Carlsbad Caverns National Park: Rattlesnake Springs

Noelle has had some recent issues with sciatica due to her pregnancy. It can be painful for her to walk at times. We decided to do something that wouldn't require too much walking. With the cool temperatures and overcast skies, we decided to head over to Rattlesnake Springs to see if we could see some birds.

We arrived at around 10 am and quickly saw some interesting birds like summer tanagers and vermillion flycatchers.

The more we looked around the more birds we saw.

We made a list of over 20 species. Here is the list:

• summer tanager
• northern Cardinal
• house finch
• black-chinned hummingbird
• mockingbird
• lesser goldfinch
• yellow-breasted chat
• indigo bunting
• mallard
• chipping sparrow
• vermillion flycatcher
• ladder-backed woodpecker
• painted bunting
• white-winged dove
• wild turkey
• western kingbird
• barn swallow
• Lazuli bunting
• blue grosbeak
• turkey vulture
• ash-throated flycatcher?

After walking around on our bird search we had a nice picnic lunch amongst the cottonwood trees.

Besides birds we also saw a turtle in the pond

and some wildflowers.

Desert Prickly Poppy

Mexican hat

It was a great birding day as it was the first time I had seen many of these species including the painted bunting and the vermillion flycatcher. We'll have to head back there again to see what else we can see!      

Desert Rain

It's been a long time since I've done any hiking in the rain. When I awoke to gray skies and drizzle I knew I had to hit the trail to enjoy the cool temperatures and liquid sunshine. I didn't go very far, just down Standpipe Road to the BLM's La Cueva Trails. I was hoping to see lots of wildflowers in bloom, unfortunately there weren't many to see. I saw a few cholla in bloom

and some ocotillo with flowers.

While I did not see many wildflowers, I did see some interesting wildlife. I saw a desert centipede

and some velvet mites.

From what I've read both of these creatures are active following a good rain event, so I picked a good time to see them. I did not see a whole lot else though. Oh, I did see some police officers out when I started my hike. I have no idea what they were looking for, but they asked me if I could see a black truck. I saw no black truck.  

Cibola National Forest: Tijeras Pueblo

It was time to head back to Carlsbad today. We ran some errands in the big city, ate a delicious lunch at Five Guys, and then hit the road. We had one stop just after leaving Albuquerque, the Tijeras Pueblo historic site in Cibola National Forest. We walked the short trail there and looked at all the exhibits and read all the interpretive signs.

We found a few sherds of pottery on our walk.

When we finished we were back on the road with nothing but leftover fries to sustain us on our journey to Carlsbad.   

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Last night after work, Robby stopped by to pick Noelle and I up for the long drive to Albuquerque. We arrived at Robby's parents' house after midnight. After a nice sleep, we awoke this morning to explore the Duke City a bit. Our first stop was the Rio Grande Nature Center.

The nature center was interesting. We walked the native plant garden amongst some tall cottonwood trees and saw lots of native wildflowers and hummingbirds.

Then we walked a short trail to the Rio Grande.

We caught a view of the river before looping back toward the visitor center. Near the visitor center is a nice bird blind. We spent some time there with our binoculars looking for birds.

There were lots of wood ducks, Canada geese, teals, and red-winged blackbirds. There were also lots of turtles swimming and basking in the sun.

After some birding we were getting hungry, and so we decided to walk the bicycle trail to Old Town Albuquerque and one of Robby's favorite restaurants: Little Anitas.


We had a delicious New Mexican lunch and then walked around Old Town a bit to burn some calories.

 

After a short walk through the touristy area we headed back to the bike trail for our walk back to the nature center. When we reached the car we drove back to Robby's parents' house for a nap. When we awoke it was time for dinner, Italian at Tomato Cafe. From dinner we headed to Isotopes Park for a good ol' fashioned baseball game: the Albuquerque Isotopes versus the Oklahoma City Red Hawks.

The 'Topes won 5-0, but besides the score we really enjoyed the ballpark atmosphere, the Simpsons character statues, and hanging out together.






          

Black Cave and Little Beauty Cave

Headed back into the Lincoln National Forest today with some friends from work to check out some caves. We parked past the Dark Canyon Lookout Tower just before the section of road that's so rough its called the "Dragon's Teeth".

From there we followed some trails to Black Cave.

Parts of Black Cave, like the name suggests, are quite black in color. Is it manganese oxide? I don't know but it was sure an interesting little cave.

Inside we saw cave crickets,

lots of formations,

and a bat skeleton encased in calcite.

We spent about an hour exploring as much of Black Cave as we could from the trail.

Then we headed out. We ate a snack outside the cave entrance and then hit the trail

to find our second cave, Little Beauty. Little Beauty is appropriately named. it is small, and there are some nice, inactive formations inside.

After a few minutes inside Little Beauty we were outside in the heat ready for our hike back to the car and the long drive back to Carlsbad.         

Highpoint of Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Noelle wanted some time to work on her thesis, and so I had another day of solo adventure. For a long time now I've wanted to hike to the highest point on the surface of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, I figured today was my opportunity. I packed my day pack and hit the road. Rather than start my hike within the national park, I decided to take the shorter route through Lincoln National Forest. And so I drove up through Queen and into the high Guadalupes.

I started my hike near the Spring Canyon Ranch at the trailhead for Forest Service trails 222, 223 and 210.

I followed trail 222 for a short while and then took trail 210. I saw lots of cattle as I hiked.

I also saw some great views as I climbed out of a small canyon.

The trail followed a ridge for a while. Up on the ridge I passed the small, crack-like entrance to a cave. I did not go inside to explore though. Tomorrow will be my cave exploration day.

After a short time on the ridge, the trail began to descend into Cottonwood Canyon.  The trail followed the canyon bottom for a short time and then started to climb out of the canyon at Aqua Dulce Tank.

It was a hot, steep climb up to the Guadalupe Ridge. I did see a few wildflowers, which helped to break up the monotony.

Bowl Flax

Once on the ridge I made a left on the old road/trail. Despite the fact that it was a ridge walk, there were lots of ups and downs.

After walking the ridge for a bit I noticed the repeater tower near Putman Cabin which is inside Carlsbad Caverns National Park. it appeared that it was not on the ridge that I was following, but on a parallel ridge just south. I retraced my steps and found an intersection that I had somehow missed. After consulting my map, I decided that this must be where I leave the trail and bushwack into the park.

The bushwack was short, but there were lots of thorny plants to thrash through. Soon I found an old boundary marker with no fence. I was a bit confused but decided to just hike a bit further up the ridge. Sure enough, I found a barbed-wire fence and followed the fence to a cairn and summit register. I signed the register and posed at the cairn for a photo.

There wasn't much shade at the highpoint, and so I moved on, thrashing my way back to the trail.

It was a hot, dry hike back to the car.

I was worried I might run out of water, but luckily, I had just enough. I saw some cactus in bloom

and more cattle.

I was relieved to find myself back at the car. I put on my sandals and cranked the AC. As I got down into the lower elevations the thermometer read 94 degrees. I stopped to take some photos of the Strawberry Cactus in bloom near Hippie Hole,

and then arrived at home.              

Photos of the Day: Prickly Pear Cactus in Bloom