Travel Diary: 2023 Tour through New Mexico - Final
One final look at the Organ Mountains as we left in the morning.
After a good night’s rest at Aguirre Springs Campground, we wanted to squeeze in one final hike before we officially started driving back east toward the home base. We drove down to the banks of the Rio Grande in the morning to hike to a cave that was supposedly used by the great Apache leader Geronimo as a hideout. It’s an unmarked trail, but the AllTrails app has great directions on getting there. We found a place to park the Rav4 next to the river and hopped out to take a look. The first part of the hike is crossing the Rio Grande. Unfortunately, the river level was up, meaning we couldn't cross easily. We thought on it for a bit and decided not to risk it. It was a little disappointing, but that’ll leave something for our next visit. Circumstances like this are why we always have a Plan B!
Our Plan B was to hike the Dripping Springs Trail in the Organ Mountains, which is literally on the other side of the mountains from where we camped the evening before. So we backtracked from the Rio Grande and parked at the Dripping Springs Visitor Center, where the trailhead is. We picked up a map and left a donation at the visitor center before heading down the trail.
This trail means business!
Picking out yet another rock while following the gravel trail.
The hike is roughly 3 miles out and back, and fairly easy to do, apart from a lot of the trail being gravel. That can be hard on your legs after a while—not to mention the rocks constantly accumulating in our shoes. On the way we walked by some ruins from an old mountain camp. Further down the trail is a natural spring, remains of an old mountain resort, and a few buildings from what was once a sanitarium to treat Tuberculosis patients. We enjoy hikes that have fun little waypoints like that. It was a very interesting trail with lots of history! We’re glad we chose this one, and we may revisit it in the future.
Remnants of an old mountain camp.
More camp ruins.
The remaining buildings of the old sanitarium.
After a half day of hiking in the hot sun, we continued driving east. Our next destination would be Carlsbad Caverns National Park! Before heading to Carlsbad, we decided to make a pit stop for lunch in El Paso, Texas. We had a killer meal at the infamous Kiki’s Mexican Restaurant! Kiki’s is a perennial winner of Hispanic Magazine’s 50 best hispanic restaurants in the U.S. It’s also been featured on the TV show “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.” The meal did not disappoint!
After our lunch we drove a bit more until we arrived at the Carlsbad KOA Holiday in the early afternoon to rest & relax a bit. We chose to stay at a KOA because we wanted a hot shower & a no-stress camp. We always know what we’re getting with a KOA campground. This one was no different, apart from the nighttime entertainment: a live music duo destroying your favorite songs by turning them into folk covers, lol!
Running back & forth to the rental car got old pretty quickly. We REALLY missed cooking in the Vanagon.
Around this point of our journey, we had really begun to miss our Vanagon. We had taken for granted how convenient it is to have everything we need basically within arm's reach. Also, if we need something from the rear of the Vanagon while driving, the passenger just walks back and gets it. Retrieving something in the rear of the RAV4 required a bit of climbing & maneuvering.
The biggest adjustment we had to make was cooking. It would sometimes take multiple trips to/from the RAV4 to retrieve our stove, utensils, dishes, food, etc. Washing dishes after meals was much more of a chore as well. Leave No Trace principles are much harder to follow without our sink & water bag. In other words, the van has turned us into a couple of spoiled brats!
We woke early on Sunday morning, and we had to be home the following day. We wanted to squeeze in a little more fun before driving the 18 hours home, so we paid a visit to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We arrived at the visitor center mid-morning and had no trouble getting tickets to the self-guided tour. If you wish to take the ranger-led tour, we advise you to purchase tickets ahead of time, as it was sold out well before we got there. Originally, we considered bypassing Carlsbad Caverns because we have a large number of caves near home in Kentucky, including Mammoth Cave National Park. We figured, "Once you've seen one cave, you've seen them all!"
The cave entrance is pretty special/
The smell of guano got more intense as we descended.
We were VERY wrong! The unique formations and sheer size of some of the "rooms" in Carlsbad blew us away! We were surprised at how much different it was compared to the caves in Kentucky & Indiana. Pictures don't really convey the beauty of Carlsbad. One of the coolest parts is the cave entrance. The switchback path descends VERY quickly. Before you know it, you're well below the surface. We've been to Mammoth Cave NP, Wind Cave NP, and now Carlsbad. We both agree that Carlsbad Caverns is our favorite park out of the three.
Every corner we turned we were awestruck .
An ladder left behind by cave explorers from long ago.
From Carlsbad Caverns, it took us a day & a half to drive home through Dallas & Memphis, stopping at In-N-Out Burger & Central BBQ respectively. We HAD to take advantage of dining at those infamous restaurants while we were passing thru!
So...that's a wrap on our New Mexico road trip report! Thank you guys for following along. We hope we have provided a bit of inspiration for YOUR next road trip, or at least given you some ideas for your next drive through New Mexico. She truly is a Land of Enchantment!
Our expedition through New Mexico was a VERY memorable adventure for us, to say the least. We never expected to arrive home without our Vanagon. Oh well, stuff happens! Retrieving the van when she's finished will give us another opportunity for more adventure on the way home. The lesson from this trip? ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN B.
-Andrew