Our latest adventure took us to Rockhound State Park. It's a desert park in the foothills of the Florida Mountains just a few miles south of Deming, NM. We were only about an hour away from home and probably about half an hour north of old Mexico. 

 

Rockhound is one of only two state parks in the US (the other being Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas) that encourages visitors to take rocks home. There are no diamonds here, but a variety of semiprecious stones and geodes are to be found. But not by us this time.

 

Sunrise

Squirrel hiding behind a rock

Some interesting rocks

Us

Views from around the campground

Hiking in Spring Canyon

Some of the cactuses

Autumn Leaves

We also drove down to the border with Mexico and then west along the border on Highway 9, almost to Arizona. Oddly enough the border wall has not been finished.  

But the drive along the border was very lonely and very beautiful. This is the approach to the village of Hachita. Depending on which source you choose to read, it has a population of somewhere between 45 and 75. But it is in decline. 

The ruins of Saint Catherine of Sienna Church in Hachita, NM

A few miles west of Hachita we encountered the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) again. Although the trail officially begins several miles south from this point, that trailhead is at the end of a very rough dirt road and most hikers who try to thru-hike the CDT begin here at the intersection with highway 9.

The view of the CDT to the south of Highway 9.

The view of the CDT to the north.

Highway 9 ends in the San Simon Valley intersecting with Highway 80 that leads south to Rodeo, NM or north to Lordsburg, NM. The mountains ahead of us in this picture are in Arizona: The Chiricahua Mountains. We visited them about two years ago, loved them, and look forward to getting back again after things return to normal.

Oh, and a couple of Cactus Wrens

And some sunsets