Carlsbad, New Mexico BLM Camping - Guadalupe Mountains National Park

We left Fort Stockton on Friday and drove to a BLM campsite near Carlsbad, New Mexico.  The campsite is a flat open camping area on Government land where you can camp for free - no hookups but the price is right.  

Our campsite - this is a large open area in the desert about 10 miles from the city of Carlsbad.  It is a good location as it is near town but also about 15 minutes (the opposite way from town) from Carlsbad Caverns National Park which is one of the places we want to see and about 45 minutes from Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  The first couple nights there was only one other camper here and this evening it looks like there will be four.   The place is very clean and very quiet and peaceful - except for the wind - the wind was really ferocious today. 

Our camper from about a mile away using a telephoto lens.

We went and checked out the City of Carlsbad today - this is a panoramic view from a hilltop overlooking the city.  We hiked up a trail we found behind the University Of New Mexico satellite campus (click on the picture to enlarge)

The entrance to Guadeloupe National Park

El Capitan (the other one) the rocky outcropping to the left of the mountain and Guadalupe Peak - the highest point in Texas at 8751 feet (the park is in Texas) - we had to drive back to Texas to enter the park.  We enjoyed the park  even though it wasn't on our list of things to see - we were so close that we decided we should check it out.

We had planned to do a long hike while here but unfortunately most of the trails don't allow dogs so that didn't happen.  We were however able to do the "Pinery Trail" which has the remains of a stage stop  from the 1800's (enlarge the next two pictures for details).

Donna and Darby on the trail to the stage stop ruins

The ruins of the main building

The remains of one of the outbuildings

Just about a mile down the road from the main entrance is the Frijole Ranch which is the most complete example of a working ranch from the 1800's in the Guadalupe Mountains

The main ranch house and outbuildings

One last view as we were leaving

Fort Stockton, TX RV Park

Just a quick update - this was a short stopover (2 nights - 1 full day) - Fort Stockton is somewhere near the middle of nowhere between San Antonio and El Paso - too far for most to make the trip all the way to El Paso so it is a popular stopover point for RVers - it has several large RV parks.  We traveled from Medina Lake campground to Fort Stockton on Wednesday (long trip - about 5-1/2 hours) and will be leaving in the morning (Friday) for New Mexico.  We will be doing our first BLM (Bureau Of Land Management) free dispersed camping in the desert near Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.  We will also be near the Guadalupe Mountains National Park so we may go there as well as Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Our Route

Sign On Interstate For Our Campground

Our Site

We did take time to hike the trail around the perimeter of the RV park - about 2 miles.  We spent most of the day washing the truck and the RV and getting ready for boondocking - cleaning solar panels, filling our water tank, etc. 

View from the trail with a mesa in the background ( I am learning the difference between a butte, a mesa, and a plateau - this looks like a mesa to me but it could be a large butte).

Oil rig from the trail - pic is a little blurry as the rig  was about two miles away.

Enormous prickly pear cactus on the trail - it is about 5 feet high and 15 feet long.

Another hug cactus about 6 feet high and 12 feet wide

Medina Lake RV Park, All White Deer, San Antonio River Walk, The Alamo

On Saturday we traveled from the Colorado River Campground in Columbus, Texas to Medina Lake RV Park in Lakehills, Texas.  This is another very nice a Texas size campground - we hiked the perimeter of the park and it was almost 4 miles.  It is located on Medina Lake which is an 8-1/2 square mile man made reservoir on the Medina River.

Our Route

Our Campsite

Donna and Darby down by the lake

Another view of the lake

View from directly behind the camper - if you look close you can see about 30 deer in the picture

Egyptian Geese - these geese are not native to the US - they are from Africa - I read that there are wild populations of them primarily in California, Texas and Florida - most likely decendents of birds that escaped captivity from zoos or private collections

All white deer on one of the hiking trails - not an albino - note the black nose and dark eyes. This condition is called leucism.  White deer with some brown are generally called leucistic or piebald - still a pretty rare sight

A few of the many friendly deer at the park.

This is the biggest buck we saw

 The Alamo

View of  one of the walls around the Alamo

The Alamo

Close-up of the entrance to the Alamo

San Antonio River Walk

We were more impressed with the San Antonio River Walk than the Alamo.  The River Walk is below street level in the heart of the city and extends for several miles with restaurants, hotels, shops, etc.  It is a very peaceful place in the heart of a bustling city.

Back at street level - our first unicorn of the trip!

Horse drawn carriage in front of the Alamo complex