Week 30…White Sands, Caverns & Big Bend

We left our quiet free campsite in Arizona and headed toward Carlsbad Cavern National Park in New Mexico. Craig had done a little research and it seemed like a cool place to explore. We also saw that White Sands National Monument was on the way so that was our plan for the week so far.

At this point in the trip, we are going day by day. We hadn’t researched this area like we did with Canada and Alaska. We don’t have a list of things we have to see and places we have to go. So the feel of the trip is a little bit different, it’s still fun but we are having a hard time staying in one place for too long.

We made our way to White Sands National Monument and drove the entire rig on the scenic loop drive through it. It’s quite amazing to see miles and miles of sand dunes. We have sand dunes in Silver Lake, Michigan but we don’t have mountains surrounding us there. And the fact that White Sands is actually gypsum from the mountains makes it even more amazing.

We have been trying to stay off main highways since we are just wandering. We did come across the cool little town of Cloudcroft, NM. This small town is located at 8,650 ft elevation and there was even a little snow on the ground. We had read great reviews about the Cloudcroft brewery that had just opened this past spring. We were impressed with the beer and the wood fired pizza. We also talked to another full-time RVer from Texas who said not to miss Big Bend National Park and gave us some pointers on things to see. Friends of ours also put Big Bend on our radar when they told us they would be there after Christmas. So we decided that should be on our route.

We made our way to some BLM land just north of Carlsbad Caverns. It was oddly busy for a Sunday night and we ended up right alongside the road. It ended up working out since we needed to go back into Carlsbad for fuel in both the truck and the Jeep and all of our propane tanks needed to be filled. It still gets pretty cold at night so we’re going through propane like crazy.

We came back to the same road and everyone who had camped there the night before were gone. So we slowly made our way up the rocky bumpy road and found ourselves about two miles off the road and with no one around. It was nice and quiet although a little bit windy.

We went to Carlsbad Caverns on Tuesday. We didn’t know what to expect and were pleasantly surprised with the experience. We chose to walk in through the natural entrance which takes you down 80 stories to the Big Room. It felt a little touristy and the walkways were all smooth with handrails, and there was strategically placed lighting on the formations.

We would’ve loved to explore these caverns back in the 1920’s when you had to crawl and climb on the rocks to see it. It is nice that many people get to enjoy this magnificent wonder. Once in the Big Room there is a path that takes you about an hour and a half to walk and there are so many different formations to see. When we were done, there is an elevator that zips you back up to the visitor center.

Wednesday was a short travel day and we made our way into Texas and found another free campground. We were the only ones there and we were hoping to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. Unfortunately, it was super windy and we had to hunker down in the trailer.

We headed to Big Bend National Park on Thursday not really knowing where to stay. We went to a visitor center and they told us the only place to stay with our size rig was the Rio Grande Village. We were impressed with this $14 a night campground and found a nice little spot. We packed up the Jeep and found some off-road trails to explore.

As we drove on an off-road trail called Old Ore Road, we were warned by other travelers that the road was closed up ahead because a Unimog had flipped over…two weeks ago. What? If you don’t know what a Unimog is, it’s a pretty heavy duty off-road vehicle. Read more about it here https://expeditionportal.com/guy-flips-unimog-in-big-bend-forcing-trail-closure/

We were a little confused as to how it could flip and why it took so long to get it recovered and get the road back open. We continued about 9 miles in until we came to the road closure and were greeted by a Border Patrol Agent. He explained how he flipped it and confirmed that the trail was still closed. We were bummed we didn’t get to actually see it. It did explain the recovery trailer at the start of the trail and the John Deere Excavator we passed coming in. What an ordeal! We found ourselves another trail and road around until dark.

The park is huge and has a lot of trails to hike and off-road trails to drive on but Gus is not allowed on any of the hiking trails. So Friday we drove into the Chisos Basin and took advantage of the all you can eat salad bar at the lodge. The drive in was beautiful!

As we’ve been driving in Big Bend, we’ve noticed some creepy crawly things that in our mind were too big to be spiders…I even smooshed two of them with the Jeep tires because I didn’t realize what they were. We finally saw one and stopped to take a picture and the guy at the visitor center confirmed they are Tarantulas!!!! Ugh!! So not cool! We are always on the lookout now!

We headed down the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to Castolon and stopped at the visitor center. There is a lot of history here. We continued on to the Santa Elena Canyon and took the short hike along the Rio Grande. It’s only half a canyon on the US side. Its south canyon wall towers above Mexico. It was awesome to see! Maybe next time we’ll canoe down the Rio Grande too.

After the hike, we knew we wanted to drive an off-road trail that would take a few hours. We got a late start and ended up returning to camp in the dark. We had to skip the “Not Maintained” Four Wheel Drive Black Gap trail. We decided we would stay one more night and run it in the morning.

When we got back to camp after dark, I took Gus on a quick walk. I saw his ears perk up and saw something running in the road in front of us. I thought it was a dog and kept walking toward it, when it started coming at us, I shined my headlamp light at it and saw that it was a coyote. Thankfully my bright light scared him and he headed the other way and we headed back to camp. We heard them howling all night long.

Saturday morning we were up and ready to hit the trails. We got to the Black Gap Trail and were a little disappointed that it wasn’t a little harder. We got to a rock climb and with the excellent spotting by Craig, I climbed up on my second try. We continued on another trail that took us right to the Rio Grande and took a few pictures, enjoyed a Big Bend IPA and laughed as Gus gulped up some fresh Rio Grande water.

For not really knowing much about Big Bend National Park we really enjoyed the few days we spent here. We drove almost all the off-road trails which was more than 100 miles of gravel.

Along with the awful tarantulas and the face off with the coyote, we saw deer, road runners, bats, a golden eagle, a Kangaroo rat and a jackrabbit. Thankfully we didn’t encounter any of the four rattlesnake species and one copperhead species that live in the park.

We are now following the Rio Grande to the Gulf. We are camped out next to 90 East just outside of Del Rio, TX. We really have no idea where we’ll be for Christmas. We might spend the day traveling or if we find a cool spot to camp, stay and hang out.

It definitely doesn’t feel like Christmas not being with our families. But it will be a Christmas we remember no matter what we end up doing.

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! We miss and love you all!