When we drove past them on our way to White Sands, we looked longingly at those craggily peaks.
These are the Organ Mountains, that dramatically stretch to almost 9,000 feet in elevation, and well above the flat desert floor in front of them.
We found out that this area became a new national monument in 2014. Now designated as "Organ Mountains-Desert Peak National Monument," we headed to the visitor center with our national park pass for free entry. We got the ranger's best advice on a 7-mile loop trail, and headed out on an all-day hike.
As we hiked closer to the mountains, we could look back to see that this was actually several different mountains that ranged in color from deep red to almost white.
Our first destination was towards the darker mountains and the Dripping Springs area. The golden grass, coupled with the dark mountains and the blue sky made a glorious place to hike this morning.
Nestled up against the darker mountains, this has been a place of rest and solitude for many years. One investor built a resort here in the 1870's, and we came to the livery station where the horses and chicken coops were housed.
The Dripping Springs Resort was built into the side of the mountain, with awesome views all around. The buildings from the late 1800's were in disrepair, fitting in with their rocky surroundings as they crumble.
Hiking in January is too early for blooming wildflowers, but we found this hardy jasmine bush was putting forth dainty yellow blooms even now.
The only other blooms of the day were found on a giant barrel cactus near the trail.
These bright yellow pineapple-shaped blooms are hard to miss in the drab of the desert this time of year.
This property was purchased in 1910, by a wealthy doctor. When his wife contracted tuberculosis, it became a sanatorium for her and other patients struggling with the disease. The sanatorium is also crumbling, but we could see its roofs from above.
A less-traveled trail that wasn't on our map led behind the hospital. When we see these little trails, you can be sure that Mark will try them. It led higher up the mountain to a giant boulder.
Atop the boulder were views of the valley below, with the city of Las Cruces now barely visible far below. Even further down this little trail we found the Van Patten Reservoir. Built in 1892 to hold the precious moisture in this desert environment, it was an emerald green color today. We heard from another hiker that local children used to come here to swim. Today, it was closer to an ice rink, as Mark threw a rock to confirm that it was frozen this time of the year.
Water is important to survival in this rugged habitat. Our only wildlife sighting of the day was a lizard, staying close to this source of moisture. We watched as he scurried down the rock wall, to drink from the spring water.
Even though we saw ice around us, the temperatures were perfect for hiking. It was a 60-degree day with no wind and glorious blue skies!
This area is called "Dripping Springs," and we followed the water above the falls. Just because the water is flowing straight down, doesn't mean that crazy hikers would not follow it. So we started scrambling over the rocks, looking for the source of the springs. Denisa knows her scrambling limits, but Mark thrives on these tough climbs. He continued scrambling over boulders until he got to some glorious views of the mountains.
After this extra hike/climb, we considered heading back to the car. After all, Mark is nursing the blood blister on his foot from the sand yesterday, and the sprained ankle from three days ago. Anyone with good sense would call it a day with a good 3-mile hike. We never have been accused of having good sense, so we continued on the long loop hike we had planned this morning (when we were fresh). This took us in the foothills of the lighter-colored mountains.
Our next side trail would include a spur off to the Fillmore Waterfall. It's hard to say, "no" to a waterfall in the desert, so we made the extra one-mile trek. We were rewarded with a picture of the falls all to ourselves. The sparkling clear water flows through this canyon, so this was also a great picnic and rest stop.
Again, Mark couldn't resist the call to scramble over the rocks and through the desert thorns to get a view from the top of the falls. You can barely see him with his arms outstretched right above the water fall.
Just to prove that it is Mark, Denisa zoomed in on him from her comfortable perch at the bottom of the canyon.
Mark took a picture from the top of the falls, showing the rugged terrain that lowers into canyons and raises in majestic mountains. We finally left this oasis to head back into the desert. This seven-mile hike had gotten lengthened with extra trails and scrambling, and we were getting weary. But those beautiful blue skies are something that we never get tired of.
Now we headed away from the mountains, into the La Cueva area. This word is Spanish for "caves," and these large boulders housed at least one cave.
The huge rocks were thrown across the desert floor, and our trail snaked around them.
Inhabited by Native Americans many years ago, it was also home to a man named Agostini-Justiniani in 1869. Agostini renounced his priesthood and chose to live as a hermit in this mountainous area that is now called, "Hermit's Cave."
Close to a water source, and giving natural protection from the heat of summer and the cold of winter, it made a comfortable natural home.
From it's six-foot entrance, the views from the inside weren't bad either.
As the trail took us away from the cave entrance, we took another picture. It helps to understand just how big these giant boulders are when you see the cave. The six-foot entrance is barely noticeable as a tiny gap at the bottom of the largest rock in the center of the picture below.
According to Denisa's Garmin, our hike stretched to 8 miles by the time we returned to our car at the visitor center parking lot. It also included ups and down in elevation equivalent to 79 flights of steps. Since that device is on Denisa's wrist, we're sure Mark's extra scrambling gave him another mile and many more stairs.
Since we had seen a glimpse of sunset on these mountains from afar, we made the decision to stay a little longer to see it up close. We watched as the craggy peaks turned from natural . . .
to super-natural . . .
as the light from the setting sun turned them to a bright pink before our eyes.
The Organ Mountains are illuminated in a way that only God can do. Once again, we have wandered His wonders at one of the United States' newest national monuments. We have been blessed!
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