwalk.html)

This place is absolutely amazing.  A great hike, even though we didn't finish it.  It is completely handicapped accessible for about 0.5 miles, maybe a little further - even the "catwalk" metal walkway is accessible which was terrific for Mom.


This area is also marked for birdwatching and we saw several 'birders' whispering and pointing into trees and bushes.

Raymona on the Catwalk

Dad & Jake

Mom on the Catwalk

Jake, Mom & Dad

Bryan at Catwalk

May 2 - City of Rocks, Part III

On Saturday, Bryan & Dad decided it was still enough to cook outside so they treated Mom & I to a great breakfast - breakfast burritos.  Yummy!

The great chefs of the west

On Sunday Mom was feeling much, much better but the weather was still not great - windy with a significant chance of rain.  Here's some pics from the day around camp.  

Dad & Jake

Dad & Mom

Just a neat campsite - notice the picnic table

between the two rocks.

Dad, Mom & Jake 

Small hole in the rock

We finally caught the visitor center when it was open and found out that there is a trail to the top of Table Mountain, just behind the park (of course I don't have one photo of said mountain) so Bryan strong-armed me and Dad to go at least part way with him.  Let me tell you, distances on hand-drawn maps are very, very deceiving.  Dad & I made it to the stock pond - I guess it was probably only a couple miles but it seemed like forever.  Bryan ventured on (even though he couldn't find the trail) and made it quite a ways up Table Mountain, but the weather quickly deteriorated and he headed back to camp too.  Dad, the dogs & I were already halfway there.  YIKES!  The wind was brutal cold and it was starting to rain and sleet some.  Bryan caught up with us and we all made it back just before the bottom fell out and the rains came.  Whew... but its a goal we'd like to finish sometime.  Below is a photo Bryan took before heading back down the mountain.

View from Table Mountain...  

City of Rocks State Park, NM - Part 2

I distinguish the CoR SP as a New Mexico State Park because Idaho has one too.  :-)


The City of Rocks State Park is truly a geologic monument; it is formed by large sculptured rock columns (pinnacles) or boulders rising as high as 40 ft and separated by paths or lanes resembling city streets. About 34.9 million years ago a large volcano erupted, forming the rocks in an instant (geologically speaking); then erosion over millions of years slowly formed the sculptured columns that now provide a natural playground for children and adults alike. City of Rocks State Park was established in May 1952 to preserve this geologic wonder.  (Read more here: http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/tour/state/city_of_rocks/home.html) 


What a magnificent, extraordinary, FUN place this is - I remember it as a kid and its just as fun as an adult.  The formations are amazing and allow your imagination to just run wild - you can be in a city or an alien landscape and you are able to climb on and amongst the rock formations.  


The campground there is very nice as well - the tent or undeveloped sites are set within the rock formations and most are well spaced for privacy.  Many are large enough for an RV but most are best used by tents.  There are nine electrical/water sites for larger RV's - while the location of these sites aren't as 'cool' as the tent sites, you do have a great view of the rocks and looking east to Table Mountain.  These sites are surprisingly well spaced too and nicely landscaped.  There are modernized, HC accessible vault toilets located throughout the campground and near the visitor's center there is a bath house with flush toilets and showers.  There is no sewer hookup or dump station at this park.


OK - enough of the boring stuff...  


One of the great things about this park is its accessibility - especially for motorized wheelchairs.  You can take the campground road and see many sites.  There are trails within and around the park that are wide enough for wheelchairs, however, right now they are 'paved' with pea gravel that is slowly being removed at the behest of campers, hikers and bikers.  Once this obstacle is removed and the trails are back to their hard-packed dirt they will be even better for wheelchair use.  Mom has a Hoverround and with a little push every so often was able to go on many trails and even up on the tuff rock 'streets' within the formation.  


Here's a little history of the area:   Until 1200 A.D., Mimbres Indians roamed this area, leaving arrowheads and pottery shards as evidence of their culture. The park also lies within the traditional homelands of the Chiricahua and Warm Springs Apache. Spanish explorers and settlers arrived in 1500 and mule trains loaded with copper from the nearby Santa Rita mine passed nearby on their way to Chihuahua from 1804 to 1834. After the Mexican War of 1846-48, the Mormon Battalion blazed a trail south of the park to link newly acquired New Mexico and Arizona with the eastern United States.


Hope you enjoy the photos (remember you can click on any image to enlarge):

Entering the park

City of Rocks is #1 in my book 

(get it - rock looks like a #1 finger)

Dad, Bryan and the dogs going up a 

slot "canyon"

The pointy peak in the background is Cooke's Mtn

Dad & Jake

Native American Grinding Holes

Jake, Hannah & Raymona

Mom

Mom, Dad & Jake

April 29 - City of Rocks State Park - Part I

We left for City of Rocks around 11 AM after I got out of school and the wind was HOWLING.  Mom & Dad had already left Las Cruces (they overnighted there) and had hit strong winds too, she called to let me know that they had a flat on the 5th wheel but were close to the park.


Our route took us south on I-25 to Hwy 152 just a few miles past T or C.  We had a headwind the whole way - what a mess this day was.  152 was slightly better as we didn't have quite a headwind but Bryan had his hands full with the truck & camper.  Hwy 152 is a very beautiful drive.  Very winding and steep in places with NO guard rails, once we got into the mountains the wind wasn't quite as bad but we still couldn't make good time due to the twisty road.  We had a bit of trouble with the power steering (nothing like turning the steering wheel on a steep mountain road and your truck keep going straight to get your heart racing) but we were able to pull off and let it cool down and didn't have anymore problems.


Mom called around 3 to say that the road between Deming and Hurley (Hwy 180) was closed due to high winds and dust - they had to get a police escort back to the state park which they found very exciting.  :-)  


We took 152 to Hwy 61 at San Lorenzo and made it in just fine.  Wind howled until about Midnight or so.  Wicked, wicked wind.


Here's a few pics from the drive over - I'll post our trip in installments as I find the time.

Hwy 152

Hwy 152

Sick truck