Return to the Enchanted Land

New Mexico held a special allure for us. We had very pleasant memories from our first trip to Santa Fe and Taos. The southern part of the state was reputed to be equally beautiful in a very different sort of way. The idea of a desert and mountain next to each other was quietly appealing. Add to that the possibility of the best star gazing location in the US made saying "yes" when a buddy of mine proposed this as a thanks giving break destination even easier.

We started early as we would have to traverse large swathes of Texas enroute to New Mexico.

Passing through Abilene, Sweetwater and other quaint oil towns suddenly brought us face to face with the real Texas and the important cog of this money making wheel - Oil. 

The stench of the liquid gold was unrelenting and mile after mile the hard working wells kept churning the elixir of modern life. Ironically in this mecca of liquid energy there was also room for hundreds of wind farms almost reminding us that oil won't be around forever and soon we will have to rely on energy generated literally from thin air!!

The oil fields gave way to the Sacramento range which hoisted us quickly to 9000+ feet before giving us a spectacular glimpse of the Tularosa Basin and the San Andreas range on the other side.

12 gruelling hours and a speeding ticket later (ironically earned in the town of Hope) we arrived in the unremarkable town of Alamogordo which would serve as the base for our exploration of White Sands Monument and Cloudcroft.

Day 2 started with a trip to the White Sands Monument. It was spectacular - even more than the brochures suggested. The blue skies, mountains and the pristine white sands perfectly complimented each other. Add to it the fact that very few visitors made way to this wonderland meant that we had the 40 Sq miles of white dunes practically to ourselves. 

The kids frolicked on the dunes / sliding on the waxed sand boards again and again. The adults joined in as well though trudging up the dunes made for aching limbs at the end of the day.

The afternoon was spend on a highly recommended sunset walking tour with a national park ranger. The origins of the white gypsum dunes, the art of survival of both plants and animals in this inhospitable paradise and the colourful vistas were certainly worth the mile long walk on the white dunes. 

Travel Tip: if hiking the dunes holds an attraction then the dune trail to Alkali Flats (approx 5 miles round trip) is a good option. It needs 3-5 hours though and starting early is advisable.

As the sun set spectacularly behind the San Andreas range the whole area was transformed into the enchanted land which New Mexico prides on being. After sun down we returned back to the visitor centre at White Sands Monument for a superb treat observing the celestial bodies. As the monument is 14 miles from Alamogordo there is no light pollution and the star gazing is awesome. 

Travel Tip: the hardy star gazers can camp out overnight in the dunes though the temperatures dip significantly and dressing up for the same is highly recommended.

Day 2 started with a quick trip to the local winery to sample the local produce and sniff out the "other liquid elixir" which is so central to a modern life. The merlots were OK and the winery did produce some nice dessert wines - good to taste but not really good enough to haul back home. The pistachio brittles were another matter though / we sampled all sorts and bought quite a selection.

We traveled on to Cloudcroft separated from Alamogordo by 16 miles and 9000ft. It was a quaint mountain town famous for star gazing and it's twin observatories of Sun Spot and Apache. The scenic byway was good but views were obscured by the tall trees. The observatory at Sunspot however is definitely worth a visit. Complete with its celestial scope and flawless skies devoid of any clouds.

We got there just as the sun was setting and for three evenings in a row we saw New Mexico display it's magical evenings. After sundown we made our way carefully through the Sacramento range and it's deer populations to the town of Carlsbad for the last leg of this short trip.

As soon as we got into Carlsbad we immediately realised why the hotel rates were double the neighbouring towns. We were back in oil country and this town was the only one in the vicinity offering a decent hot meal and a cosy bed. And the weary oil men had no qualms of paying premium for both.

We started our final day early getting to the Carlsbad caverns not knowing what to expect there. The vistas underground turned out to be every bit spectacular as the ones overground. We took the elevator 750ft into mother earth and were treated to nature at its sculpted finest. Carlsbad Caverns is a collection of passages and a main hall made of limestone formations which are grand in scale and perfect in form.

We lost track of time and surfaced hours later contented and tired at the same time. For the second time in 12 months New Mexico delivered as we made our long way back to North Texas.