Beautiful morning with lots of sun and a chill in the air.
Started out the day with Alamogordo
drove the highway through and back again.
Town is really spread out.
Stopped at the Visitors Center and gathered information.
First off the
Tularosa Basin Historical Society Museum
right on the main street.
Great local museum and well done.
This is for Millie for ideas
From there we decided to go toward Cloudcroft
and stop at the Old Apple Barn for lunch
and look at tourist gifts.
Had a pretty darn good hot dog and
home brewed Root Beer, good lunch.
No fudge or cider, trying to keep calories down.
Then continued on toward Cloudcroft
and stopped at one of the Cloud Climbing rail trestles.
This old RR climbed from Alamogordo to Cloudcroft
24 miles by rail and climbed more than 4000 feet
a 5.4% grade. Even had a switchback that was so tight the train had to back up to make it.
I suspect using a siding or two to accomplish that.
Great view from the trestle overlook.
Millie even went out to the end.
Had open grating for the floor so you could see below.
Then on into Cloudcroft
Main street with lots of little shops
and my accomplishment
8767 feet above sea level.
That makes a 9000 foot difference
from here to Death Valley.
Now granted I did not
do any marathons
but, I didn't pass out either.
On the way back down on a day when it was 53° air temp
Water was seeping out of the rock and freezing, or at least not melting
and was on the North facing wall so no sun to warm it.
There was no ice or snow on the other side of the canyon.
And a stop at a viewpoint
Looking at the valley floor,
Alamogordo and White Sands National Monument with White Sands Missile Range
All in all we had a great day
Found the gas station on base so we won't run out
and will be making decisions on what to do tomorrow
after supper.
Early bed night as that elevation tires me out pretty quick.
Hugs
Tom and Millie
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