We're Back! First Stop: Hueco Tanks near El Paso, Texas

 Dianne here:  We're starting up our blog again as we begin our 4-month trip to the Pacific Northwest.   Last summer we stayed home due to Covid.  We are doing things a little differently this time.  We toyed with the thought of not blogging at all.  But since we use these blogs as our virtual scrapbook of our travels, and friends were telling us they looked forward to them, we decided to start it up again for this trip.   I told Roger I would share the load and so we will each be adding our thoughts as we go.  We might not post as often, depending upon wifi accessibility.

After planning and anticipating for months, we finally left home on June 15 and slowly made our way west to our first multi-night stop at Hueco Tanks State Park near El Paso, Texas.

Hueco Tanks State Park and Historical Area

Roger here:  Our water and electric campsite at Hueco Tanks was amazing.  We backed (with difficulty) into a spot with the rock mountain directly behind us.  There were not many people here, so we had the place pretty much to ourselves.

Hiking here is by permit only.  70 people are allowed to hike each day.  I made reservations quite a while ago (of course) :-)

The picture below shows me anticipating the pictographs and petroglyphs in the cave behind me.

Dianne found them!

The Chain Hike...

As we wandered around the area we happened upon the (unlabeled) Chain Hike Trail.  I had intended to do this hike while Dianne pursued other explorations, but since we were there....

Dianne decided to go part way and then left to find more pictographs.  I was determined to force my way to the top.  

I was following the chains to the top of the mountain when they disappeared. I found myself lost.

This looked promising, but it led me further astray.

The views were so amazing...

... as was the desert plant-life...

... but I was definitely not going the correct way.  I retraced my steps, scrambling back the way I had already trekked. Discouraging.

After several back-and-forth detours, I scrambled up a rock face and found the remainder of the chain trail.

I was inspired and ready to go on what turned out to be an incredible adventure.  The view from the top was panoramic.

I phoned Dianne to let her know that I would be really late getting back, when she said, "I see you!"  She directed my eyes to her location far, far below ... that tiny pink dot in the middle of the white trail was Dianne waving at me.

Dianne again:  And here is my view of Roger at the same time, the tiny little pink dot way up on the hill:

Dianne had already been to another pictograph location - Area 17. Let's catch up with her before you hear about my explorations at the top of the rock mountain.

Dianne here... One of the hikes led to "Site 17" cave:

Hueco Tanks is known for ancient pictographs.  This placard shows what the pristine images in the cave were like:

Unfortunately, over the past 160 years or so, graffiti has spoiled some of the images and others are very faded.  The historical graffiti was almost as interesting to me as the ancient pictographs.   Here's a history of it:

Here is an example of historical graffiti:

But you can still make out the pictographs underneath...

 

Roger here:   Meanwhile back on top of the rock mountain, I was chatting with a really nice young couple from the University of Texas El Paso.  They encouraged me to explore the interconnected caves before descending.  They said that I could not get lost, but that I would be doing some crawling and scrambling.  I am so grateful for their advice.

The entrance involved a sense of adventure - not to mention a little crawling.

Once I got inside, the initial view exploded in front of me.  Wow!

The surfaces of the cave walls were like nothing I had ever seen.  Otherworldly.

I was able to move in different directions to the various rooms.

Reluctantly, I found my way to the exit.  This was something I will never forget.

The trip down was more strenuous than the trek up.  Thank heaven for my gripping hiking shoes and those chains that helped me keep my balance. 

I also paid a visit to Area 17.  Dianne had gone back to the Airstream and our awaiting dogs.

I took a few different pictures of the artwork in the cave.  

 

 

Diane again...

The hike back out from the cave was especially pretty:

And on the way back to the camp site I saw this Texas Horned Toad:

Roger again...  Before leaving this magical place I took pictures of the moon and the sun at twilight.  It was difficult to leave.

We already know that our next stop at Silver City, New Mexico is a fitting next step in our summer journey, but we will not be able to post until we have some writing time and good wifi. In the meantime, we are posting current pictures on facebook.

If you know me (Dianne), you know I can't leave you without a few pet photos: 

Above is the first photo taken on our trip.  Such anticipation!

Poquita is not a very good map reader - she falls asleep on the job.

Roger and the kids enjoying a cool evening at camp.

The dogs aren't allowed on most of the trails, but we did walk them on the areas they were allowed.

Lots more amazing scenery and history at our next stop in New Mexico, so stay tuned!