Walking in the clouds

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Breathtaking - quite literally! We drove up from Ruidoso to an altitude of around 9,000 feet. It's been a while since we've been at that level and it was hard to draw breath at times. The views were hardly breathtaking though, as they were obscured by a thick layer of cloud, and we were right in the middle of it. The route through the Mescalero Indian reservation had been pretty but as we got higher and higher, we drove into thicker cloud. By the time we reached Cloudcroft we could hardly see the side of the road so we went straight through town and descended a little on the other side.

We stopped at the viewpoint where you are supposed to be able to see an old wooden trestle railway bridge. There we were greeted by a character calling himself "The Judge". Perhaps he really was the local judge. Who are we to question that?! He took a nice photo of the two of us cowering underneath an umbrella and then, as if by magic, he was gone! As we turned back towards the car, the clouds began to clear and we were treated to some amazing views of the landscape through the gaps. We even got a good view of the bridge. "The Judge" had told us that the bad weather was set in for the day, but what did he know?!!

After a brief trip to the Ranger Station to get our bearings (there is a pun there - we found out all about Smokey the Bear and the forest fire campaigns!!) we made our way to the trail head as the weather continued to clear. The walk to and from Mexican Canyon Railway Trestle is about 3 miles in all. There are some steep climbs considering the altitude but it's a wonderful walk. Along the way there are several vantage points where you can see all the way down to White Sands. We were so lucky that the clouds had almost gone by the time we got there. The walk to the trestle would have been shorter but a private land owner won't allow hikers on his property so there is something of a diversion! It was quite something to see the wooden structure up close and the story of its construction is almost unbelievable.

Built in 1899, the trestle stands 60 feet above the canyon in places. The railroad brought trains 26 miles uphill through a series of similar trestles and switchbacks. With an average gradient of 5.2% it must have been quite a journey. The track closed in 1947 and fell into disrepair until it was finally restored in 2009/10. Wouldn't it be amazing if they could one day restore the whole 26 miles!

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Photos

The Trestle Bridge
Can you see it???!!!

Comments

[taracloud]

Here comes the sun!
So glad the clouds cleared for that amazing trestle and for the forest walk--both beautiful!

[rrruss]

Loved New Mexico
So much to go back for, especially as we didn't make it to Carlsbad!

[D MJ Binkley]

The Enchanted Land
One of our most scenic states. Some of the photos remind me of an old spy movie but...how beautiful. Glad you are having fun in N.M.