Leaving California

The day finally arrived for us to leave California. We wanted to go early enough to get to our first stop on the other side of Arizona well before dark to make it easier to find and set up our campsite. We planned to grab breakfast in Yuma before heading out.

We left camp half an hour before we planned. I was feeling good about being ahead of schedule until I realized that I had forgotten to account for the time change on the way. Our half-hour ahead was now a half-hour behind schedule. I was happy we had left some wiggle room in the plan. Barring any unforeseen delays, we should still be able to get there before dark.

An Accident

We were making good time when we had a reminder of how quickly things can go wrong. We passed a group of cars in the median. We weren’t sure at first what stopped the vehicles. We soon had the answer to our question when we saw a car that had just lost control and rolled across the median. It had happened so recently the dust had not even settled yet. By the time we realized what we were seeing, we had already passed the accident. We noticed that plenty of people stopped to help, so we continued on our way, hoping that everyone involved was ok.

Texas Canyon

We continued our drive, enjoying the Arizona scenery. We started to see the saguaros again, and it was nice to be in familiar territory. As we drove east of Tucson, we were able to see what we had missed the first time around by traveling at night. Texas Canyon, filled with giant boulders and rocky hills, was spectacular. I enjoyed the scenery surrounding the rest stop in the canyon.

We reached Bowie, Arizona, where we would spend the night. We saw a sign for fresh pistachios before the exit. We couldn’t pass up fresh local nuts, so we stopped at the store. It was amazing. There were multiple flavors of pistachios, picked in a nearby orchard, as well as plenty of preserved fruits and more jerkies than I had ever imagined. We bought regular pistachios and a package of fruit to top our oatmeal. The cashier offered samples of the jerky. My favorite was the teriyaki brisket.

We drove through a pistachio orchard. The perfectly placed trees mesmerized me. I loved that, no matter what angle you looked at, the trees were perfectly aligned. It was an odd feeling to see nothing but the fantastic pistachio trees in every direction.

South Happy Camp Canyon

We left behind the groves, turning onto a dirt road that led to a canyon. As we admired the mountain in front of us, I spied a jackrabbit on the side of the road. Chris stopped, and I was able to take a couple of pictures of him before he scurried off into the desert.

We drove through the canyon to pick a camping spot. The area was full of campers, but we found a great site near the canyon’s mouth, right beside the road. It was such a quiet and peaceful spot. The massive rocks beside us were magnificent.

I woke before dawn. When I got out of the truck, I could see the sun shining on the top of the mountain. I waited in anticipation for it to crest the hills to the east. After 40 minutes, while seeing the sunlight move across the rocks, it still had not made an appearance. It was frigid. When my toes had turned to ice cubes, I gave up. It was another 20 minutes before the sun finally came over the horizon in front of us.

Hawks Galore

As we made our way back to the interstate, we saw several hawks on the electric poles beside the road. First, we saw a Harris’s hawk, then an immature red-tailed hawk. As we passed through the pistachio trees, we saw another hawk flying overhead. I couldn’t believe we were so lucky to see so many of them so close.

As we neared the end of the pistachio grove, we spotted a coyote standing in the trees. We were so shocked to see him that he bounded off before I recovered and grabbed the camera. It was a great start to the day.

Las Cruces and El Paso

The rest of our day was non-eventful. I was surprised to see the Organ Mountains in the distance while we were still 50 miles away from Las Cruces. They are spectacular and stand out on the horizon.

Once we arrived in El Paso, we turned west, crossing the Franklin Mountains. We went through one last border patrol checkpoint on our way to Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

After driving for a while, I saw a unique mountain far ahead in the distance. It looked as if a mountain range ended at a pink abutment. I was fascinated by the unusual shape.

After miles of watching the curious mountain get closer, the road turned and climbed toward the beautiful rock wall. We had arrived at the famous El Capitan of Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We found a camping spot and settled in for the evening. I was only disappointed that the mountain blocked our view of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction progress.

The morning was beautiful. I would have loved to hike to El Capitan, but a 13-mile hike was not in the cards for us this trip. I briefly considered the possibility of one of the shorter walks until we saw how many people were on the trails. There were so many people the parking lot filled up, and they started parking in the campsites.
One car even parked at our campsite while we were still there. When Chris nicely said something to him, he stated, “Well, you’re parked there,” to which Chris responded that we had paid the fee to be in this campsite. The man moved, parking in another camp instead.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park is a hiker’s paradise with more than 80 miles of trails. We were not hiking but were still able to enjoy the view, stopping at the ruins of a stagecoach station and driving to McKittrick Canyon. Afterward, we went to the nearest gas station in Carlsbad, New Mexico. On the way, Chris spotted a red-tailed hawk on top of a telephone pole. We turned around for a better look, but as we drew near, he took flight.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

When we passed Carlsbad Caverns National Park, we decided that would be a great place to round out our day. The drive into the park was impressive, with stunning rock walls and beautiful vegetation. We were pleased to learn that the caverns were covered by our America the Beautiful passes. When I asked how crowded the caverns were, the answer was that it was not busy that afternoon.

We waited our turn for the elevator minutes before the cutoff time for tours for the day. The wait was longer than usual because they were only taking one family at a time, making us happy. We descended the 750 feet to the bottom in just moments. The elevator display counts feet instead of stories, which delighted us.

When we reached the bottom, we left the elevator and entered the caverns. Unlike other caverns we have been in, this one is a self-guided tour. It was nice to go at our own pace and not to lose part of the tour from people not following the guidelines. We wandered around the caverns for the better part of two hours, taking in all the beauty it had to offer. Most of the time, we were completely alone, only seeing a few people at the start and one other couple near the end.

As we drove to the rest stop where we planned to camp for the night, we spotted the hawk again. Once more, we turned around for a better look. This time I was able to take a few photos of the large bird. I had him in the camera lens as he opened his wings to take flight, but Chris didn’t realize it and took off simultaneously, causing me to miss the shot.

Sunset and the Grand Conjunction

The sunset was spectacular over El Capitan in front of us. Brilliant reds and oranges lit up the sky like fire in front of us, while behind us, the sky faded to muted pinks and purples. It was a stunning end to the day.

The clouds we had seen leaving the caverns disappeared by the time we settled in for the night. It was the solstice and, after more than a month of watching and waiting, finally the night of the grand conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. We had a clear view, but the convergence had occurred before the planets became visible.
While we missed the actual crossing, it was still neat to see that Saturn was now on the opposite side of Jupiter, and I was able to capture a photo of them next to each other with Jupiter’s moons visible as well.