McKittrick Canyon, Guadaloupe Mountains, TX, 9/21/15

This hike, about 35 miles south of Carlsbad Caverns, reminded me very much of the hiking we did in Tucson in the Sonoran desert.  Just the saguaros are missing!

It is 4.8 miles round-trip to Pratt Cabin and 6.8 miles round-trip to the Grotta.  Would have loved to hike to the Grotto. But, the temperature was well about 95 degrees and we had only about 1 quart of water for each of us.  So we played safe, and made the Cabin our turn-around destination.

Apparently, in the 1020s when the Pratt family bought the land, the view was quite different: imagine a stream running the length of the canyon with a number of small waterfalls ...

Built  in 1931-32 as a summer home with local stone and wood only. A stone picknick table made a perfect lunch spot, shaded by the trees and the house.  I peeked inside: very pleasant floor plan with a large living room in the middle, kitchen to one side and bedrooms to the other.  No remains of a well that we could see.  Was the stream enough to provide for water? 

Sitting Bull Falls, Lincoln National Forest, NM, 9/20/15

 Jim talked about visiting Sitting Bull Falls since I first met him, 10 years ago.  We finally made it down to the Lincoln and Guadalupe Mountains for a few days of camping, and found we had this little piece of paradise all to ourselves on this gorgeous fall day.

 Not much of a hike to the falls, so we took the trail up and hike about 1 mile in, discovering two beautiful pools along the stream.  I had all intentions of wading into the pool below the falls. When we heard about the carcass of a cow lying in the stream above the falls, I changed my mind :)

Spelunking Hike, Carlsbad Caverns, NM 9/19/15

 We signed up for a 3-hour guided tour deep into the Caverns.  First, safety briefing ...

 Took the elevator down ~750 feet and off we went into the complete dark with only headlamps to guide us, ambling through large chambers admiring the formations and squeezing into narrow passages.

 Jim emerging from a tunnel.  For complete immersion, the guide asked to sit down in the small chamber at the end of this tunnel and turn our head lights off. We were plunged into absolute dark, an eerie experience to say the least. 

Know the difference between a stalactite and a stalagmite?  A stalactite hangs from the ceiling and a stalagmite grow up from the cavern floor :)   

 Getting into the lower sections of the cave required rappelling using a knotted rope, and climbing and descending long, wet and slippery ladders.

Plenty of other formation on our path. Picture above shows columns (joint stalagmite and stalactite,) soda straws and popcorn calcite deposits. It is a steady 56 degrees F down below, actually a great reprieve from the 90+ degree weather above ground!