Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountain National parks are found just north of El Paso, Texas. This area of west Texas is an incredibly popular spot for carbonate geologists to visit. It is where the rock units containing most of the oil in the famed “West Texas Oil Patch” (aka Permian Basin) outcrop to the surface, making it a popular site to study them. In fact, the Permian Basin is where we derived this Blog’s namesake!
Nick had already visited the area for work a couple of times to help teach a field course. But this trip was a first for me. We flew in and out of El Paso, rented a car, and stayed in a hotel in the city. The temperature is hot in the desert, but it was such a great break from the Houston humidity. We summited the highest point in Texas, strolled glistening gypsum sand dunes in New Mexico, and took on an advanced spelunking (cave crawling) tour. It was an amazing few days of simply being outside enjoying the many aspects of nature.
What We Did
Texas
Guadalupe Mountains National Park: A beautiful park with an entrance cost of $7/person.
Guadalupe Peak: This is the highest point in Texas and is fairly popular. It also happens to be a great outcrop of a paleo reef margin. We started fairly early in the morning with an overall elevation gain of 3,000’ and round-trip mileage of 8.4 mi, making the experience a moderate hike (it took us about 5-6 hours total). We had the cool experience of hiking above the morning cloud cover before the noon sun burned it away. About half an hour after our summit, a family with young children made it to the top. We told them how impressed we were with how they motivated the kids, to which the parents responded, “Snickers and water.” The views give you a better appreciation for the expansive desert, and it was cool to be the “highest” people in Texas.
McKittrick Canyon: At the start of the trail we saw a tarantula, which was a first for me to see in the wild. The moderate, round-trip hike was surrounded by maples and oaks that were starting to change to fall colors. These trees are uncommon to this region of Texas and are plentiful in this valley due to a consistent water source. So, our visit was optimally timed, because when the leaves change it makes the whole place light up! We turned around just after seeing the Pratt cabin, which was originally owned by the first geologist to ever be hired by Humble Oil and Refining Company. For about 40 years, Pratt and his family inhabited the property (~1921-1960s). When referencing his life in the canyon, he explained, “Instead of dealing with men I had communed with rocks-they never let you down.” (Wallace Pratt). We get that. Due to time constraints, we were only able to hike for a couple of hours, but the canyon is also the lead into the Permian Reef Trail (a world-class carbonate geology stop where you can hike from the distal fore-reef all the way to lagoonal back-reef facies).
New Mexico
White Sands National Park: We decided to check this out at sunset, and I’m so glad that we did (sunrise would have been great, too). These times are ideal, because the sun is positioned just right to illuminate the glistening gypsum. It was really relaxing to simply sit and enjoy sunset in the soft sand. Entrance was $20/vehicle.
Carlsbad Caverns: As one of the biggest and most impressive cave systems in the U.S., it’s certainly worth a visit for $15/person. There is a natural entrance, as well as an elevator. If walking isn’t a restriction, it is recommended to take the natural entrance down into the cave, and elevator out (or opposite for a challenge!). It’s really impressive to slowly descend into the cave while observing the different rock formations, walking among/below the bats, and experiencing the temperature drop as you get deeper into the cave. While on the bottom, if you have time, walk the whole circuit. The cave has some of the most impressive formations (speleothems) we’ve ever seen (stalagmites, stalactites, columns, popcorn, flowstone canopies, lilypads, etc.).
Guided spelunking tour – “White Giant:” This was so cool! For $20, a guide takes a small group of people through some of the less-trodden networks in the cave. Some of the areas can be a little tight, so going through an example tunnel prior to cave entry was required. The culmination of the tour is entering one of the “rooms” to see The White Giant. At which point, everyone turns their flashlights off to get a sense for what it was like when the caves were first discovered. It was surreal. It’s considered very strenuous and takes 4 hours to complete, but we highly recommend it!
Food
Carlsbad
The Trinity Hotel and Restaurant: This place has amazing food and drink. We highly recommend it!
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