Mountains and Deserts – Fort Davis to Carlsbad

Monday, March 22, 2010

We left Fort Davis just before 10:00 AM heading north along Texas 17.  The first section of this route was very scenic.  On our left was the basalt cliffs of the Davis Mountains and on our right was Limpia Creek.  As we’ve travelled around Texas we’ve noticed a wide variation in the progression of the seasons.  The giant Cottonwood trees area is just now starting to leaf out beside the creek, where just south of here they are already in full leaf.  The other thing is that just a couple of weeks ago this area had a huge dumping of snow.  We intersected with Interstate 10 West at the little town Balmorhea, Texas.  This is a nice little farming town close to a state park.  The irrigation canal that services the farms runs through the middle of the town and supports large trees along the main street.  We were soon clipping along the interstate headed west towards “the west Texas town of El Paso” - (a line from Marty Robbins song that I had to use on this trip!)

We stopped for fuel at the Exxon station in Plateau, TX just outside of Van Horn.  When I came in to give them my credit card I was amazed the clerk also asked for my driver’s licence.  It is quite customary to either pay up front or leave a credit card when fuelling but also asking for the driver’s licence was a bit much. Being a Canadian I complied without complaint.  At that moment a young woman asked if they had any restrooms, to which the clerk replied NO.  The young woman muttered that they had everything else in here, but not restrooms.  I agree – pretty shitty – no pun intended.  Shame on Exxon or the franchisee for not having a functioning restroom.   My rant for the day!

Back on the Interstate till we hit the town of Van Horn and we headed north up Texas 54, a two lane undivided road with no shoulders that parallels the Sierra Diablo Mountains for much of it’s length.  This is a dreary, arid drive with at least 55 low water crossings in it’s total 55 mile distance.  We experienced some heavy wind gusts which are quite common in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, which is the highest point in Texas at 8749 feet.  Shortly afterwards unbeknownst to us we had crossed the border into New Mexico.  (The only way we were aware of this is the mileage marker suddenly started at 1.)

We got to our campground, just outside the city of Carlsbad, New Mexico and basically took it easy for the rest of the day, anticipating a big day for tomorrow.

Opinion – Neither Janet nor I, like the desert scenery.  It tends to be drab and dreary compared to the mountains or even our prairies.  At least on the prairies the farms seem to be able to support life where the desert ranches seem hardly able to support a few head of cattle.  We have learned on this trip that the desert is not for us!