We also drove through several areas with signs warning of blowing dust areas. The winds were a little stronger today; but fortunately, no dust was blowing in the wind.
The terrain in New Mexico was not much different from Arizona.
As we got closer to Las Cruces, we could see the Organ Mountains off in the distance.
We arrived at Hacienda RV Resort in Las Cruces about 1:30. The park is very nice with pull-through sites, full hookups, landscaping and wooden privacy screens between the sites.
The weather was clear and in the 60's. Perfect day for a hike.
The trail guide suggested hiking the loop counter-clockwise which had us walking up a hill and away from the canyon initially.
With fall's arrival, most of the flowers had now changed into delicate wisps that reflected the glow of the sunlight.
The trail crossed back and forth across creek washes with occasional trail markers.
Parts of the trail were slightly steep...
...but then would level off...
...and provide distant views of Las Cruces.
All during our hike, grasshoppers jumped on and off the trail and all around us. They make a clicking noise and some of the grasshoppers had beautiful deep orange-red wings. I tried to take a video of the "butterfly grasshoppers", but they were too fast. I guess these were the disappearing butterfly grasshoppers! :)
After about 2 miles, we reached the portion of the trail that lead back into the canyon.
Why don't you hike along with us back into the canyon? Besides my heavy breathing (sorry!), you can hear the grasshoppers making a clicking noise as they would hop in front of us. If you look real close, you might see one of those red-orange winged butterfly grasshoppers.
A colorful fall tree framed our view looking up at the waterfall at the back of the canyon.
There was some kind of wall or dam built next to the waterfall.
We climbed up on the rock wall to the left of the waterfall to see if there was a little pond held back by the wall,
but it was not holding any water because the bottom of the wall had eroded away. We sat on the ledge for a while and enjoyed the views of the canyon.
After resting for a few minutes, we carefully climbed back down.
As we came back out of the canyon, the trail looped around by this old rock cabin.
As we were walking back down the trail, I noticed a couple of other unusual plants. This one looked like it had tiny red peppers growing off its branches...
...while this plant looked like it had tiny yellow tomatoes growing on it.
We took one last look back at the Organ Mountains and the canyon we had just hiked out of,
and then headed back to the trailhead. This area must have been a farm or ranch at one time because there was an old fence,
a watering trough,
and this old "Aermoter" windmill at the trailhead.
Later that evening, we walked around old Mesilla, just outside of Las Cruces and then had dinner at Andeles restaurant.
On Saturday, we walked around the Farmers Market in downtown Las Cruces. I found some cute chili pepper earrings and we had a banana nut muffin and a mango drink that were really good.
Street musicians provided music throughout the Farmers Market. This group was singing Johnny Cash's Folsum Prison Blues.
We spent the rest of the day getting caught up on laundry and watching some good and not so good college football games.
As the sun set, we watched the Organ Mountains change colors right from our campsite.
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