Elephant Butte
I got a good night’s sleep last night. I guess all the driving has tuckered me out. But being at Elephant Butte State Park has always been relaxing for me, since it’s one of those places that's big enough for me to always find a place to boondock.
I was told that the camping areas up on Ridge Road are no longer primitive camping, so they're not free for me to camp anymore, and I rather liked it up on Ridge Road.
The lake is low, really low. I don't think I've seen it this low before. I guess there's not much water coming down the Rio Grande anymore. Maybe that's why there's hardly any water at the Bosque Del Apache; that place is also fed by the Rio Grande.
I think I'm probably going to miss the Elephant Butte State Park the most. I'm not sure why, maybe because the camping here is so effortless for me. There were lots of boondocking at lots of different areas of the park, and I always arrived here in a good mood, knowing I didn't have to hunt for a place to boondock. The whole experience at Elephant Butte for me was easy and relaxing. And for someone who has to live by their wits and is several wits short of a full load, Elephant Butte was easy and laid-back, so I had to expend very few wits to live here comfortably.
theboondork
There weren't many Sandhill cranes around, and those that were tended to be pretty far away, so I had to break out my biggest lens and set the camera on a tripod to get these pictures.
I can't believe I only stayed at the Bosque for an hour, it was partly because of the lack of birds, but also it was depressing to see what had happened to a place that was so incredible it was hard to believe.
I guess seeing the lakes that had dried up, a lack of birds, and the gate locked up at Mr. Trujillo's RV Park was too much to take in one day.
All of that happening at one time was more change and disappointment than I could deal with, so I had this sudden urge to get away from there as quickly as possible and get to a place that was normal, unchanged, and familiar.
A "thinking bench" at the Bosque Del Apache. I believe the only thing I would be thinking about is how to get away from the bench without getting a butt load of cactus.