Wednesday, January 25 – Another cold night in Las Cruces, NM. Woke up to 28 degrees. Too cold for us! We killed some time before heading out on our hike today at Dripping Springs Natural Area. Again, we were able to use our America the Beautiful pass for free admission.
The trail is a gravel base that climbs about 600 feet in elevation over about 2 miles (one way).
That is Las Cruces way down there.
Lots of dry beds along the trail.
At the end of the trail is a small mountain waterfall. There are also the remains of the Dripping Springs Resort. It had 16 rooms, a large dining room, and a concert hall. It was very popular around the turn of the century. Today the resort is in ruins.
The retaining wall at the base of the waterfall provided water to the hotel.
Back in the early 1800’s, a hotel built here and was named Van Patten’s Mountain Camp. A stagecoach line from Las Cruces would carry guests along the narrow, rocky path up to the hotel. That must have been a bit scary to say the least.
We then finished our hike by returning on the same trail but this time the two-mile trek was all down hill. Overall, the hike took about two hours. It was Paul’s first hike since he had his knee replacement He did pretty good. We did enjoy the hike. Thankfully the temperatures were moderate, although it was only 38 degrees when we started, There was little or no wind until we made the turn to head back down the trail, and then we noticed a cool (Marsha says cold!) breeze beginning to cool things off.
Our last stop was the old Town of Mesilla. The town is one of the oldest and most visited communities in southern New Mexico. It is easy to see why this small town was named one of the top ten small towns in the country to visit. There are over fifty unique stores, boutiques, galleries, restaurants, and taverns all within walking distance of one another.
Basilica of San Albino
Dating back to 1850, this next building once housed the Capitol of Arizona and New Mexico. Later it was the courthouse in which Billy The Kid was tried and sentenced to hang.
We had visited a winery, a craft brewery, and a margarita bar previously while visiting downtown during their Sunday afternoon craft show.
St Clair Winery came highly recommended. Their wine is excellent. We enjoyed the wine tasting and ended up buying two bottles of wine for our annual summer wine tasting party.
That ends our visit to the second largest city in New Mexico, Las Cruces. Due to predicted cool days and very cold nights (lows around 22 degrees) at our next planned stop of Deming, NM, we have decided to postpone our visit there until another time. We need to get out of high desert country and head further west to lower altitudes. Next stop is Casa Grande, AZ.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you back real soon. Have a great day!
