Category: National Parks

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: May 11, 2024

The trailhead began at the Frijole Ranch History Museum consisting of a house, schoolhouse, bunkhouse, barn and picnic area. The 2.4-mile trail itself is rated moderate and we found it slow and rough with lots of rocks to climb up or down with catus and desert on each side of the trail. Rosie let me lead to watch and listen for rattlesnakes. We saw birds, a mule deer and lots of lizards. The trail circled around the base of Frijole Ridge. It was slow, hot hiking when, as we ascended the trail, up ahead the desert suddenly became an oasis of green trees, shrubs and literally a twenty degree drop in temperature. In the center of this oasis in the desert was a small pool of water reminding me of a Mexican cenote. From the pond trickled a small creek southward. We just sat sipping water and resting for five minutes enjoying the trickle of the creek and enjoying the cooler temperature. I was quietly waiting to see if a mountain lion, mule deer, elk, jackrabbit or other creature would saunter into the oasis for a drink of water. We eventually resumed our trek heading back out into the hot desert and slowly descending the rocky trail until we came to Manzanita Spring and the ranch. This was a demanding trail (our fourth trail of the day) but one of our favorites.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: May 11, 2024

In 1858 the Butterfield Overland Stage Line began carrying mail and passengers through the Guadalupe Mountains on the Nation’s first transcontinental mail route. Along this .7-mile round trip trail were ruins of an old Butterfield stagecoach station.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: May 11, 2024

This one-mile trail passes an intermittent seep and that hides in the junipers then ascends a southwest slope of an arroyo. A variety of native plants, cactus, cholla and yucca lined the trail as the desert slowly takes over. At the top was a good view looking down at McKittrick Canyon. I saw lots of scat that the Park Ranger said the poop-atraitor was a ring-tailed cat.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: May 11, 2024

At McKittrick Canyon entrance, we hiked 5.1 miles to Pratt Cabin and back. The temperature on the canyon floor was comfortable when we started then got hotter and hotter. We crossed dry creek beds several times. The trail was a combination of dirt and small stones like pea gravel and mostly flat. There was very little shade, so we took a short break on the porch of the old cabin (built by geologist Wallace Pratt in the 1920’s) to snack and drink water while relaxing in the rocking chairs. I saw many lizards and birds along the route. There was one stream crossing that had water in it with enhanced greenery (plants, shrubs, trees and wildflowers) on each side of the stream. Rocks, cactus, cholla and various yucca plants lined each side of the trail and up the slopes of each canyon wall. The higher ridges of the Guadalupe Mountains could be seen father down the trail in the distance.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: May 11, 2024

This 86,400-acre national park located just south of the New Mexico state line near Carlsbad was established in 1972. The park contains the Guadalupe Mountains which rise 3,000 feet above the Chihuahuan Desert. Guadalupe Peak is 8,751 feet above sea level, the highest point in Texas. The park is part of the largest Exposed Fossil Reef in the World!

The park is designated a Class 1 air quality area and I attest the air was so fresh while hiking four trails there. We hiked in the upper northeastern area McKittrick Canyon area) and then the east central part around one Springs Visitor Center and Fijole Ranch. We hiked four trails total.

I saw wild mule deer, a coyote, lizards, wrens, falcons and was happy not to step on any rattlesnakes.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: May 10, 2024

We hiked .3 miles outside on the Nature Trail past various cacti and native plants until we arrived at the Bat Flight Amphitheater. Twenty some years ago we sat at this amphitheater at dusk and watch hundreds of thousands of bats fly out of the cave and trek off to feed at night on insects before returning by dawn.

As we reminisced, we walked farther and farther down, hiking over 60 switchbacks until we were in the dark cave. This was the natural entrance to the cave. Each switchback was a bit darker until we had to use our flashlights. We hiked this strenuous and dangerous trail down 755 feet (equivalent to ¾ of the height of the Empire State Building) to the bottom of the cave past areas/rooms called Devil’s Spring, Devil’s Den, Iceberg Rock, the Green Lake Room and the King’s Palace. Iceberg Rock (Photo#6) is a single 200,000-ton boulder that fell from the cave ceiling thousands of years ago. The stalactites, stalagmites, columns and other formations were incredible. We hiked over 1.25 miles until we came to an elevator to ascend back up and out of the cave.

FYI – Carlsbad Caverns contains 119 known caves, including Lechuguilla Cave – the nation’s deepest limestone cave at 1,604 feet. The Big Room is one of the world’s largest and most accessible underground chambers.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: May 10, 2024

This nature trail was under a mile in length and ran east of the visitor center along the ridge. It had dozens of varieties of cacti, yucca, native desert plants and a few lizards. The trail closes before the evening bat flight program since the million bats exit the cave and fly over this area. We paid $10 and adopted a bat in memory of son Shane who adopted a bat here twenty plus years ago when the cost was only $5 a bat.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: May 10, 2024

The last time we visited here was in the early 2000’s. During the five-mile drive from the park entrance sign to the visitor center I passed a coyote walking along the road and took photos of four mule deer. The visitor center sat atop the summit of a ridge overlooking the plains below. This trail was only .5 mile long but as we ascended the hill we were rewarded with a great view of Walnut Canyon. Down on the right was where I had the deer sightings. That night back at the campsite we watched a beautiful sunset.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: May 10, 2024

This 3.7-mile trail goes to White’s City and is the old road where workers would haul guano (bat poop) and sell it as a natural fertilizer for profit. Workers gathered it from the cavern, hauled it up and carried it to White’s City. We passed some ruins and debris from the mining operation. The first two miles gradually weaved up and down the ridge past rocks and cactus before a big ascent (a 570-foot drop) the final mile.  It was hot and we kept our eyes open for rattlesnakes.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller

Date: May 8, 2024

I journeyed alone through a fascinating Fossil Discovery Exhibit and then down a quarter mile path where in 1954, Dr. John Wilson found 54-million-year-old Eocene fossils. They included the remains of turtles, ancient horses and a mammal called pantodonts. Bones of a large horned dinosaur called Bravoceratops are also found at Big Bend NP.