70 MPH Gusts, Snow, and Greg Hits the Trails

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

The sun is shining brightly, snow is whizzing by horizontally, and it is 45 degrees. Greg walked to the ranger station to sign up for another night and then is hiking up the side of a cliff. I just saw him at the top and switched on the telephoto lens to take his photo. The wind calmed down yesterday evening and was calm all night. Greg walked to the Interpretive Center this morning to get wifi and a weather report and the winds were starting up again when he returned. They are predicted to gust up to 70 mph, so we are sitting tight until tomorrow when the gusts will be down to 30 mph.

Greg just returned from his hike and informed me that we are in good shape down in this hollow with trees breaking the wind. The top of the ridge was wild, and to the north it is very gray and snowy. He decided that after lunch he needs another hike. Not me! Yesterday I had what we called in California “desert fever”. When the Santa Ana winds hit the LA basin, they blow the high desert dust down and many people suffer from congestion and asthma. I am staying in until this passes!

Greg went out again after lunch and hiked back up the ridge and then over to the Indian Lodge. It was built by the CCC during the Depression and is in the midst of major renovations. Unfortunately, the restaurant is closed, or we would have enjoyed it. Greg took a lot of photos at the lodge and during his two windy hikes today, and some of them follow this post.

I stayed behind in the rocking camper. Actually, we have been fortunate. There have been some serious wind gusts, but we are fairly well protected in the hollow. Near dusk, after several hours of high winds, we noticed that even the nearby hills were being hidden by a dusty haze. Greg said it was particularly noticeable in the lower areas from his high viewpoints. We were glad that we decided not to stay at a campsite in town. The dust and winds must have been much worse in the flat areas. I had a quiet afternoon working around the camper and getting ideas for our future travels.

I fixed an African chickpea soup, after burning one of my new pots cooking the chickpeas! Argh! I still have not adjusted to the propane stove. It is nearly impossible to keep a low flame without it going out, so cooking foods tend to use up water faster, hence the burned beans. Anyway, I salvaged enough for the soup, which tasted good on a cold, windy day, and fixed a salad. We continued on with our Battlestar Gallactica marathon!

Tomorrow, Greg wants to get up early and stop in Fort Davis for a big breakfast at the drugstore. Then we will head to Guadalope Mountains National Park and Carlsbad Caverns National Park. There is no campground at the caverns, so we will need to stay in the town of Carlsbad in a private RV park. So, we'll say goodbye to Texas for now, and head to New Mexico!