Cloudcroft

What the hell is Cloudcroft? I wouldn't have been able to answer that till last week when Nina recommended it to Jo. And bam here we are. The drive westward from Carlsbad climbed slowly as the high plains gently rose (past a run down village called Hope) till we reached the Rio Peñasco - a very picturesque mountain creek and it's valley, and followed it all the way up to 8600 feet and the township of Cloudcroft whose claim to fame is that it was named by Fodors in 2002 as the Number 3 "Most Overlooked and Underrated Destination Spot". Yep.

We stayed at the lovely Lodge Resort - built in 1898, and then rebuilt after a fire in 1911. In the Tower room (right under the sun in the photo below), you can find graffiti engraved supposedly by Judy Garland and Clark Gable. When we woke up next morning it was 30 degrees. After an excellent breakfast I coaxed everyone to hike down to the Mexican Canyon trestle of the now unused Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway built in 1900 to carry tourists up to the lodge and timber down for railroads. The railroad eventually ran from El Paso to Santa Rosa, New Mexico and provided the shortest route from the east coast to Los Angeles via Chicago and El Paso.

The short hike was excellent and the Lincoln Forest was at it's Fall best - the Aspens had peaked but the oaks were on fire. 

At an elevation of 8700 feet, walking (running) for two and a half miles proved quite strenuous for at least one of the participants.