Elephant Butte
We talked to several people who told us not to miss Elephant Butte. We didn’t think to ask WHY we shouldn’t miss it, and we are a little lukewarm about the place.
In 1916 a dam was built to control the Rio Grande, and an enormous lake is the result. It is 35 miles long, has 200 miles of convoluted shoreline, and is the biggest lake in NM. The original motive was to save up for irrigation, in 1940 a power plant was built, but water based recreation is the big deal here. The lake was not easy to get to until the CCC came and built access roads, inns, cabins, terraced picnic parks and so on in the 1930’s, but since then it has been booming. The nearby town of Truth of Consequences, named for the radio show, (I have no idea why), and the newer town of Elephant Butte seem a little seedy. They consist mostly of RV parks, boat storage (big cabin cruisers and up to 35 or 40’long sailboats), retirement parks, and the standard rundown housing and deserted stores.
I don’t get it. The lake is nice, and in parts of it the mountains are pretty spectacular with the lake at their feet. The Elephant Butte is a dramatic volcanic burp of rock that is wrinkled and swirly like an elephant’s skin, and from some sides I can sort of see it as an elephant. This butte is right at the dam, with the CCC park area snaking up a good hill. The view from there, with the Butte in the foreground and the lake and the mountains is pretty good. Even with all the water, the land around it is still northern Chihuahua Desert. Rock, sand, creosote bushes. I wonder why the plants at the edge don’t thrive ? all rock ? When there was a spring in the desert, there were trees and bushes and greenness, but here the water is just there, like a Photoshop trick. Up at the northern end of the lake, there are fewer people, and the most dramatic mountains are here, so that’s better. But I still wish we had asked the guy why we shouldn’t miss it. Maybe it is for people who have a boat, or fish or have a jet ski. It is sort of the reverse of White Sands, here the water has no beach, and there the beach has no water.
We did have a good time geocaching, found 13 in one day, a record for us. There was only one we didn’t do, it was a mile hike over rough country and it was the last one.
The next day was cloudy and chilly so we stayed in and then left the next morning.
Heading north again, following the Rio Grande. There is another leg of the Tularosa Basin on this side, called the Journada de la Muerte. It is as flat and as vast, but the Rio Grande runs through it. There are square green fields and several actual swamps that have been set aside as wildlife refuges. I wondered why this was the journey of the dead man.
Onate, an early Spanish conquistador, came north from El Paso, and instead of following the now tamed Rio Grande, they had to go up on the plains to the east of it. The arroyos running into the river were too steep, there was quicksand, and the river changed everything so no path could be relied on.. After 100 miles of hot waterless travel This first group were taken in near San Marcial. by Pueblo dwellers of the village Teipana. Onate renamed the town Soccoro, or succor.
In 1680, the Pueblo Indians revolted against Spanish rule, killing many foreigners and driving the rest out. More than two thousand refugees attempted the route to El Paso. Almost six hundred of the weak, ill or exhausted refugees died on the journey, earning this stretch of desert the name of Journada del Muerto.
The Journada was in the middle of Apache territory, and the Indians were always a threat to the safety of the caravans. Soldiers usually accompanied the traders and settlers. Caravans searching for temporary water sites made easy ambushes for the Apaches, another reason the treacherous route was given the label of death.
What a difference for us today, serenely cruising along the highway that has chopped grades through the mesas, and bridged the arroyos.
Just below Socorro, I suddenly realized that the desert had ended. Not that it was a green paradise, but the dark green creosote bushes have been replaced by the softer pale blue green sage brush, there is much more grass, although still dry. The actual shape of the hills and the rocks exposed on the mesas and the sides of the arroyos are not all that different, but the countryside seems softer without the almost polka dotted effect of the creosote bushes against pale rocks. The hills, where there is little rock showing look like they are covered in velvet. Along the river, of course there are trees, and as we get into this high plains landscape, the trees seem to live farther from the river.
It is still a windy desolate place, but just having the grasses and the soft colors make it seem a little less parched.
As we near Grants NM, we can see a whole river of black lava that looks as though it just happened. As though we were suddenly in Hawaii where volcanoes are still making new land. Black , crusty, I expected it to be still moving. Actually I didn’t believe it was lava at first, but a lot of old road tar dumped. It turns out it happened 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. In geological terms this is pretty much yesterday. This country is called the Malpais, spanish for Bad Lands, and I am expecting more lava and other unfriendly rocks, in exotic colors.
The town of Grants seems to have been left behind. There are some motels and a Walmart at one end by the interstate, and a travel center at the other exit. In between there are run down storefronts that are empty or not thriving. The main street is the old Route 66, but isn’t much anymore. I don’t know if the drought has made a difference, or if mining has stopped.
We are at the KOA, which stands for Kampgrounds of America. It is a chain like Howard Johnson’s, so they may not be exceptional campgrounds, but you know what to expect. It also is known as Keep on Adding to RV’ers, because they are not cheap to begin with and everything seems to be extra. We normally avoid them, but they are the only WIFI campground in town. It is right in the middle of the lava field. Doesn’t feel quite safe, that lava.
