Crazy about National Parks…Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
Sunday, April 17th, 2011April 14th-16th
Okay, I have to admit that now that we have our National Parks Pass, we’re on a mission to get our money’s worth.
After another swim in the spring-fed pool and a very windy morning, we got on another long road to the middle of nowhere. This time our destination was Guadalupe Mountains National Park, home of the highest peak in Texas. The wind on the road up was pushing the car and by the time we were setting up camp in the campground, there were gusts up to 65mph. Through determination and the help of some heavy rocks, we got the tent staked out. We took a small walk by the Visitors’ Center to see the ruins of the Pinery Butterfield Stage Station ruins. Pinery Butterfield was the first overland mail service delivering mail between San Francisco and St. Louis. Then we made dinner in the crazy wind, holding onto our plates so they wouldn’t fly away. The winds held up until almost midnight making for a fitful night sleep. I half expected to wake up south of the border.
The following morning was chilly but calm. Our plan for the day was to drive up to Carlsbad Caverns, about 50 miles north in New Mexico- hoping to beat the weekend crowds. Since we were up early, we decided to do a little hike in Guadalupe first to warm up. We visited some small springs and the Frijole Ranch which had been a functioning ranch since the early 1900s. The last owner donated the land to establish the national park. We were warmed up and ready to explore some caves.
The Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns were created by an ancient limestone reef 4-6 million years ago. A sea once covered this vast desert and when it receded the reef was left exposed only later to be buried in mud. Geologic processes continued to work their ways and today we were left with two vastly different landscapes with a similar history.
The caverns are in New Mexico just on the other side of the border with Texas. There are several ways to visit Carlsbad Caverns, the largest underground system of caves in North America. One is to take an elevator 755 feet underground. Another is to descend 1.25 miles on foot through the natural entrance. We chose the second option and took the steep path down into the dark cave. The temperature dropped to 56 degrees Fahrenheit. You have to speak in a whisper or your voice is amplified to unpleasant levels. The electric lighting helped us find our way and gave us glimpses of the carved out walls. It didn’t take long to get a sense of the vast depth of these caverns. After about 45 minutes, we arrived at the Big Room, the largest cavern in the Western Atmosphere. The room measures 8.2 acres. It’s highly decorated with natural columns, stalactites, stalagmites and glistening pools of water. It took us about an hour and a half to make the long walk around the room where we paused many times to admire this natural wonder. To imagine that many of the formations were thousands of years old puts your own short time in this world in perspective. When we had finished the tour, we took the elevator back up to the surface to daylight and warmer temperatures. We drove back to Texas, to our site in Guadalupe National Park. The wind had stopped but the temperatures had also dropped into the 40s, so it was a quick dinner before climbing into the sleeping bags. Another day…another wonder.
The arrival of the weekend also meant the arrival of the locals. The campground filled up. Saturday morning we were up at a quarter to seven. We were ready for our hike into the high mountains. Most of the people were climbing up to Guadalupe Peak. We decided to take a less traveled, but equally scenic trail called “The Bowl.” The landscape is starting to look a little monotonous but this trail had some little perks. We climbed into a Pine Forest- an interesting site, pine trees and cactuses. We also had the pleasure of encountering several white tailed deer having their breakfast. The trail was a little tough. We did a 10.2 mile loop (with a total climb of 2,500 feet) in about 4 ½ hours. Fabien thinks it should have been rated easy to moderate. I feel like I’m in good hiking shape now, but my feet still hurt at the end. We read that the average time a person spends in a National Park is ½ a day, and most of that is in a car. To really see nature, you have to get out of the car! I’ve spent this afternoon catching up the blog, maybe one of the few times that I’m completely up to date. I’m finally in the rhythm of traveling, experiencing, adventuring and writing all at the same time.
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