Day 11: Alamogordo to Roswell

 As the trip began to wind down, we planned carefully to fit in a few last base visits and fun things to do. We knew that we would have to start heading back to Oklahoma soon, but we could still explore some of New Mexico. On June 2, we used up the remaining West Point gifts for the forecasters we visited, which were both at Holloman AFB. Since we didn't have to go anywhere from the hotel, we had a relaxed morning before meeting the weather team on base. They had a similar mission and duties to other forecasters that we'd visited, but they explained some of the unique challenges of their situation. Being in a valley surrounded by mountains, Holloman can get strong thunderstorm outflows that change direction, making flying very dangerous. New Mexico also experiences seasonal monsoons, which will start in a few weeks. The 1LT in command was a recent USAFA grad, and she told us that their team is stretched thin during the monsoon months. We were able to relate with some of her experiences at the Air Force Academy, and we enjoyed the team's professionalism and friendliness.

Next, we visited the Solar Observatory on base, which MAJ Hughes was particularly excited to see since he'd done some training there before. Although we were better versed in earth weather (not space), talking to the team who operated the telescope was still really interesting. They track the sun's activity along with 2 other observatories around the world, and provide information for solar forecasters. Although the equipment was made in 1970, it still works efficiently by projecting a dimmed image of the sun onto a plate or a camera. We found it fascinating, since the sun is ultimately the source of earth's weather patterns.

After a little deliberation, we left the base for the Sacramento Mountains in the East. We changed into hiking clothes and Tim found a cool hike in the Lincoln National Forest near the town of Cloudcroft. First, we drove up the scenic road out of the desert valley and experienced the effects of altitudinal zonation. At the top, we were at 9,000 feet, in a cool forest ecosystem. We ate lunch and shopped a bit in the small mountain town before starting our hike. The trail roughly followed the grade of an old railroad that used to climb the mountain pass, and we reached a view of one of the railroad trestles. When we finished the hike, we were all tired from the altitude, but were glad to see a completely different part of New Mexico. The drive down to Roswell brought us back into the desert, and back to a town we'd been to only a few days ago. A few of us went out for barbeque with Dr. Kalkstein after checking into the hotel, and it was delicious after the long day. We'd finished up our base visits, spent some time in nature, and learned a lot along the way. The final day of our trip will just be the drive back to Oklahoma City, and I'll write more about overall reflections on the AIAD.