Cloud Climbing - Thurs., May 31, 2018

Imagine its the late 1890s. You work for the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad. Timber is needed to build railroad trestles and it is in short supply. Where do you find the big trees needed to make the trestles and continue building your railroad? The owners saw green forests of fir and spruce to the east of Alamogordo in the Sacramento Mountains and decided to build a line up into the mountains to harvest the trees. 

Once a team from the company made it up into the mountains, they found not only the trees, but a cool climate, beautiful views, and wildlife. It was a no-brainer to build a 26-mile branch line to this lovely location. Work on the railroad branch line began in 1899 and was completed in 1900.

Now, imagine you live in El Paso, Texas. Summers are very, very hot. Wouldn't you love to escape the summer blast furnace and go somewhere cool? It turns out going up into the mountains became a favorite activity after the Alamogordo-Sacramento Mountain Railway became a reality. The name of the new town was Cloudcroft, "a clearing in the clouds." The rail line gained the moniker "The Cloud-Climbing Railroad" because at 8,600' many times the train was above the clouds.

The railroad hauled freight and passengers. In 1900, a lodge was built for summer tourists to enjoy the cool mountain air. Cloudcroft was laid out in several villages so tourists could avoid hanging out with loggers and railroad workers.

Movie stars and famous people flocked to Cloudcroft to escape the scorching summer heat. The railroad, at that time, was the highest standard-gauge track in the world and became quite well known among the well-heeled. [Note: The above facts were gleaned from abandonedrails.com and Wikipedia.]

Fast-forward to today...Susan and I will be marking the 5k (me) and 14k (Susan Medlin) Volksmarch routes for tomorrow's walk. Because we arrived a little early, Susan drove two miles down the road to show me where our checkpoint tomorrow will be located. It was still before 9:00 a.m., so we stopped at the Mexican Canyon Trestle Overlook. 

Mexican Canyon Trestle (restored)

The railroad's tourist trade

Complicated restoration of the Mexican Canyon Trestle

Cloud-climbing railroad

A plethora of signs greeted us atop the mountain just before the descent on Hwy. 82 to Alamogordo, NM.

Where our walk started: Lincoln National Forest,
Trestle Recreation Area

Impressive...I don't think we'll take
our 5th wheel down this 14-mile-long grade!

We timed our arrival at the Trestle Recreation Area to correspond with the ranger opening the gate at 9:00 a.m. only to find the gate had not been opened. (That does not bode well for the gate to be opened for our group at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.) Just up the road from the Recreation Area was a dirt lot which was already quite full at 9:10 a.m. We took the spot someone pulled out of when we arrived.

Backpack, trail description, water, and
hiking pole...ready to go

After loading up our backpacks with trail-marking tools, we walked down the road, past the still-locked gate, and up into the park. The day was absolutely beautiful. About 1/4 mile down the trail we came to a historical marker about Devil's Elbow, a spot on the trail they had to blast out rock to make room for the tracks. We had a view of White Sands all the way to the distant San Andreas Mountains.

Susan M. raring to go!

Devil's Elbow viewpoint of White Sands and
the far-off San Andreas Mountains

Devil's Elbow information

Descending into the shade on a moderately steep dusty, rocky trail, we made our way past the historical marker for the "S" Trestle. Not much is left of this one!

The ruins of the "S" Trestle.

One of the main highlights of this walk is the Mexican Canyon Trestle. This is the same trestle with a picture up above in the blog, only now we're level with the top of the trestle.

Mexican Canyon Trestle

You can't go out on the trestle.

Susan M. coming down the trail.

When we came to the split where I would finish marking the 5k and Susan M. would mark to the 8k point, it was decided I would probably finish my part first. Susan M. gave me her car keys and I was to meet her at the checkpoint location we had scoped out earlier. Off we went. 

From that point on, the 5k went steeply uphill in the sun. And up, and up, and up. There was very little shade and it was quite hot. I was wearing dark jeans and a light-colored T-shirt. If I stopped in the sun, it felt like my jeans were burning up. I went as far as I could each time then stopped, huffed and puffed because of the 8,500' elevation, drank water, and continued on. It was a major slog up that hill. 

[Note to trail developers: Reverse the routes. Start the walk going down the steep hill so it can be done in the cool of the morning. Then bring the walkers back up the other way which is in shade most of the way.]

Going back up, beginning part
where there was still some shade.

View from the trail as I went up

Knock yourself out--you finish the walk
going up these stairs for 1/8 mile. 

Susan finished marking her part of the trail about 25 minutes before me and she was waiting at the checkpoint for me to pick her up in her van. When she found out I was going to be a while, she went out to the main road and hitched a ride two miles uphill back to her van. She still had to wait for me to unlock it. 

After we reunited, we went to the Ranger Station to make sure the gate would be open by 8:00 a.m. the next morning so the walkers could start early. At the Ranger Station, we didn't get any satisfaction. The lady who worked there told us the two rangers who would be in charge of opening the gate early were not in the office. I think she told us about five times one of them was in Guam. She didn't know if the other one would be back in the office. She also told us we needed a Special Use Permit. No one had mentioned that to us before.

Thankfully, she gave us the phone number for the Ranger who was out working in the field. We decided to eat lunch and return to the Ranger Station after lunch. While at lunch, Susan got a call from the ranger who was back at the station. 

Lunch at Big Daddy's Diner in Cloudcroft was so good! Both of us had burgers that were cooked to perfection. And these were real burgers, not frozen patties. Susan had tater tots and I had sweet potato fries. We highly recommend this local-flavor, great food restaurant. 

We went back to the Ranger Station (only a couple of miles away) and spoke to the person who could help us. She said that since our group was less than 75 people, we wouldn't need a permit. Also, it would not be a problem at all to open the gate at 8:00 a.m. We were so relieved. We could get on with our day.

I was exhausted. When we returned to the motel, we showered, rested, I worked on a blog, and then we went to evening Volksmarch Meet-N-Greet. 

Linda and Mike

Our feast

Audrey, Ellen, and Susan Medlin

Carolyn, Doris, Sarah

Derrill, Sheila, ?, Bill, ?

Henri working the check-in table at La Quinta

We have a raffle basket of New Mexico products that was put together by Susan Medlin. You can see a list of what's in it below.

We had a very nice time meeting other attendees and there was a good selection of food and wine. As we were sitting there talking, Ellen asked me if I was tired. I told her "Yes." She said she could tell 'cuz "You looked like hell when you came back this afternoon." I told her that's what I felt like then.

After the Meet-N-Greet, I finished my last blog entry -- Part 2 for May 30, the VLA.

Good night. Must. Get. Sleep.  Tomorrow Susan and I are marking the 5k and 10k Fort Stanton State Park trails. For dinner, the group is going to Cattle Baron Restaurant. Mmm!