El Capitan

We are home again as of 5:00 am today and it is good to be back. We drove all day yesterday and through the night from Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona with only brief stops for petrol, food and one short hike to Horseshoe Bend in northern Arizona near the town of Page.

We drove over 5000 miles (8100 km), visited six national parks or monuments and several other locations besides, hiked around 60 miles (97 km) of trails, biked 20 miles (32 km) in San Antonio, Texas, and kayaked 10 miles (16 km) in Big Bend National Park.

This photo was taken in Guadalupe Mountains National Park on the Texas-New Mexico border and is a photo of the most dramatic, though not the highest of the peaks, El Capitan, visible for many miles from the surrounding deserts. It is 8085 feet (2464 meters).

We spent two days in the park camping and hiking. When we arrived El Capitan was hidden in the clouds but appeared the second day in all its dramatic beauty. We had only a short stop on our way to Grand Canyon, but now want to go back againand do more hiking.

The Guadalupe Mountains extend into New Mexico just south of Carlsbad Caverns and both can easily be visited at the same time, though hiking the park, a necessity, requires more time. They are considered to be the remains of an ancient reef as are other nearby areas.