October 26
We hiked McKittrick Canyon in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park on this Saturday.
This is a different “we.” Bella and Niles are boarding at the vet’s, a little spa weekend for them (baths, pedicures, rattlesnake vaccine boosters–ouch!), and I am near Van Horn, Texas with my little brother who is now a lot bigger than I am. The canyon is famous for its fall colors and the hope is that we are not too early. The park was closed for a few weeks (you know why) and many trails are still closed due to heavy rains and flooding in September (video).
But the park is open now and the Canyon is ours!
Don’t forget to click on the first image to open the BIG Gallery. You don’t want to miss these colors!
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- Fall colors begin as we make our way into the canyon
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- Texas madrone tree
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- Aren’t they extraordinary?!
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- The outside bark peels away to leave–bone? That’s what it reminds me of…
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- Instead of climbing up, we are going down…
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- To water!
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- Such exotic limbs…
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- Down at the base of the canyon, the rough rock and the elegant trees make a lovely juxtaposition.
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- It is very shady and cool down here…
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- The mountains are all around us.
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- No, we are NOT climbing that!
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- Still lots of green down here…
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- At Hunter Cabin, the mountain shields the trees
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- This tree is like fire!
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- Down here, the fall colors are in full display!
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- There is so much shade from the mountains, dew still sits on these leaves at noon.
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- Other exotic flora is down here, too.
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- But the fiery trees against the blue blue sky are the main attraction!
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- On the way out, El Capitan stands guard.
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- I have a thing for the madrones, did you guess? 🙂
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October 27
The next day we head out to Smith Springs, part of the Frijole Ranch Trail. This was a lovely hike and the water at the springs was delightful. There is evidence of damage from the heavy rains, though, and I am glad we were not here then! 12 inches in 12 hours. We do things BIG in Texas!
Next year, we will tackle the monster climb, Guadalupe Peak…
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- I notice the clouds more on this hike today.
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- This pond is fed by the spring.
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- A riparian oasis indeed!
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- This is what the trail looks like most of the time–rocks!
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- A new discovery! Red berries on a Texas Madrone tree.
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- Yes, it is a big country.
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- Cloud dancers above the mountain
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- The trail winds around these big rocks
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- While the sky looks like an ocean…
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- This tiny madrone is growing IN the rock!
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- And here is the spring.
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- The fall colors have started here, too.
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- Recent heavy rains have made the spring much larger than usual.
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- A blurry waterfall
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- We picked a great time to visit the park, as it turns out!
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- I like the mixture of fall and summer colors…
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- The dramatic reds are lovely.
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- A berry tableau
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- The history of Smith Springs
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- They had 12 inches of rain here in the park in 12 hours–and you can see the damage…
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- But all that rain has made these trees quite happy.
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- The sprinklings of fall color make an impressionist painting…
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- Yes, another madrone. Sorry. I just love ’em!
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- Up above us, the sky is dancing…
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- It is a glorious day to be out here…
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- That’s a cave up above.
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- Later, on the flora hike near the park headquarters, there is the biggest Madrone ever!
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- I want one of these for the house…
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- El Capitan
Wow, these are gorgeous landscapes and trees and springs and trails. How far away from your place is this?
Paul, the park is about 100 miles away, near Van Horn, Texas. But, as you can see, the landscape in the canyons is quite different, even though the mountains look a lot like those near Alpine…