I Would Have Made a Lousy Pioneer

We started out our day (Friday, 10/5) with a call from our grandkids. What a great way to start the morning! It was so nice to hear from them :) I LOVE our family . . . Such a blessing! 

Family photo taken the weekend before we left on our trip

Before we left Guadelupe Mountains National Park, we hiked on two desert trails. The first was just a short distance to the ruins of the Pinery which was a stagecoach station on the Butterfield Overland Mail Route in 1858. The second one was the Frijole Ranch and Smith Spring trail . . . a 2.3 mile loop. Now, 2.3 miles doesn't sound long, but in the desert on a stony trail that was rising in elevation as we progressed, it seemed VERY long . . . and desolate . . . and tiring . . . and HOT . . . And it took us two hours. I kept thinking about survival of the fittest and how I would have made a lousy pioneer wife on a journey through the desert wilderness. They would have had to discard me along the trail . . . Especially in the mountains . . . There is just no way. About the time I thought I could go no further we came upon Smith Spring, a little oasis in the cool shade of trees clustered around a small springfed pond. It was pure bliss. What a lovely spot. From there the trip back went quickly. It was still hot and desolate, but it was downhill all the way. I am a champ going downhill. On an incline, Mark stays behind me to push when I get tired, but going downhill, I leave him in the dust :)

Ruins at the Pinery stagecoach station

Spring-fed pond . . . Oasis in the desert

Camouflage

 

Then it was back on the road heading south . . . About four hours later we stopped and toured Fort Davis, a frontier military post, which served to protect travelers from Apache Indian attack on the San Antonio-El Paso Road beginning in 1854. It was decommissioned and then abandoned by the military in 1891.

Officers homes

 

We camped nearby at Overland Trail Campground where the manager is a real character and we were squeezed in between two old, empty airstream trailers next to the bathroom. We had electricity AND we were able to get our laundry done (though it took an hour and a half and $6 just to get the clothes dry because the old dryers didn't get very hot.) It was great to get the laundry done. Clean sheets and a shower . . . Love it!

 

Posted with Blogsy