Sunspot and Cloudcroft

I am still trying to catch up on our trip activities which are becoming dimmer and dimmer in my mind!!! On Thursday, August 13th, we left Las Cruces at 8:00 a.m. and headed east on Rte. 70 towards the other side of the Organ Mountains towards the Lincoln National Forest and the Sacramento Mountains. On the way, we passed the White Sands Missile Range and White Sands National Monument
The sky was sunny but with some clouds, which was a prelude to what we would see on our way back in the afternoon. The east side of the Organ Mountains is breathtaking, majestic with lots of green. Last summer we hiked up the east side and were in the Ponderosa Pine elevation. White Sands N.M. is about 40 minutes from LC. There are lots of dunes with green plants and bush outcroppings along the road. We didn't go into the park this trip but it is a great time and visually stunning. You can get the little dish sleds and sled down the dunes. The sand doesn't really get hot because it is gypsum. They also have sunset strolls and full moon walks there many evenings. We have yet to try and of the evening activities at White Sands but we would like to in the future.

We arrived at Oliver Lee Memorial State Park at 9:00 a.m. & saw some tame-life along the way
After signing in at the Visitor Center, we started up the Dog Canyon Trail. We were planning to go on the easy trail which takes you right into the canyon and only takes 30 minutes but it was flooded out a couple of years ago. We started up and I do mean up the strenuous trail which was very rocky and winding. After a quarter of a mile, we decided we had enough; yes we are old wimps. But we got some great pictures.
We saw lots of our favorite Ocatillo, plus yucca, cacti, and an Indian Paintbrush. The Indian Paintbrush, which is a red flower, is one of the most common wild flowers in the west and our children would recognize it anywhere since it was one of the first wildflowers they saw when we went to the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado in 1993. During the 1993 trip we took a nature hike about native plants in the park with one of the park rangers. The kids got a little bored and whiney but they have never forgotten some of the things they learned.

I will have to continue the rest of our day on another post since I am short on time right now. Please forgive my difficulty with placement of my pictures. I am still on a learning curve with the blog options. I welcome any tips in the comments.