Dave & Kathy 2011

Guadalupe National Park - McKittrick Canyon Hike

McKittrick Canyon is separate from the main park area, and is reached by a short side road off US 62/180.

The road ends at an unstaffed visitor center, parking area and picnic site where the trail begins.

Initially the trail follows a dry stream, crossing the stream bed several times as it works its way up the canyon. The creek bed runs past and continues westwards away from the mountains, eventually joining the Pecos River, but is usually dry at this point.

This look like a flowering Claret Cup Cacti. Not sure if it blooms just once and dies.

After a distance of 2.4 miles the path reaches the Wallace Pratt Lodge that was built by Wallace Everette Pratt (1885-1981), a petroleum geologist who once owned most of McKittrick Canyon. It did not look as though it was occupied any longer.

As you continue your hike beyond Pratt Cabin to the Grotto, the forest becomes denser as the trail runs parallel to the stream. Round-trip distance from the contact station to the Grotto is 6.8 miles.

One of the surrounding mountains that contain the canyon.

During the Fall, McKittrick Canyon comes alive with color from the turning foliage of maple and hardwood trees.

The creek flows even in summer, rising above ground at several points between rock layers, then returning below ground a few hundred meters further.

Carlsbad Cavern - King's Palace Tour

The King's Palace tour, a 1.5-hour ranger-guided tour through four highly decorated chambers, departs from the underground rest area.

You will descend to the deepest portion of the cavern open to the public, 830 feet beneath the desert surface.

Although not as difficult as the Natural Entrance route, this 1-mile tour does require descending, and later climbing, an 8-story hill.

Look forward to viewing a variety of cave formations including helictites, draperies, columns, and soda straws.

This was directly above our heads. Glad none fell during our tour.

These are called "Draperies" which are in the Queens Room.

Reservations are required for the Kings Palace tour.

Rangers frequently conduct black-outs during this tour, briefly turning off all artificial lights to reveal the natural darkness of the cave. Anyone got a light!

Carlsbad Caverns - Natural Entrance

Who knew there was such beauty in the middle of nowhere?

Carlsbad Caverns is a must see place if you are near Carlsbad NM. Beneath the rugged desert, rocky slopes and deep canyons that make up Carlsbad Caverns National Park, lies an underground treasure including more than 117 known caves

Until 1932, visitors to the cavern had to walk down a switch back ramp-sidewalk that took them 750 feet below the surface. The walk back up was tiring for a lot of visitors. In 1932 the National Park opened up a large visitor center building that contained two elevators that would take visitors to the caverns below.

While a young boy, Jim White saw what he thought was smoke bellowing in a distance. Little did he know what he was about to discover.

This is called the "In the Whales Mouth"

Click on the above photo to enlarge.

You can see the many holes formed where acid dissolved the rock.

This is called the "Lion's Tail."

Stalactites, stalagmites and other cave deposits made chiefly of calcite are called decorations or speleothems,

While a young boy, Jim White explored the cavern with his homemade wire ladder.

Here you can see how over the thousand of years the formations become one.

Changes in the ambient air temperature and rainfall affect the rate of growth of speleothems, as higher temperatures increase carbon dioxide production rates within the overlying soil. Color of speleothems is determined by the trace constituents in the minerals of the formation.

Screaming Hawk - Laurel Ridge Canopy Tour Zip Lines (August 2013)

Not sure if I accidentally deleted this post or why this was never posted to our blog but it was one of the favorite trips with the grand kids. This was their first zip lining experience. I have combined our 2-day visit to Seven Springs, Pa.

Here we are arriving at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Somerset PA. This is the first time Ryan and Jake have tried zip lining. We think they are in for a real treat.

If you are looking for a summer thrill ride the Seven Springs zip line will keep you wanting more. Here we are about to get into our gear. Jake weighed 84 pounds just over the minimum weight of 80 pounds for riders.

After getting our gear on, its off for some basic training techniques. Once complete, we are ready for our adventure to begin.

You start by having to climb 30-feet of netting called the Spiders Web to get to the first platform. We rode 5 lines with the longest being 600-feet. This was our spin up to tomorrows Laurel Ridge Canopy Tour.

DAY 2 - Laurel Ridge Canopy Tour

Getting ready for a great day of fun. I feel the need for speed!

To get to the canopy, you have to ride the chair lift up the mountain.

We were always secured by the two snap hooks you see in this photo.

We are ready for our first of fourteen rides. Hey, Watch out for that tree! They are not lying about zipping through the canopy.

We all make it safely to our first platform some 60-80 feet above the ground.

We also had to navigate some canopy bridges along our route.

Here's Ryan soaking in the view as you take Sightseer, a 260-foot zip, before landing in Moonshine Manor.

Rattlesnake Run – 1,412-foot zip across the junction of Gunnar, Yodeler and Lost Girl slopes. Most canopy tours would consider this as the apex of their tour, but at Laurel Ridgeline Canopy Tours, it is just conditioning for the last BIG RIDE!

You can see here how high above the ground the platforms are located.

Take a peek down the barrel of the BIG RIDE – Timberline Terror, 1,500-feet of zip before landing in Seventh Heaven.

Here's Jake showing great form. Problem was because he only weighed 84 pounds, he did not have enough momentum to make it all the way to the platform. He was about 20-feet short and about 150-feet off the ground. Our guide had to come out and help pull him up to the platform. Below are some individual photos.