Rollin’ Rivards: Carlsbad RV Park and Campground- Carlsbad NM

Carlsbad RV Park and Campground- Carlsbad, NM

An Aerostat (Tethered Aerostat Radar system) near Marfa, Texas is used to monitor the US- Mexico border. We saw it between Big Bend and Carlsbad, NM.

Art pieces outside of the Carlsbad Museum were created by local artists.

The New Mexico National Guard lost 819 men as a result of the Bataan Death March. New Mexico had the largest number of Military personnel as a result of the March. 2023 was the 35th Anniversary of the March that is held on the White Sands Missile range to honor those who gave up their lives.

The Permian period was the start of the Permian Basin. The Permian Basin is the largest oil deposit in the Lower 48.

The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park is a zoo and botanical garden displaying plants and animals of the Chihuahuan Desert in their native habitats. It is located at the north edge of Carlsbad, at an elevation of 3,200 feet. The Ocotillo Hills overlook the city and the Pecos River.

We have seen 2 roadrunners in the wild but just for a couple of seconds combined.

This Prickly Pear Cactus is being eaten either by a Javelina or Mule deer according to the park ranger. The park is part of the local desert so wild animals can come into the park after hours.

Two Javelinas were lazily basking in the sun.

Javelina, also known as collared peccary, are medium-sized hoofed animals that look similar to a wild boar. They have mainly short coarse salt and pepper colored hair, short legs, and a pig-like nose. The hair around the neck/shoulder area is lighter in color giving it the look of a collar. Javelina have long, sharp canine teeth which protrude from the jaws about an inch.

We spotted this Bald Eagle atop a ledge.

The Mexican wolf, also known as the lobo, is a subspecies of gray wolf native to southeastern Arizona, southern New Mexico and northern Mexico. It is the smallest of North America's gray wolves, and is similar to the Great Plains wolf. Its ancestors were likely the first gray wolves to enter North America after the extinction of the Beringian wolf, as indicated by its southern range and basal physical and genetic characteristics.

The western diamondback rattlesnake is member of the viper family, found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Like all other rattlesnakes and all other vipers, it is venomous. It is likely responsible for the majority of snakebite fatalities in northern Mexico and the greatest number of snakebites in the U.S. We prefer seeing them behind a glass display rather than out on a hike in the wild.

The Gila monster is a species of venomous lizard native to the Southwestern United States and the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is a heavy, typically slow-moving reptile, up to 22 in long, and it is the only venomous lizard native to the United States.

The mule deer, named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule, is indigenous to western North America. Unlike the related white-tailed deer, which is found throughout most of North America, mule deer are only found on the western Great Plains, in the Rocky Mountains, in the southwest US, and on the west coast of North America.

The American bison is a species of bison native to North America- sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo. Once roaming in vast herds, the species nearly became extinct by a combination of commercial hunting and slaughter in the 19th century and introduction of bovine diseases from domestic cattle. With a population of 60 million in the late 18th century, the species was culled down to just 541 animals by 1889. Recovery efforts expanded in the mid-20th century, with a resurgence to roughly 31,000 wild bison as of March 2019. For many years, the population was primarily found in a few national parks and reserves. Through multiple reintroductions, the species now freely roams wild in several regions in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

The pronghorn is a species of mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American antelope, prong buck, pronghorn antelope and prairie antelope, because it closely resembles the antelopes of the Old World. The pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in the Western Hemisphere, with running speeds of up to 55 mph.

The cougar is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. This wide range has brought it many common names, including puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther. It is the second-largest cat in the New World, after the jaguar. Secretive and largely solitary by nature, the cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and crepuscular (active in twilight), although daytime sightings do occur. Despite its size, the cougar is more closely related to smaller felines, including the domestic cat than to any species of the subfamily Pantherinae.

The cougar is an ambush predator that pursues a wide variety of prey. Primary food sources are deer, but it also hunts smaller prey such as rodents. It prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking, but also lives in open areas. Cougars are territorial and live at low population densities. Individual home ranges depend on terrain, vegetation and abundance of prey. While large, it is not always the apex predator in its range, yielding prey it has killed to American black bears, grizzly bears and packs of wolves. It is reclusive and mostly avoids people. Fatal attacks on humans are rare, but increased in North America as more people entered cougar habitat and built farms.

