Hiking A National Monument with our Michigan Neighbors

On Tuesday, Janie and Steve Lowe, our hosts, took us for a tour of the Las Cruces, New Mexico area.  The Lowes are our neighbors as they have a summer /seasonal home up on our street near Frederic and a winter home down here,

We decided to take a hike at the Dripping Springs Natural Area which is part of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.  Above are Karen, Janie and Steve as  we prepare to enter the visitor center to sign in.

Above our tour guide (Steve) points our the path we are going to follow on the display at the visitor center of the National Monument.

This vast Natural Area is south of Las Cruces and is rugged and beautiful.

The trails into the Organ Mountains were narrow and somewhat steep but not overly strenuous.  On one trail we met a couple from Kalamazoo.

At the top of the trail we explored this small cave.  It had been used by primitive people for hundreds of years, and by a hermit priest in the early 1800's.  After our hikes we had a delicious lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant near the downtown campus of New Mexico State University.

(Go Aggies)

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