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| Organ Mountain Monument Loop, NM | |
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| | Organ Mountain Monument Loop, NM | | | |
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Organ Mountain Monument Loop, NM
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| Hiking | 6.80 Miles |
1,440 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.80 Miles | 5 Hrs 5 Mns | | 1.61 mph |
| 1,440 ft AEG | 51 Mns Break | 20 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | On day three of our trip back to Lubbock we stopped off in Las Cruces to hike some of the trails in Organ Mountain Monument. There are a few trails there that we weren’t able to do last time we were here so we intended to complete those. Started off on the Dripping Spring Trail. This trail is about 1.5 miles one way and ends at Dripping Springs of course, this was the sight of a resort and Sanitarium back at the turn of the century. Only the remains of those buildings are left today, although they have been well preserved, kind of. This is an easy trail and we encountered about a dozen or so other hikers. On the return trip one of the other hikers that is real familiar with the area pointed out 5 Oryx, Odd looking critters. Fairly large animals with 2 horns that point to the rear. I thought they had similar features to a horse or a cow maybe both. I got within about 150 yards to get some better picture. The Oryx were introduced from Africa around 1960 as a gift to somebody but now roam around the Organ Mountains and White Sands area. They allow hunting of them to keep their numbers down as they have no predators.
After Dripping Springs we took the Crawford and Fillmore Canyon Trail. Our GPS route shows a short side trip we took up to an area that looked like there might be a mine but there was nothing there. There was a sucker trail that lead up to this pile of rock that looked like mine tailings but I think it was a natural formation. Could be an interesting area if there was water flowing in that canyon. We headed back to the Crawford Trail. Fillmore Canyon Trail is interesting, pass by the sight of a lead silver smelter then to Fillmore Falls and dam. No water to speak of just a trickle just enough for the bees. Took a break here. After leaving the Dripping Spring Trail we didn’t see anyone else on the trail. Headed back along the La Cueva Trail to our start point.
There is a fee for this area but if you have the National Park Pass covers it. Stopped in at the visitors center and the people working there were friendly with lots of good information on the history of this area. We stay in Las Cruces tonight, Rudy’s for dinner and then the next day Rudy’s for breakfast then on to Lubbock. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Very few |
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Fillmore Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | At the dam barely a drip, enough for bees | | _____________________
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