organ mountains peaks national monument

We finished our nearly month-long exploration of Texas and headed over the border to spend some more time in New Mexico. Specifically we headed for the Las Cruces area and the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument but, true confession, also to electricity.  It had been a more than two weeks and we really needed to get everything recharged!

The Organ Mountains are a beautiful mountain range north northeast of Las Cruces.  I was more than a little curious about the origin of their name and after pondering it,  my mind came up with several possibilities … none of which were the real story. Apparently, as a pioneer passed through the desert, he looked up and thought the peaks resemble organ pipes. The landmark mountains have been referred to as the Organ Mountains ever since.

We hiked a couple of trails and enjoyed the beautiful vistas. From the back of the mountains you could just see White Sands NP, a glowing white area, far out, just as the horizon starts to tint everything a shade of blue. It was pretty cool to see it. 

On to pics:

On our way we once again traveled through El Paso. There was this colorful neighborhood on the Mexico side that I had tried to get a pic of every time we drove past, but with multiple highways with multiple lanes … I had failed … I had pics of walls, pics of big trucks, pics of little trucks and lots of blurry pics, but no pics of the neighborhood. Finally, this time I got one!

We stopped for the night in Van Horn and had dinner at the Hotel El Capitan, which was designed by Henry Trost, of southwest fame and who designed many of the buildings at UTEP (University of Texas El Paso) that I raved about in a post last year.

driving across the desert, one can sometimes spot longed for rain, knowing it will never fall where you are

sunsets were beautiful 

and surprisingly often had pinkish hues

Here is a profile of the mountain range. What do you think ... do the peaks look like pipes from a pipe organ? 🤷

White Sands NP visible just right of center in the background 

and a close- up

It is not uncommon to have warnings at the beginnings of many of the trails we hike, and while I appreciated the bluntness and the trust that I could make appropriate decisions for myself, I thought these warnings were, perhaps, not as clear as they could have been. I mean, how do I know if I can do the hike if I've never seen it or the mountain before? And I thought the statement “leave rattlesnakes alone and they'll leave you alone” was like, sure, but what if I “accidentally” step near one and it “accidentally” bites me??? What then??? As it turns out, we didn't die or run into any rattlesnakes. Whew!

a couple shots from the hike                        some of the peaks, 

some of the new growth,

and some old seed pods

amazing colors of fungi and lichen

a really ugly lizard 

and birds.                                                Ladderback Woodpecker 

I was very curious about these guys, turns out they are a kind of junco!  A Red-backed Junco

On the way home,

sotol stalks create fields of gold in the afternoon sun

Another day, another hike

beautiful succulents 

In a desert there is beauty in the big things;                                                layering of mountains in the mist

white clouds in cobalt skies

And there is beauty in the small things;

new growth

a Sara orangetip butterfly 

 and the vivid colors of a Mexican poppy

Next stop: dipping our toes into pueblo culture, near Albuquerque