Indian Hollow Trail - Organ Mountains Wilderness, Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument

  I took  a group out on the Indian Hollow Trail on 11/12/22. We were eleven including three good-natured and wonderfully enthusiastic elementary-age kids. No one had ever been out there, and a few folks were new to the Las Cruces area altogether. It was a beautiful day with sun and a few high clouds. The little streams we crossed had a trickle of water and the south branch of the Indian Hollow creek was flowing nicely in cracks in the bedrock and forming crystal clear pools of cold mountain water. Fall colors of ash and willow were at their peak.

 After having visited so many times, it's been easy for me to take the Organs for granted. The instant cure for that was to just get out there. Of course, I was instantly astounded by our much beloved mountain range, once again, in a way that the long distance two dimensional view from the city can never do. Favorite moment of the day (among many) was when Artemis Temple and forest of conifers that surrounds it on three sides below the highest peaks of the Needles first came into view. There was a collective gasp of awe and delight from our group (myself definitely included).

Birds sang.The tall, pale grass swayed with the gentle breezes. Lizards scurried out of crevices in the boulders. The children, delighted and silly about the many rock formations along the way, inspired my own child-like delight in this place. 

The trail is pretty much the same as it's been for the last twenty-four years. There seems to have been only a couple of changes and only a very few new side paths to confuse first-time visitors. It doesn't seem to get much more traffic than in past years. No one else was seen hiking on the trail, although we did meet one fellow camping who had plans to do some bouldering.

We didn't make as far as I wanted, to the little grove of deciduous oaks near the base of Sugarloaf. That was my turnaround for another group I took out there several years ago. I always would like to make to that stand of firs and pines higher up still, but it was so good to be in this place again, I didn't mind. . . too much.