Sheryl and I finally had a day off with absolutely nothing to do (well, nothing pressing anyway....lol) and decided to explore the Sacramento Mountains (Lincoln NF) for a the day. We decided to take Mama Jeep (Grand Cherokee) since the day was rainy and cool in Alamogordo, so it would be rainy and COLD in the mountains. First stop was the village of Cloudcroft, a quaint little mountain town (again, more on the town in future posts) and a quick look around as well as lunch before we headed off to parts unknown. We found a nice little cafe with great food and the best Club sandwich I have had in a long long time. The place was Dave's, will get pics on the next trip, but what a great little place, will be back there for sure.

We decided to take the road to the Sunspot Observatory and maybe hit some side roads off of it. We did stop at each scenic overlook and the views if the valley and White Sands were just amazing. of course we had to do the famous "US" picture and of course I snapped it just in time to catch my honey being fresh...lol

We found a side road and the sign said Bluff Springs, so we thought we'd check it out. C17 was your typical unpaved forest service road and the springs were approx 4 miles. We followed the road which had a nice little creek paralleling it the whole way, there were open meadows on the south side of the road with the mountain heading up the north. When we arrived at the springs we were pleasantly surprised to find a waterfall, only about 50 feet high but and unexpected treat never the less. We hiked up to the top of the falls and Sheryl went back down to take a picture of yours truly.

After exploring the falls for a bit, we headed back to the main road and continued on towards the observatory. We came upon Cathey Vista, set back off the main road, so of course we had to see. We drove down the main road to the vista and noticed it continued up the hill, we decide to follow the road, which became pretty rocky and ended at a radio tower (sorry no pics). We drove back down to the Vista, the views again were just amazing of White Sands and Tularosa Basin

We finished at the Sunspot Observatory (pictures next time) and just looked around the gift shop, and decided to leave the tour for another day. It was getting on dinner time, so we set our sights on Alamogordo and a hot meal.

We ran across this guy and 3 more of his friends, just hanging out on the side of the road, I was surprised that even though we stopped, they were not spooked and just went about there business.

We had a great little get away, if only for the day. The weather had cleared in the mountains, but was still cool in the 50's. This but one of many explorations we will be doing in and around the Alamogordo area, so stay tuned for more.