We waited long enough for the sun to warm up the motor home a little, then made the one-hour trip straight north. It's a beautiful drive, as Van Horn is in the center of some really nice mountain ranges. There were a few low clouds scattered on our drive, with mountains sticking out over the top of the clouds.
Far in the distance, we could see a particularly beautiful mountain face looming ahead of us.
That would be El Capitan, the signature rock face of Guadalupe Mountains National Park. It was so tall that it peeked out above the clouds. An 18-wheeler coming down the highway gives some scale to the size of El Capitan.
This area is at a higher altitude than the town of Van Horn, and they still had a covering of snow on the ground. We took a picture of Mark Engelman beside an Engelmann cactus shivering in the snow.
Even though El Capitan has a handsome rocky face, the most famous peak is on the far right side of the picture below. That is Guadalupe Peak. At 8,749 feet, it's the highest point in Texas. We would have taken the 7-hour hike to the peak, but that would have us walking back to the car in the dark.
So after watching the film at the National Park visitor center, we headed toward the McKittrick Canyon trail. We started the hike bundled up with our warmest winter gear. Denisa is looking particularly padded this morning with insulated underwear, hoodie sweat shirt, coat, ear muffs and gloves.
We had several creek crossings, as the canyon walls grew taller. Then we spent the next thirty minutes of the hike removing layers of clothing as the weather got warmer and more beautiful.
At 1.5 miles into the hike, we came to the Pratt Cabin. We read that Mr. Pratt bought this land after it was described as "the most beautiful spot in Texas." We think the Pratts were like us--wandering His wonders in McKittrick Canyon. They had this cabin built in the 1930's, and the family used it until it was donated to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
It was a great place to be on such a nice weather day. After withstanding freezing temperatures, blustery winds, and snow, we really appreciated those blue skies!
The hike ends at "The Grotto," a white rock cave opening with stalagmites and stalactites decorating the entrance.
As evidence of the recent cold temperatures, there were still icicles fed by the water dripping down the walls of the cave entrance.
There were rock slab tables and benches at the entrance of the grotto--a peaceful place for a picnic lunch.
We loved our hike beneath the tall canyon walls of McKittrick Canyon. You can barely see Denisa in the bottom left corner of the picture, dwarfed by a mountain peak above. It felt like we were really in the mountains with the pine trees around us. We were blessed with such beautiful weather that we are liking the Van Horn area more and more.
The wildlife hid from us today. But we found some interesting flora. This is manzanita, whose bright red trunk accessorizes Denisa's sweatshirt nicely today.
Our last stop of the day at Guadalupe Mountains was the Frijole Ranch house. Built by a series of families that lived here in the mountains, it is now open as a museum. We met the volunteer that spends 4-5 days each week here cleaning and raking and scrubbing to make this a great stop for visitors. Because we might some day settle down and volunteer at state and/or national parks, we always enjoy hearing about their experiences. Gary is a great volunteer and a fun guy to visit with.
It's amazing that we had such great weather, and were blessed with perfect temperatures for a hike in Guadalupe Mountains. As we left the area, we have checked off another national park. We may be back, as being on the peak of Texas's highest point is still on our bucket list! But we might do that a little later in the year, when the cactus blooms unfold and there is less snow in the forecast!
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