The bobcat, also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca, Mexico. Although it has been hunted extensively both for sport and fur, populations have proven stable, though declining in some areas.

It has distinctive black bars on its forelegs and a black-tipped, stubby tail, from which it derives its name. It is an adaptable predator inhabiting wooded areas, semidesert, urban edge, forest edge, and swampland environments. It remains in some of its original range, but populations are vulnerable to extinction by coyotes and domestic animals. Though the bobcat prefers rabbits and hares, prey selection depends on location and habitat, season, and abundance. Like most cats, the bobcat is territorial and largely solitary, although with some overlap in home ranges. It uses several methods to mark its territorial boundaries, including claw marks and deposits of urine or feces. The bobcat breeds from winter into spring and has a gestation period of about two months.

These Yucca plants were in multiple stages of blooming. This was the only place we have seen these blooming.

This is the first time we have seen this species of cactus.

Roswell, New Mexico

The Roswell UFO incident centers on the 1947 recovery of metallic and rubber debris from a military balloon that crashed near Roswell, New Mexico. Decades later, conspiracy theories claimed that the debris was from a flying saucer which had been covered up by the United States government. In 1994, the United States Air Force published a report identifying the crashed object as a nuclear test surveillance balloon from Project Mogul.

On July 8, 1947, Roswell Army Air Field issued a press release stating that they had recovered a "flying disc". The Army quickly retracted the statement and said instead that the crashed object was a conventional weather balloon. The Roswell incident was not widely discussed until the late 1970s, when retired lieutenant colonel Jesse Marcel, in an interview with ufologist Stanton Friedman, said he believed the debris he retrieved was extraterrestrial. Ufologists began promoting a variety of increasingly elaborate conspiracy theories, claiming that one or more alien spacecraft had crash-landed and that the extraterrestrial occupants had been recovered by the military, which then engaged in a cover-up.

Conspiracy theories about the event persist, and the Roswell incident continues to be of interest in popular media. The incident has been described as "the world's most famous, most exhaustively investigated, and most thoroughly debunked UFO claim". The city of Roswell, New Mexico has capitalized on the event; the city's official seal now features a little green man while the city contains countless ufology attractions, events, statues and iconography.

Lisa, at the city line of Roswell, was trying to avoid capture by the little green men.

Timeline of the Roswell incident from July 2, 1947 to July 11, 1947.

Affidavits and documentation have been collected and are available at the Roswell museum.

Lisa hanging out with a couple of Aliens. She is finally taller than someone.

A model of the flying Saucer and the aliens that crashed at Roswell in 1947.

Investigation and details about the Hills abduction while they were traveling home. The abduction occurred in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

The museum displays of one the Aliens that crashed at Roswell inside a vacuum chamber.

The door and the description of the meaning of the door were on display.

Everything in Roswell comes up Martian from the McDonalds to the Dunkin/ Baskin Robbins. The town relies heavily on tourism related to the Martian incident 75 years ago.

John Simpson Chisum was a wealthy cattle baron who is credited with bringing his herds by cattle drive to New Mexico. He was partially responsible for bringing Billy the Kid to justice and his death.

Roswell Museum and Art Gallery

The End of the Trail is a sculpture by James Earle Fraser. It depicts a weary Native American man, wearing only the remains of a blanket and carrying a spear. He is hanging limp as his weary horse with swollen eyes comes to the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The wind blowing the horse's tail suggests they have their backs to the wind. The Indian in the statue is modeled by Seneca Chief John Big Tree, and the horse was adapted from the horse figure in another work, In the Wind. The statue is a commentary on the damage Euro-American settlement inflicted upon Native Americans. The main figure embodies the suffering and exhaustion of people driven from their native lands.

A diorama showing current Native Americans looking into the past and where they came from.

These were some of the various art pieces displayed in the Gallery.

Flying saucers on edge is the theme of this piece.

This rifle had literally grown into a tree.

This skeleton is taking a wagon trail trip.

Karma was keeping guard in the drivers seat while we were gone.

Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is in the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. The primary attraction of the park is the show cave Carlsbad Cavern. Visitors to the cave can hike in on their own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center. We opted to hike into the cave. There was another tour option for a deeper cavern, but it was already sold out for the month.

