Started the morning at the local cafe. Had great breakfasts which involved chilis. In this town of 300 or so we learned that Oaksterdam had been raided by the Feds and closed. The topic was discussed with great enthusiasm. Equally absorbing were the the topics of when to put in the chilis and soil quality.

Leaving hillsboro was cool, but down, we dropped 2,000 feet to the Rio Grande. At Caballo, where we turned to follow the river, we came upon two nomads on horses with a pack horse each. It looked very old west. The guy had a six-gun and the lady had a rifle across yhe back of her horse. Theyhave been wandering since 2007. In case this life style appeals, realize yhat it costs $26 per day per horse to feed the transport, and it takes 3.5 hours to break camp each day. The were on their was to wintering over in Nebraska by way of Wyoming.

We followed Rio Grande into Las Cruces. It was mostly agricultural land. It was planted with chilis, garlic and pecans. There were several small chili processing plants some with tractor trailer sized wired bins full ofred chilis. One wonders what breathing is like in the height of the season! Pecan orchards were everywhere. None of the trees had leafed out. I'm hoping to see that in Texas. I've been surprised that most of the plants are in a dormant state. It is early Spring and we have been at high elevation, but it wasn't something i'd expected.

We had lunch in Hatch, another town tat took 2 or 3 starts to get established. Thoses pesky Apaches keptdriving the settlers out. It took the army to make it safe for the settlers. We lunch at the ValleyCafe where we were told the chilis were hot today.

Arrived in Las Cruces at rush hour. Settling into a rest day.

Here's the Rio Grande

Nomad with six-gun

Lunch

Top of Emory Pass - white spots are snow