Guadalupe Mountains National Park, February 23, 2013

Guadalupe National Park was day-one of our weekend from San Andres when we also visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The Guadalupe Mountain Range starts in this part of Texas and travels all the way up to Carlsbad. The road that connects the two parks runs along the range and is quite scenic. There are also caves found throughout the range, beyond what you can visit while at Carlsbad. What an interesting and unusual part of the country!

The Guadalupe Mountains are an ancient marine fossil reef that was formed 260 million years ago when there was a vast tropical ocean covering portions of what is now Texas and New Mexico. Eventually, the sea evaporated and the mountain range remained. We drove to the Park from Las Cruces/San Andres NWR through El Paso, Texas. The drive from El Paso to the Guadalupe Mountains was through the flat, barren Chihuahuan Dessert. The highest peak in Texas is Guadalupe Peak (or El Capitan) at 8749 feet and can be hiked here, if you have an entire day to dedicate to that effort. The Guadalupe Range juts up from the desert and is visible from miles away. It is an impressive sight as you drive in from El Paso.

The Butterfield Stage Coach Line began delivering mail to this area in the mid 1880's. The "Pinery" is the remains of an old stagecoach building and is just half-mile from the Visitor's Center in a nice introductory nature trail. It must have been very difficult and uncomfortable to travel through these mountains via horse and stage. The day we were at the Park, the wind was howling. The rangers told us that it was common for the Park to be windy.....the flat desert all around it provide the perfect conditions for high winds.

The Frijole Ranch is part of the Park and was a residence and active farm/ranch before Guadalupe became a National Park. It was a very lush area, due largely to the Manzanita Spring, that they used to irrigate their orchard and farm fields. The spring is still active and feeds into a nice pond, accessible from one of the 80 miles of trails in the Park.

We visited McKittrick's Canyon, famous for its unusual (for this part of the country) trees and fauna. Maple, Ash, Walnut, Oak, Chikeberry trees grow here due to the year-round moisture and hade found in the Canyon. This trail is very popular in the fall when these trees turn colors.....something that you don't find otherwise in Texas.

The tree below is the Texas Madrone, a common site at Guadalupe NP and notable for its red bark and reddish leaves. This tree flowers in the spring and berries in the fall. The native birds feel on these berries through the winter months.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park Feb 24, 2013

We enjoyed a weekend trip from San Andres to Carlsbad Caverns, NM AND Guadalupe Mountains, TX National Parks. Even though they are in different states, the two Parks are about 30 minutes from one another, so it was convenient to visit both places in one weekend. We enjoyed both places and were struck by the differences between them. We really enjoyed our time at Carlsbad and really packed-in the activities here. In one day there we took two ranger-lead tours through two different areas of the Caverns, we walked the mile-long natural entrance trail, and we toured the Big Room on the self-guided trail and we found time to eat lunch below groun in the Park's Snackbar. It was all extraordinary scenery and a wonderful adventure and came as a very nice surprise.

This first round of images were taken during our first tour, which was done by candlelight. Each person in our group of 12 carried a lantern throughout the 2 hour tour. At one point we blow out our candles and experience TOTAL DARKNESS inside the cave. It was incredible. I placed my hand right in front of my face and could not see it.

The next few photos are of the one-mile natural entrance, self-guided hike that takes you from ground level down into the Cavern's "Big Room" area, cafeteria (yes, you can eat down there!), and starting point for a few of the tours. There is also an elevator that you can use to ride down to the same location, which is also interesting. We used both means of getting down during our one-day visit, but really enjoyed the natural entrance hike. We were amazed at the BIGNESS and DEPTH of this walk down into the Caverns and of all the cool things you see along the way.

Just like the Grand Canyon, photos of Carlsbad Caverns National Park do not do it justice. It is impossible to capture the vastness, colors, dimensions, and unusualness of the Caverns on a camera. In fact, taking flash photos of this incredible place seemed downright silly at times.

Water played a large role in creating the Caverns and still does today. There are areas throughout the Park with small "lakes" of unusual colors.