Carlsbad Cavern includes a large limestone chamber, named simply the Big Room, which is almost 4,000 ft. long, 625 ft. wide, and 255 ft. high at its highest point. The Big Room is the largest chamber in North America and the 32nd largest in the world.

We were standing outside of the natural opening of the Cavern

Lisa is standing in the mouth of the Cavern starting the descent. The descent is 750' with a total distance of 1.25 miles to the Big Room.

This is the last view of Natural Light within the cavern!

This is known as the Whale Mouth.

This is looking directly at Whales mouth.

This section is called the Dolls Theater.

Mark and Lisa pictured in front of Fairyland.

Notice the Angel in the center of this formation.

This section is the Hall of Giants.

This has been named the Chandelier.

This section is named Draperies.

A home made ladder was created by 15 year old James White in 1898 after he discovered the cavern when he saw a cloud of bats exiting from the ground. He found the entrance and using fence wire and tree branches, he created a ladder and made the first entry. This particular ladder (constructed the same way) is from the big room to a lower chamber. James went on to become a cave explorer, guano miner and park ranger in the Carlsbad Caverns. He used his guano bucket to lower people into the cavern for the first public tours of the canyon. Jim remained in Carlsbad until his death in 1946. He is credited with the discovery and exploration of Carlsbad Caverns.

Can you see the caveman in the center of this formation? Mark spotted several images throughout the cavern.

Another shot of the Draperies as seen in this picture.

The ceiling of the Big Room and the floor of Spirit World.

This section is called the Chinese Theater.

These are named the Giant and the Twin Domes.

Lisa stopped to take in the scenery in front of the Giant and Twin Domes.

This is one giant Stalagmite.

The formation on the left has been dubbed the Totem Pole.

This formation is called the Lions Tale.

The Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Guadalupe Mountains National Park is in the Guadalupe Mountains, east of El Paso, Texas. The mountain range includes Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at 8,751 feet, and El Capitan used as a landmark by travelers on the route later followed by the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line. The ruins of a stagecoach station stand near the Pine Springs visitor center. The restored Frijole Ranch contains a small museum of local history and is the trailhead for the Smith Spring trail. The park covers 86,367 acres in the same mountain range as Carlsbad Caverns National Park, about 25 miles to the north in New Mexico. The Guadalupe Peak Trail winds through pinyon pine and Douglas-fir forests as it ascends over 3,000 feet to the summit of Guadalupe Peak, with views of El Capitan and the Chihuahua Desert.

These are Hoodoos in the Guadalupe Mountains.

Mark spotted a medieval warrior face wearing a helmet in this formation.

This is the cliffside with the medieval face.

There are so many colors and various formations in the Guadalupe Mountains.

This cave opening in the Guadalupe mountains was inaccessible without climbing gear.

This herd of Desert Mountain goats crossed the road in front of us.

This pond was created by the Smith Spring and attracts wildlife and and humans to this typically dry desert area. A water source is invaluable for life to exist in the desert.

The Alligator Juniper tree is named for its bark that appears to be alligator skin.

Karma looking back to ensure I (Mark) was coming. He struggles to decide which of us follow when we get separated hiking. He prefers us being together at all times so he doesn't have to pick one over the other.

This ring was mounted on a tree years ago at Frijole Ranch before it grew into the wood of the tree.

Not sure what kind of tree this fence post comes from but it is common in New Mexico. We found it interesting with the large holes in it.

A sign we spotted in the National Park advertising ice for sale. I am hoping it is made from local spring water at that price.

The remains of the Pinery station.

Sitting Bull Falls

Sitting Bull Falls is a series of waterfalls located in a canyon in the Lincoln National Forest southwest of the city of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The United States Department of Agriculture's Forest Service maintains a popular recreation area for day use at the location of the falls.

The falls are fed by springs located in the canyon above. The water flows through a series of streams and pools until reaching the falls where it drops 150 feet into the canyon below. Most of the water disappears into the gravel or cracks in the rocks and either reappears in springs further down the canyon or joins the Pecos Valley underground water supply.

The area around Sitting Bull Falls is the remnant of a reef system known as the Capitan Great Barrier Reef dating from the Permian period. Approximately 250 million years ago, the region was located near the edge of an inland sea.

The origin of the name Sitting Bull Falls remains uncertain. One version holds that the falls were named after a Sioux medicine man. The Apache name for the area was gostahanagunti which means hidden gulch.