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McKittrick Canyon
September 27, 2005
Location: Guadalupe Mountains near
Carlsbad, New Mexico
Like a good book, McKittrick Canyon has plenty of effusive blurbs up front.
Excerpt from:
http://www.worldmind.com/Wild/Parks/guad.html
McKittrick Canyon is a hike along the Capitan reef, the world's largest known fossil reef. A small stream flows through the canyon. The trail continues past Pratt Cabin and the Grotto to Wilderness Ridge, a high elevation forest of Ponderosa pine. Excellent views await one atop this ancient Permian edifice.
From the highway, the Park appears to consist of desert interrupted by a towering wall of high limestone cliffs. But hike through the twists and turns of McKittrick Canyon, carved into the cliffs over millions of years, and you encounter a stunning, lush oasis. Spectacular leaf colors draw many people into the canyon in late October and early November, but it is quieter during the rest of the year. This tranquility, coupled with the freshness of new plant-life, makes spring a particularly attractive time to visit. Having hiked the canyon in May, we can certainly attest to its beauty at this time of year.
How could I resist a visit after that hype? Indeed, the canyon is a great hike. In spite of that, I'll spend the rest of the page bitching and making fun of the place.
These are the miserable, endless Salt Flats you drive through to the Guadalupes. Then you see the mountains in the distance like a mirage. Finally at scenic turnoff, you will be pressed not to take a picture of the breath-taking El Captain.
A well-marked trail leads us through McKittrick Canyon.
A set of natural stepping stones on the path.
There are great views of the mountains all around.
McKittrick Creek and its inhabitants are, oh so very, fragile. There are signs telling you not to touch, step in, or even gaze too longingly at the water. The first time I read one of these signs was while I was taking a leak in the stream. Immediately downstream, the water turned green (remember, yellow and blue make green) and every animal within it or drinking from it, spontaneously combusted. "Oops," I said, as I zipped up and continued along the path.
An excellent history of the park can be found here:
http://www.guadalupe.mountains.national-park.com/info.htm For example, they had this to say about Pratt's Cabin.
" The cabin is made of only stone and wood. Heart-of-pine rafters, collar beams, and sheathing to support the stone roof were shipped in from East Texas. The stone used in building the house was quarried outside the canyon at the base of the Guadalupe Mountains. Always the geologist, Pratt selected "silty limestone", thin-bedded and closely jointed by clean vertical fractures." Workers scraped off the thin layer of earth to reveal the proper stones, then using crowbars, levered the blocks apart. The joints made the blocks fit well, and Pratt noted that few required the stonemason's hammer or chisel." And yes, the roof is made of stone as well.
I missed the cabin tour as I had arrived late. In a very friendly manner, the sign at the front gate of the park said that the gates closed at 6:00. Anybody not back by then gets to spend the night. I did not wish to spend the night, as I had taken only the clothes on back and the camera with me into the park. At 5:30, I realized I wasn't going to make it to the Grotto part of the trail that I had been looking forward to. Skipping over rocks in the bog and nearly at a run, I made it just as the ranger was about to close the gate. I probably would have made it quicker, if I hadn't stopped to take this picture.
I returned the next day promptly at 8:00 and triumphantly achieved the Grotto. There is a cave in the rear, but once again, you need a permit. I decided to obey the signs as I had not brought a flashlight and the cave screamed "Rattlesnake!" Also I didn't trust that lizard (see below). It might have been a ranger in disguise.
I made a few new animal friends on this trip.
On my second day at the park, I was having an allergy attack on the trail. In the midst of blowing my nose, I heard an answering honk. Looking through the brush, I saw a rather disappointed doe, a female deer. I wasn't quite what she was looking for. She huffed at me and strolled away, powerfully reminding me of my own unfriendly dog at home.
These rainbow trout were re-introduced to the creek by a conservationist and are considered endangered in this habitat. And they're good eatin' too. Thank goodness for Mother Nature providing free snack food for hungry hikers.
Here's Mr. Lizard. I met him at the Grotto. I went to all this trouble to go to the Grotto to take pictures of the famous bunnies there, and all I got was this dumb lizard. Not even a lounge lizard, at that. Oh well, what happens in the Grotto, stays in the Grotto.
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