RockHound State Park

We have spent the pass three days at RockHound State Park a in the southwest corner of New Mexico. The park itself is very beautiful with well maintained sites, a big playground for the kids and even a dessert botanical garden. Taken together with the rocky cliffs in the background and the blooming dessert in front and the views are spectacular! Fortunately for us, we arrived just as the bright yellow poppies came into bloom and suddenly it seems as if the dessert has been painted with colour.

Braedon has been in his glory the whole time we have been here and has collected a wide assortment of rock including some beautiful specimens of red and blue jasper, as well as several interesting thunder eggs and geodes. At his request, we visited a local rock shop on Tuesday and spent a wonderful hour with the old fellow who runs it. His encyclopaedic knowledge of both rocks and US history kept us well entertained and we all left with a special momento to bring home. Mine is a cross cut geode that has been polished and includes some bright red jasper and crystal arranged in a very interesting pattern. It will find its’ place on our mantel at home and will forever remind me of the beauty of New Mexico.

Since we have kept a pretty busy schedule over the past couple of weeks, we decided to slow things down for the last couple days and have taken many long hikes up the mountains both here at RockHound and at neighbouring Spring Canyon State Park. Having my dad with us as we explore the area has made this stop extra special! Yesterday’s trek required a long climb up very loose rock to the top of the Lovers Leap trail. The climb was long, but there was a great breeze and the view from the top was certainly worth it. The descent, however, was a little nerve-wracking as the rock kept sliding out from under our feet and almost everyone ended up on their backside at least once! Today, we hiked up several side trails hunting for more thunder eggs and geodes. We found several interesting specimens and the boys enjoyed breaking them open with Braedon’s geology kit and taking a look at what nature has created inside.

Tomorrow, we leave RockHound and cross the border into Arizona. We will be visiting Kartchner Caverns State Park in the afternoon for a cave tour and then heading into Tombstone and Bisbee on Saturday. To get the kids in the mood and help them understand the historical context of the place, my dad hunted around Demming yesterday and rented the movie Tombstone with Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell. We thoroughly enjoyed the film and the boys are now really excited to see the places where Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday fought the loathsome Cowboys. It should be a really exciting couple of days!

Tammy