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| Becca leading the way |
Jimmy, Becca and I headed north on I-25 at about 10:30 this morning, destined for the Upham exit and eventually to a trail leading to El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail. This is the "Royal Road" the Spaniards used starting in 1598 to travel between Mexico City and Santa Fe, New Mexico. After less than a mile on the small trail we came to the Camino Real. Jimmy had been there before, Becca was unimpressed, but I was astounded by the fact that we were literally walking on the road the Spaniards had used on the first and subsequent entradas into the new territory dubbed the New Kingdom of León y Castilla, present-day New Mexico. We were in the exact area where the German, Bernardo Gruber, (aka "El Aleman") had died around 1670, and whose death gave rise to the phrase that came to denote the 90-mile stretch of arid desert now called the Jornada del Muerto, "Journey of the Dead Man." After our Camino Real trek we started our journey back to Las Cruces, stopping at the Point of Rocks along the way to do the 1/2-mile interpretive trail on the volcanic outcrop. A good time was had by all.
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| Getting close |
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| Ocotillo skeleton |
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| Camino Real (the Royal Road) |
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| Interpretive sign |
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| Look at the outfits the Spaniards wore during their entrada |
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| More history |
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| The actual roadbed of the Camino Real |
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| More verbiage |
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| Wagons wheels were 8-to10 feet high, 12 feet apart |
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| Jimmy |
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| More of the Royal Road |
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| Looking back at the distant Organ Mountains |
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| Headed back to Whitey the CR-V |
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| More interpretive signage |
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| Road back to Upham |
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| Volcanic rocks |
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| Becca on the Point of Rocks |
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| Becca and her good buddy Jimmy |
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| Jornada del Muerto = "Journey of the Dead Man" |
1 comment:
It's great that the state of NM has preserved this trail and erected historical markers. What interesting territory.
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