Adventures in the White Mountains

I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

In June we sought refuge from the Texas heat in the White Mountain Wilderness near Ruidoso, NM. After dropping Will off at camp, we drove most of the night, arriving to the very chilly mountain air and quickly donning our fleece. We slept in our car until 7 a.m. or so and after a great camp breakfast, we drove to the trail head and started our hike. Our girls had never backpacked, so we went at a nice slow pace and Chuck and I carried more of the weight to give them easier loads.

A couple of hours into our hike (mostly uphill), we started to feel raindrops. Before we could get our rain gear secured on our bodies and our packs, it was raining fairly steadily. We continued on the trail, hoping for a break in the rain and looking for a good spot to set up camp. Every spot we saw was both too close to the trail and too close to the water. After another hour or so with no flat ground away from the trail, we settled on a spot too close to the water and too close to the trail, and we pitched our tents. It had stopped raining, thankfully, and the girls were happy playing at the stream. (It's okay to get wet when you decide how wet you want to get, I guess.) Their laughter and joy created a harmony with the babbling stream that made the uphill journey in the rain worthwhile.

We had rice & beans for dinner, and then Chuck and I put all the food in bear bags - bags hung high enough that bears cannot get to them. We weren't so much worried about bears, but we have had other little critters (mice, squirrels) get to our food. We had seen a little mouse at the campsite and just did not want to chance losing any of our eats.

We sat around and told stories until dark and then settled in to sleep. I have a very hard time sleeping well on the ground so I woke up frequently. I saw lots of stars in the narrow slice of sky that could be observed from our spot in the ravine. I was thankful that it did not rain again in the night. I was the first one up in the morning so I decided to walk a bit further down the path to see what the trail would be like. Not thirty feet from our tents I saw a pile of FRESH bear scat. I wasn't sure it was bear scat but I knew it wasn't from an animal in the deer family and it was much too big to have come from a dog-sized animal. As I went along, I noticed rocks the size of melons that had been overturned. This continued for quite a way up the path. Since bears are known to overturn rocks to hunt for bugs and since bears have large scat, I had to conclude that a bear had passed VERY close to our tents while we slept. Nothing was disturbed in the campsite and the food was untouched.

He will not let your foot slip—

he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

Psalm 121:3-4

We had a leisurely breakfast and the girls went back to the stream while our clothes and gear dried out in the sun that had peeked over the mountain ridge. We loaded up our packs and headed back out on the trail. Our goal was to make it to the ridge and join with the Crest Trail, but about half an hour into our hike, we felt raindrops. This time we donned our rain gear before we got too wet, but it was to no avail. The rain was so heavy and steady that we eventually were soaked to the skin. We couldn't even find sufficient shelter under the giant trees. We dropped our packs near a potential campsite and ate lunch in the rain.

We huddled together until the rain let up a bit and then we headed, packless, up the trail to see how far we could get. We passed through an old growth forest and saw more evidence of bear - claw marks on trees. We climbed over, under, and around numerous trees that had fallen across the trail. We pressed on. Chuck knew my heart's desire to get to the top and he was committed to helping me reach my goal. But alas, the trail became too difficult to travel or to find and by 3 pm the rain had started again so we returned to our soggy packs to set up a soggy campsite.

Chuck managed to prepare dinner while Erin held out her rain pancho over the camp stove. Then he persisted until he got a campfire going, using the camp stove to ignite kindling and blowing like crazy until the pile finally caught fire. We warmed ourselves and tried to dry out our clothes, jackets, socks, and boots. We stoked the fire and enjoyed its heat until the sun went down and we turned in. Hannah said she heard a bear in the night. The next morning the sun teased us, but by 9:00 it was raining again. We were so besodden that we decided to hike out a day early.

The hike downhill was much quicker, and we made one last stop at the stream the girls had enjoyed so much. Chuck and I reclined on a giant boulder and listened to the sounds of the stream, the girls, the birds, and then we watched the sunny sky become foreboding. We strapped our packs back on and practically ran the last 10 minutes to the car, arriving just in time to load up our gear and ourselves before the downpour began. This time we had the luxury of watching it from the shelter of our trusty van.

The LORD watches over you—

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

Psalm 121:5-6

Chuck was still committed to getting me to the top, so he drove us about 20 miles to a spot just 5 geographical miles from where we had been. From the Monjeau Lookout, we could see the mountains shrouded in clouds. The Park Service Ranger told us the rains, which usually come around July 4th, had come early this year. Great for them, but not so great for us. It was 55 degrees and spitting rain when Chuck and I set foot on the Crest Trail, only walking a hundred yards or so, but dreaming of the day we could return and really enjoy these mountains.

We left the rain and elevation behind and drove to Carlsbad. Despite the girls' protests about sleeping in the tents again, we camped at Brantley Lake State Park. Within minutes of setting up the tents, they were dry in Carlsbad's hot desert climate. We draped the rest of the gear over a rock wall and it was soon dry as well. Whereas we had only seen evidence of wildlife in the mountains, here we saw an abundance of actual wildlife - jackrabbits, roadrunners, skunks, lizards, tarantulas, but nothing as big as a bear! We enjoyed a sunset dinner and took a night hike under the expansive sky. The millions of stars felt near enough to touch. We saw shooting stars and satellites moving across the sky. Despite the threat of skunks that had been sniffing around our tent and of creepy crawlies that we'd seen scurrying about, we slept in tents wide open under the stars.

The LORD will keep you from all harm—

he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121:7-8