Guadalupe Mt./Carsbad Caverns/Hidden Valley Ranch

Wed. we are going to climb Guadalupe Mountain which is  8.4 miles round trip. It is a strenuous 6-8 hours to get up and come down.  We left at 9 it was cold in low 40's

The lower mid right spot is our campgrounds which we found we were 1/4th the way up!!!

the mountain was full of quartz rock.  If you look in the middle of the picture you can see them in the mt. side.

 

as you can see the climb is steep and the path very rocky and on the south side of the Mt. rocky and warm. The north side has lots of trees and is alot colder

this is a bridge can't see how they made it stay but glad they had it.

here is the highest point in Texas. 8,749 feet above sea level we started at 4,800 feet. It took over 5 1/2 hours to climb!!!. We were both wore out but kept going because we thought each other  wanted to go see the top.

the next 7 pictures are on top of the Mt.  the beauty is indescribable it just does not show the beauty.

 

this is called El Capitan at the beginning of Guadalupe Mt.

As you can see the sun is starting to set and we have a long way to go.  After 2 hours Linda,s knees started to hurt. Then another 1/2 hour she could barely walk with the pain. We have an hour walk left and she is crying with each step.  

We did take time to enjoy the wild life. When we finally got to the bottom of the Mt. a ranger was waiting to see if we were ok for it is dark and he could see our flash light coming down the Mt. It took 4 1/2 hours to get down a total of 10 hours!!!!. We were both glad to get into the 5th wheel!!!!!!.Linda said this is one thing she will scratch of her bucket list that she didn't know she had!!

TAfter a lazy morning we were both feeling better so we drove to Carlsbad Caverns N.M. It was named after a town in Europe hoping to draw business in early 1900. Jim White was one of the early discovers of the cave in 1898.  He loved the cave and wanted to show others. He kept getting folks involved until in 1930 it became a National Park.  One of the things the cave is known for is the bats that come, once a year, to have their young.The bats come out  of the cave in thousands every nite looking for food.  Its called Bat Flight.  They do it in early spring till middle of Oct.  We missed that!

Here are pictures of the Mts. on the way to the cave

 

here is one of the two  entrances into the cave you can walk down here and get to the big room but it takes over an hour and we did not have the time so I ran down to get some pictures and on the way up my legs got very sore very quick.

Here are some of the markings that the Indians made found in picture above

 

 

Here we are starting our tour of the Kings Palace  829 feet below the surface.( the elevator took us 750ft down)  

Besides naming the formations the early explorers use to put there kerosene lamps up to the walls and make marks so they knew their way out. 

In the Kings Palace they moved away the formations and flatten the floor so they could have weddings. 

if you notice on the right this formation is called the witches broom

water is still dripping and the cave is still growing.  The water table goes up and down as the rain season is dry or wet

  

they call this one the twin domes and giant dome

the wire ladder was installed in 1924 during a 6 month exploration and survey by National Geographic Society built by Jim Smith the ladder 90 feet into the lower cave

the pictures do not do enough to show the beauty of the caves.  They have found 160 miles of more caves which they are leaving for Scientific and exploration groups to explore. ( it is called the Lechuquilla Cave)

 

Fri. We got up had breakfast I took my shower and when Linda went to take hers the water didn't work! For the last three nights we were dry camping(no water, elec. or sewer). I started the generator and got the battery charged enough for things to work again. We packed up and started west again to stop outside Deming N.M. at Hidden Valley Ranch.  When I saw the name I thought it had to do with the salad dressing,but instead it was  on a very bumppy narrow cattle road that led to a ranch!!!. I did not know the dust we would get in the rig.  But the folks can't be more helpful and they had a pot luck and we played cards with Joyce and John some full timers like us.

 

.Two folks took us into the back country to show us different things Here we are on the Butterfield Stage Road. They say some 1000 folks were killed in this area by the indians. It is where the old stagecoach took people out west.

They took us to a rocky hill where  thousands years ago the Indians did petroglyph

Some of the families take care of this grave of PVT Charles Williams who was killed in the Civil War.

they say this looks like a sleeping Indian or a frog(what dessert life will do to you)

Here we are driving on Little China Wash a road that fills up when it rains in the Mountain and the water gushes to the valley.  In the middle of the picture you will see some volcano lava

the wind blows and the dust goes so they put up fences to catch the sand and stop some erosion

On the open range they have cattle.  The people that have the lease right now grow cows for roping.  It is  a rope steer from Mexico        

The picture above is the new owner of the rv parks. It is over a hundred years old and the celling is made from the branches that grow out of the catcus.

Even though there is little rain plants grow and have lots of color

 Sun. we got up early ate did a bible study then left for Tucson Az. The day went well except for a warning message saying check engine coolant.  Hope to check it out here. The next three pictures are from the highway.  The Mountain seems to have a spell on us we can't get enough pictures of them.

 

                      On all the over passes in the westeern states they "dress up" the ramps

                     In one section of the road there were lots of bolders on both sides of the road.

 

Mon. we did a lot of catch up then Lin took me out to Starbucks for a treat.   Tues. we left for Yuma once we got to the site we washed the rig and truck.  They were both very dirty and dusty. Linda helped so when we were done I took her out to an asian dinner and starbuck coffee. Wed. we sleep in then coffee in bed and watch the Today Show and Good Morning America. We drove around and did some shopping befor going to see Jim and Lana at their Hotel. We played three games of cards and the guys won one.  We went to church with only 25 folks this is the smallest church so far.