After Big Bend, we drove to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We had 2 good hikes there. The first one was the McKittrick Canyon trail. This trail winds up a canyon with 2 stream crossings to the Pratt cabin. Here are some highlights.
We saw this guy early in the hike.
And continued on.
We made it to the Pratt cabin, which was nicely situated with great views from the front porch.
After that hike, we did the Smith Springs trail, which was lovely at the top.
At the top of the loop, we saw Smith Springs.
Then we hiked back down the canyon
At the end of the loop, we spotted what we thought was a Bighorn sheep. It turned out to be a Barbary sheep. The Barbary sheep pushed the Bighorn sheep out of the Guadalupe Mountains after they were introduced from Africa. We saw him head on but he turned and ran as soon as he saw us. It was a good thing because the Barbary sheep are apparently very aggressive. Carolyn got a shot of him running away.
That was it from Guadalupe Mountains National Park. From there we drove about 20 miles north to Whites City in New Mexico, where we will visit the Carlsbad Caverns National Park the next day.
That Pratt cabin looks really nice. Is that stone on the roof? Wow. You two are quite adventurous! Are those tall stalks Yucca?
ReplyDeleteYes, that is stone on the roof. There was a plaque explaining how Wallace Pratt hired workers and an architect to use pulleys and ropes to get the stone up there. Yes, we believe the stalks are a type of Yucca plant.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteAlso, when Wallace Pratt died in the 1960s, he donated the cabin and land to the park service.