In 1916 a dam was built to control the Rio Grande, and an enormous lake is the result. It is 35 miles long, has 200 miles of convoluted shoreline, and is the biggest lake in NM. The original motive was to save up for irrigation, in 1940 a power plant was built, but water based recreation is the big deal here. The lake was not easy to get to until the CCC came and built access roads, inns, cabins, terraced picnic parks and so on in the 1930’s, but since then it has been booming. The nearby town of Truth of Consequences, named for the radio show, (I have no idea why), and the newer town of Elephant Butte seem a little seedy. They consist mostly of RV parks, boat storage (big cabin cruisers and up to 35 or 40’long sailboats), retirement parks, and the standard rundown housing and deserted stores.
I don’t get it. The lake is nice, and in parts of it the mountains are pretty spectacular with the lake at their feet. The Elephant Butte is a dramatic volcanic burp of rock that is wrinkled and swirly like an elephant’s skin, and from some sides I can sort of see it as an elephant. This butte is right at the dam, with the CCC park area snaking up a good hill. The view from there, with the Butte in the foreground and the lake and the mountains is pretty good. Even with all the water, the land around it is still northern Chihuahua Desert. Rock, sand, creosote bushes. I wonder why the plants at the edge don’t thrive ? all rock ? When there was a spring in the desert, there were trees and bushes and greenness, but here the water is just there, like a Photoshop trick. Up at the northern end of the lake, there are fewer people, and the most dramatic mountains are here, so that’s better. But I still wish we had asked the guy why we shouldn’t miss it. Maybe it is for people who have a boat, or fish or have a jet ski. It is sort of the reverse of White Sands, here the water has no beach, and there the beach has no water.
We did have a good time geocaching, found 13 in one day, a record for us. There was only one we didn’t do, it was a mile hike over rough country and it was the last one.
The next day was cloudy and chilly so we stayed in and then left the next morning.
Heading north again, following the Rio Grande. There is another leg of the Tularosa Basin on this side, called the Journada de la Muerte. It is as flat and as vast, but the Rio Grande runs through it. There are square green fields and several actual swamps that have been set aside as wildlife refuges. I wondered why this was the journey of the dead man.
Onate, an early Spanish conquistador, came north from El Paso, and instead of following the now tamed Rio Grande, they had to go up on the plains to the east of it. The arroyos running into the river were too steep, there was quicksand, and the river changed everything so no path could be relied on.. After 100 miles of hot waterless travel This first group were taken in near San Marcial. by Pueblo dwellers of the village Teipana. Onate renamed the town Soccoro, or succor.
In 1680, the Pueblo Indians revolted against Spanish rule, killing many foreigners and driving the rest out. More than two thousand refugees attempted the route to El Paso. Almost six hundred of the weak, ill or exhausted refugees died on the journey, earning this stretch of desert the name of Journada del Muerto.
The Journada was in the middle of Apache territory, and the Indians were always a threat to the safety of the caravans. Soldiers usually accompanied the traders and settlers. Caravans searching for temporary water sites made easy ambushes for the Apaches, another reason the treacherous route was given the label of death.
What a difference for us today, serenely cruising along the highway that has chopped grades through the mesas, and bridged the arroyos.
Just below Socorro, I suddenly realized that the desert had ended. Not that it was a green paradise, but the dark green creosote bushes have been replaced by the softer pale blue green sage brush, there is much more grass, although still dry. The actual shape of the hills and the rocks exposed on the mesas and the sides of the arroyos are not all that different, but the countryside seems softer without the almost polka dotted effect of the creosote bushes against pale rocks. The hills, where there is little rock showing look like they are covered in velvet. Along the river, of course there are trees, and as we get into this high plains landscape, the trees seem to live farther from the river.
It is still a windy desolate place, but just having the grasses and the soft colors make it seem a little less parched.
As we near Grants NM, we can see a whole river of black lava that looks as though it just happened. As though we were suddenly in Hawaii where volcanoes are still making new land. Black , crusty, I expected it to be still moving. Actually I didn’t believe it was lava at first, but a lot of old road tar dumped. It turns out it happened 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. In geological terms this is pretty much yesterday. This country is called the Malpais, spanish for Bad Lands, and I am expecting more lava and other unfriendly rocks, in exotic colors.
The town of Grants seems to have been left behind. There are some motels and a Walmart at one end by the interstate, and a travel center at the other exit. In between there are run down storefronts that are empty or not thriving. The main street is the old Route 66, but isn’t much anymore. I don’t know if the drought has made a difference, or if mining has stopped.
We are at the KOA, which stands for Kampgrounds of America. It is a chain like Howard Johnson’s, so they may not be exceptional campgrounds, but you know what to expect. It also is known as Keep on Adding to RV’ers, because they are not cheap to begin with and everything seems to be extra. We normally avoid them, but they are the only WIFI campground in town. It is right in the middle of the lava field. Doesn’t feel quite safe, that lava.
posted by Thistledown24 at 9:13 AM
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