Guadalupe Mountains

Posted by Rose.Sherry February 14, 2021

Guadalupe Mountains

February 11, 2021

Today we left the Big Bend area and traveled toward the Guadalupe Mountains.

Uh oh, another broken spring. This is the one behind the one that was repaired in Kentucky. We are in Dell City, Texas to bring it into a shop would mean an hour and a half drive to El Paso. That could be okay or maybe not. So how about a mobile repair. We called Dice Diesel; he needs to locate the part in the morning and then send a guy out at noon. This is more expensive but may mean avoiding more damage. He is currently checking on what it would cost to replace the broken one and the other two which are original to the trailer. I feel confident that the one replaced in Kentucky is still good.

February 12, 2021

Got a call this morning that only one spring could be located, so we are only replacing the broken one. We are waiting on the mechanic now. We weren't given a time just told that he dispatched a guy. Things are far apart here, hoping he comes soon.

At 12:11 pm the mechanic arrived, jacked up the trailer and removed the tire to get at the broken spring.

Here is the new spring, made in China.

It took some maneuvering to get under and get to work.

But an hour later it was all better. It was pricey, $700, hopefully when we submit it to our Roadside Assistance that did not have a tech in the area, it will pick up some of that cost.

Time to go see Guadalupe Mountain National Park.

Passing the Salt Flats. It was windy today and we decided this was close enough to see them.

Driving through the Salt Flats

It looked like blue skies were trying to break through.

Or were the clouds moving in.

Guadalupe Mountains in the distance.

Okay the clouds are all over the mountains as we drive closer.

It got crazier the closer we got.

El Captain with clouds coming in, down low.

It's all fog ahead as we take the curve.

Sign shot, before we realized it was 26 degrees here and put on some coats.

With limited visibility we took the Pinery Trail from the Visitor Center.

It's different than Big Bend, more green shrubs and some trees and very cold today.

remains of the station here in the Guadalupe Mountains

BUTTERFIELD OVERLAND MAIL

First Overland Mail Route from St. Louis, Missouri to San Francisco, California.

As a forerunner of the Pony Express and Transcontinental Railroad, the Butterfield Overland Mail was the first successful attempt to link East and West with a reliable transportation and communication system. Much of the route in this part of the country followed the well-defined path of thousands of emigrants and gold-seekers traveling westward during the previous decade. The arduous 2,700-mile wilderness journey between St. Louis and San Francisco was always completed within 25 days as stipulated in John Butterfield's federal mail contract.

The six-year federal mail contract awarded to John Butterfield, a wealthy and popular businessman, was cut short by the onset of the Civil War in 1861, yet the Butterfield Overland Mail was heralded by some as one of the "greatest events of the age.

"Remember boys, nothing on God's earth must stop the United States mail!"

-John Butterfield's instructions to his drivers.

Pinery Station, named for the surrounding stands of pine, has the distinction of being the only ruin of an original company-built, Butterfield station standing in close proximity to a national highway. At 5.700 feet in elevation, it was also the highest, and was especially attractive because of its excellent grazing land and dependable water sources. Butterfield stations were located an average of 20

miles apart. For eleven months from September 1858 to August 1859, coaches regularly stopped here for water, food, rest, fresh mule teams, and protection. Drivers and passengers kept company with the station keeper, cooks, blacksmith, freighters, gold seekers, adventurers, and settlers. Long after the station was abandoned for a more adequately protected route designed to better serve a chain of forts further south, the limestone walls continued to provide refuge for freighters, soldiers, drovers, outlaws, and emigrants

Speed was imperative, a Celerity coach traveled day and night averaging 120 miles a day carrying up to nine passengers, essential baggage, and 12,000 letters. Six horses or mules pulled each coach. These coaches, similar to what were later known as mud wagons due to their low center of gravity, were well adapted to the rough mountains and desert country They were either painted or varnished red or a dark bottle green. Wire pattern candle lamps provided light inside the leather-lined coaches. One hundred of these wagons were built in 1857 at a cost of $1,500 each and placed in the Butterfield Overland Mail service in 1858.

The clouds are more like a mist and an icy coating is beginning to settle in.

This is a reminder why I am heading out of here early.

On the drive back we get another look at the Salt Flats.

"Gypsum grains form the bright-white dunes that cover about 2,000 acres and range from three feet high, heavily vegetated dunes at the south end of the area, to sixty feet high, largely non-vegetated dunes at the north end."

Bye bye Guadalupe Mountains

Winter weather is moving in so we have decided to leave here Saturday morning and head early to Tucson. We will stop overnight in Lordsburg, NM to break up the trip and because the site we have in Tucson was originally set for us to arrive on 2/18/21 and it could only be moved up to Sunday 2/14/2021.

February 13, 2021

This morning we left Dell City for Lordsburg.

There was a lot of flat land between mountains.

But there were mountains.

And as you can see we drove up Franklin Mountain, over 5000 feet, just to drive back down it.

This is not like driving through the plains.

Safely in Lordsburg for the night we let a local Mexican place cook our dinner.

The weather here has no snow in the forecast while Dell City (where we were last night) has scattered snow today and snow on Sunday. We do have some wind and 80% chance of thunderstorms tonight while we sleep but the low is only 40 degrees. Sunday should be cloudy with temperatures in the 40s and then we head to Tucson which will hit 61 degrees for a high and a low of 37 overnight. The evidence supports our decision to head to Tucson early and avoid the sun.

February 14, 2021

We got snow this morning. The two boys in the background walking their dog enjoyed it.

At 10:00 am the snow stopped falling and started to melt. I brushed off the truck, Jim swept the snow off the slides. We hooked up the truck and headed for Tucson.