I was up at 5am to shower and left the house at 7:20am with Zeke. The early morning drive to Benson was already proving to be scenic, with a temperature inversion keeping clouds close to the valleys. I met Nina at the Love's Station in Benson and together we convoyed to Cloudcroft, where Holly reserved a campsite and waited for us. Zeke came along. We were only 50 minutes late of our planned departure time of 8am.
The drive along I-10 is beautiful. Just before Wilcox, AZ is Texas Canyon, a preserved area of huge granite boulders north of the Little Dragoon Mountains. Rockhounds and photographers are attracted to this area, as well as heathens determined to deface all the rocks with graffiti. This defacing is why the area is closed off to the public. A rest area near Texas Canyon makes for a very scenic stop along one's travels. The canyon is open only during special events; I hope to one day walk through those mystical piles of rocks.
We stayed in contact via walkie-talkies while on the road, letting each other know when we needed to stop for a bathroom break or a snack break. Zeke held up well, and my one routine stop is along the Rio Grande in Las Cruces, where we walked out and back along the river path for .6 miles so that Zeke could pee, poop, and drink some water. The river is still high, but no one was floating in it today.
We stopped at the McGinn's pistachio farm north of Alamogordo. I had forgotten where that farm was located precisely, only to learn that it is three miles north of the US54/70/82 intersection. The garlic and ranch-roasted nuts are addictive. By this point I hadn't had anything to eat, so the varied free samples of pistachio white chocolate brittle, maple roasted pistachios and other nut delights filled me up enough.
Cloudcroft was our destination for this All Girls' Retreat, an old logging town at 8676' elevation. US82 now climbs from 4336' tin Alamogordo to over 8000' in Cloudcroft for the 17-mile drive uphill. It's a pretty drive with several scenic pull-off where one can stop and enjoy the view. This was Nina's first time here and I wanted her to see the beauty.
The hard part was finding Holly, who was already at the campsite waiting for us. She drove up from her home 90 miles south of Carlsbad, NM. The drive for her is only three hours, not 5.5 hours. She was holding on to two sites in the James Canyon campground, a primitive campsite with six sites and vault toilets, but no running water. The campground is a free campground right off US82, west of Mayhill and between milemarkers 32 and 33. Once we found each other, we had a small hug fest, then drove into town in two vehicles to get something to eat. Our destination was the Cloudcroft Brewing Company.
Holly and I enjoy our craft beer, but Nina does not drink. The brewery does offer gluten-free pizza dough ($2 surcharge) and soft drinks, so she went along. But when we got there early in the evening, the entire brewery was blasting with loud music and a big crowd. We were told it would be a 40-minute wait, so we got beers and Pepsis and sat along the wall of the bar yelling at each other to be heard. I ordered a Hotshot Hefe brewed there, but it was the worst Hefeweizen I have ever had. Its ABV was 6.8%! To top that off, the bar tender tipped himself a dollar from my change.
We eventually were seated...outside in front of the stage. It was getting chilly out, too. Kids were running around the stage area, which was fine with everyone, but I got a little annoyed with the little heathens when they ran up and down the tables bumping into people. Kids are only cute as long as they can behave within their acceptable standards. Having kids run around in front of blasting speakers really isn't a good way to entertain them.
The two pizzas we ordered were overbaked and too salty. The reviews of this brewery made it sound like this was the best pizza ever. It was not! Holly and I shared a Greek pizza, Nina had her own gluten-free pepperoni. My second beer was a much more pleasant Alien Vanilla Stout brewed by the Sierra Blanca Brewery, as was Holly's De La Vega Pecan Nut ale. The brewery was out of their other wheat beer, an Adobe Wheat ale.
I was glad to get out of that place. It was a disappointment, but I'd give it a second chance and go there when there isn't a band playing. I'd skip the food. We walked down Burro street, a heavily-shaded residential street on the east side, to the downtown business district of Cloudcroft on the west side. The shops were all closed. All the people were jamming at the brewpub, from where the noise traveled quite a way. We were on our return walk when we noticed rain approaching. We walked a mile in town when its residents were already getting ready for the night. We made it back to our campsites 17 miles away when it began to rain at 9:30pm. We had gathered outside at the picnic tables, but when it began to storm, we all disappeared into our cars. Or at least I did. I fell asleep while Nina and Holly were wondering what had happened to me. I hadn't planned on falling asleep so fast, but it was long day with little sleep the day before.
For the next three days we will be hiking short trails in the Trestle Recreation Area in Cloudcroft.
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