Halloween Hike

Hi All,

We went down to McKittrick Canyon down at Guadalupe National Park in TX. It was a beautiful day and the colors are close to peak here in NM and TX.

Guadalupe National Park Fall Colors

Robbie, John, Lee and Val McKittrick Canyon

Fall colors in Guadalupe National Park TX

The Grotto - McKittrick Canyon

That's all for today.  Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. 

Love to all.

VAL & JOHN & the kitties!

Halloween

Hi Friends,

Almost Halloween, and the staff at the CAVE love to celebrate Halloween (or any other occasion). So there was a pumpkin carving contest the other day, and a party on Friday night.

My boss lent me his wife's old Octopus costume and we got John a dracula cape. He painted his face to look like a ghoul and off to the party.

Most of us had to work the next day, so John and I didn't stay too late, but it was fun.

Fort Davis

Hi Friends,

Yesterday we drove down to Fort Davis in TX. It's about a three hour drive. It was a military outpost used in the mid to late 1800's which provided protection to travelers taking the southern route to California. It is part of the National Park Service, and well worth a couple of hours to visit.

We went down to Alpine TX, which is a town between the Fort and Big Bend National Park. Eventually, John and I plan to take a long weekend and go down to Big Bend for some hiking. Still waiting for cooler temperatures. The mountains near there were beautiful, and friends tell me Big Bend is spectacular.

Today we hiked "Old Guano Road" in Carlsbad Caverns NP. It's only a six mile round trip hike, gaining about 800 feet. The hike goes through the burned area from the fire they had this summer. The views from the ridge are interesting, and with the burn, a lot of plants that normally would prick, stick or poke you are dead, or trying to come back.

For the rest of the day I plan to kick back and relax and watch some football. Caught the end of the Bronco game and watched them make a comeback and beat the Dolphins.

That's it for now.

Love to all,

VAL & JOHN & the kitties!

Busy weekend

Hi Friend,

Yesterday I went into the Guadalupe Room, which is the second largest room in Carlsbad Caverns. It is not open to the public. This is the second time I've been there, and I'm being trained to lead other staff members into the room.

It's a very beautiful part of the cave, but physically challenging. The entire time you are 'off trail'. You start by going to the "Hall of the White Giant". That is physically challenging in itself as you have to corkscrew you body through some tight squeezes, go through the pinch, climb on your belly for a while, chimney through a tight section of the cave, before climbing a ladder (it's about 8" wide) and then go up a knotted rope. Tired yet? LOL

Once you get to the "White Giant", you have to slide down a mud hill (which is a bitch to get back up later). Kind of like sledding, skateboarding, and snowboarding mixed with mud. Next you have to chimney down an area, go over breakdown (large rocks that fell thousands of years ago) and past some very beautiful stalagtites and soda straws where they are close and it's slippery.

It takes about two hours of caving to get to the Guadalupe Room, which is beautiful with dripping water and active formations. The final destination is the "Canary Room" where there's a formation that looks like a canary. Also in the same area is the 'WoodPecker'.

Didn't get home last night until after 11PM. I was filthy, sweaty, and exhausted. Slept in this morning until after 7AM!

Today John and I went down to Guadalupe Mountain National Park in Texas. We did a short hike called "Devil's Hall". It's only 4.5 miles long. We had hoped to see some fall colors, but for the most part, the trees aren't changing yet. Nice hike, helped stretch out my sore muscles.

Back to work tomorrow...

Miss ya,

VAL & JOHN & the kitties! :-)

The Land of Enchantment

Hi Friends,

New Mexico, known as the 'Land of Enchantment' has many different personalities. Where we live, in SE NM we are mostly desert, although the Guadalupe Mtns are visible to the west.

Temperatures are finally dropping around the state. This morning we woke up to the 50's, a welcome change from the heat. There were parts of the state that got snow this morning. We could still use some more rain, although we had some rain earilier in the week.

Plan on doing some hiking tomorrow. Not sure where we're going yet, but we have a friend who's coming with us who will share some of her favorite hiking spots with us.

Hope all is well with you all,

Love to all,

VAL & JOHN & the kitties......