We awoke to clear skies, dry high desert air, temperature 30 degrees, in Van Horn, Texas on Monday morning, and on mountain time which is one hour earlier. We skipped our planned, and paid for, campsite at Monahans Sandhills State Park last night, continuing on to Van Horn, and were thankful that we made that decision.
Now we are only an hours drive away from Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We enjoyed the drive north in gorgeous sunshine and blue skies with high wispy clouds, passing by a historic ranch...
The closer we got to the Park, we could see low-hanging clouds...
However, the low clouds did not obscure our first glimpse of El Capitan Peak, a rugged rocky mountain jutting into the blue sky!
As we switch backed higher and higher we became enveloped in the cloud before we arrived at the park's Pine Springs entrance. The temperature also dropped to 26 degrees.
Dedicated in 1972, the park contains 86,416 acres with elevations ranging from 3,650 to 8,749 feet at the summit of Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas. The park has four of the state's highest peaks, deep canyons, and a rare mixture of plant and animal life. Access to the park's rugged interior is by hiking and backpack camping along 80 miles of marked trails.
We opted to tent camp at the Pine Springs campground near the park headquarters on U.S Hwy. 62/180.
We chose site # 18 (out of more that 20 tent sites available on a first come-first served basis)...
...this wild yellow-flowered cactus bush was growing at our campsite.
It is still a little foggy as we set up our tent, but the sun would soon burn off the low-hanging clouds. We decided to go for a hike into McKittrick Canyon.
We drove there and parked at the Visitor Center (which was closed) trailhead.
The trail was very well defined .....
...and the weather is perfect for a hike!
Remnants of a rock slab table...
I began taking photos of the different kinds of cactus.
Like the fossils, the Texas madrone is a remnant of another era, with its smooth rose-colored bark, deep green leaves, and round red berries. Instead of the bark stretching as it grows, it splits and sheds, the tattered strips a food source for mule deer.
All along the path we side stepped the many deer droppings!
We crisscrossed this creek several times but it was mostly dry except for this crossing.
A lot of work on the trail to guide hikers to stay on the path.
We have made it the 2.3 miles from the trailhead to the entrance to the Pratt Cabin.
By 1921 Wallace Pratt had traveled the world in search of oil, but when he laid eyes on McKittrick Canyon for the first time in May of that year, he knew what he had to do. By 1929 the Pratt family owned a 16,000-acre spread which encompassed much of this canyon. In 1930 Pratt built his stone cabin at the confluence of North and South McKittrick Canyon.
Outbuilding/barn behind the main cabin...
What an incredible view behind the cabin...
...and the view from the front porch...pretty spectacular!
Smooth, thin layered sedimentary rock found along the front of the mountain range provided material not only for the walls but also the roof! The 1930's were a lean time, and local cowboys who were out of work provided the labor, with ropes wrapped on the horns of their saddles, they pulled the rock slabs up wooden planks and put them into place.
Pratt and his wife, Iris, lived in the cabin off and on until their retirement in 1945. A flood which trapped them in the cabin for days, cutting them off from medical care and supplies convinced them of the need to build a house elsewhere on the ranch. Until 1957 the cabin was used as a weekend retreat. It was in that year that the Pratt family made a gift of 5,632 acres of the ranch to the U.S Government for the beginnings of this national park.
For today, Tom and I enjoyed the solitude and beauty surrounding the cabin deep in the canyon on the bank of the creek, as we sat on the porch and ate a snack and drank from our water bottles.
We had not seen anyone on our hike into the canyon, but on our way back a young man carrying photographic equipment and walking a lot faster than us passed us on the trail with a quick "hello".
We enjoyed the walk back out of the canyon. BooBoo was having the time of her life!
BooBoo spotted a small stone bench that fit her perfectly!
The area has thousands of sotol cactus, a member of the agave family. Their tall spikes make good walking sticks. Tom picked one of these walking sticks up at the trailhead and used it for today's hike.
So many varieties of cactus plants growing in the canyon!
BooBoo couldn't resist swinging from a stob on a Texas madrone tree!
I have seen photos in Texas Highways Magazine of McKittrick Canyon in the Fall when the many maple trees are ablaze with color. Awesome! However, we enjoyed it today just as it was.
Day 3 to be continued......
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