Northern Lights
As we made our way back to the Carolinas, our next stop was at Santa Rosa Lake State Park. This would be our final stop in New Mexico for this trip. The lake was created by damming up the Pecos River and is another lake that is seriously low due to drought conditions. We spent a week here and there were several trails to hike on. Getting out at sunrise always presents some interesting views. There are always some unique plants to find in a new place.
Sunrise over Santa Rosa Lake. October 2024
A canyon on the Pecos River, below the dam.
A unique plant that was covered with tiny purple flowers. I had to zoom in because they are so small and then the camera couldn’t focus too well.
An interesting silhouette of this spiky plant. It seems most plants in NM are spiky. I think this one is called staghorn cholla.
A picture of the same plant with some good light. You can see how the ends get some yellow growth. Almost looks like clusters of bananas.
One day we went to see the sights in the small town of Santa Rosa. It lies in a pretty barren area that once had the thriving Route 66 come right through town. Now Interstate 40 runs parallel and across the main drag in a lazy X. Back in it’s day, it was busy little town during tourist season, as evidenced by all of the motels that were here. A few motels are still in use but most have fell into disrepair or have been converted to apartments or other uses. Near the interstate exchanges are the modern hotels like Hampton and Econolodge. It is still a cute town but it’s definitely past it’s prime. The most popular attraction these days is the classic car museum. Another interesting place is the Blue Hole. It is a spring and pond, 80’ across and 80’ deep with incredibly clear water. It’s a popular spot for scuba training and several state police showed up the morning we were there to do some diving but we had to go before they were ready to get in.
Some very interesting details on this church. St Rose of Lima Catholic Church.
Cool monument on the courthouse square lawn.
The crystal clear water of the Blue Hole.
Ruins of the Santa Rosa de Lima Chapel.
By far though, the highlight of this stop was getting to see the Northern Lights. We knew that there was a chance of seeing them pretty far south on this night but we didn’t expect to really see them this far down in central NM. We waited a while after the sun went down and it was quite dark to look. We couldn’t see anything visible but the camera on our phones could pick it up. Since we were on Eastern time we went to bed thinking we got shut out and the show wasn’t going to get to us. Shortly after we had been in bed, one of the camping neighbors was calling out like Paul Revere, as she went down the road, that you could see the Lights now.
This was the shot taken early when we couldn’t see any of the color.
I ran out quick to see and they were easily visible. So, we got back out of bed and stayed outside for over an hour watching the lights. I think all of the campers were out enjoying the wonderful colors in the sky, too.
We were thrilled that we got such a good show.
Shawna taking a picture from our campsite as it started to dwindle.
Seeing the Northern Lights is something that has been high on our list for years but we just haven’t gone far enough north to see them yet. We were amazed that they came so far down to give us this excellent show. One day we’ll make it to Alaska or Iceland to see the Aurora in full display but we’re quite satisfied for now.