Day 7: Guadalupe Mountain NP

While the day started off with three parks on our to-do list, we only ended up going to one: Guadalupe Mountains NP. The previous night Dad had canceled our 9 mile hike in this park, only to surprise us with a spur of the moment 6.4 mile hike the following morning. Jessie and I were not pleased to say the least. We started our long voyage along the McKittrick Canyon trail, walking through dried river beds and scattered trees to make our way to the Grotto. It was the heat, not the elevation change that exhausted our energy. We walked for what seemed like a million hours - the trail never ending no matter how many corners we turned. Then, just as I was on the verge of dying, we came upon the Grotto - a small cavern sculpted out of the side of the canyon. While it was pretty cool to see, I was just happy to be in the shade and take five. Jessie and I sat among the boulders, me clutching the CamelBak, while Dad walked around taking pictures of the cave and rock formations. After about 15 minutes, we were ready to begin the trip back. The only thing worse about hiking to the Grotto? Knowing you have to walk all the way back through the blazing desert. The last mile or so was the worst, because we were in direct sunlight, with absolutely no shade, and our water was dwindling. Luckily we all prevailed, and once in the car we blasted the air conditioning on full and left the park, ready to spend the rest of the night resting in our hotel.

Note from Mark: The Guadalupe Mountains are quite impressive; the highest in Texas. We could have done the hike if we had gotten up at 4am but I didn't want to put the girls through that. The canyon was pretty and quite hot. We passed a family of four on our way out that did not appear to be carrying anything except a bottle of pop. We hear practically every day of people needing rescue from being overwhelmed by the heat and lack of water. I hope they're okay.