McKittrick Canyon, Guadalupe Range, Texas, Part 4B

An Exploration of Fall Colors in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

Part Four (B): Beyond the Notch

Up an additional 500 feet, is that all?

There was plenty of vegetation in the drainages, where there was more water, that on the ridges. Here are some photos of the ridges passed, and the foliage between them:

At the risk of stumbling, I did keep looking down, the creek below seemed a long way away, maybe 1,300 feet down, if not more?

After pushing myself for a half hour I should have been at the top of McKittrick Ridge, which is not all that much further:

But this is where I turned around: it was 12:30 PM.

I looked at my watch and it suggested I had come up 600 feet since the Notch, but when I got back to the Notch it had risen 100 feet (as the air warms it gets lighter, the atmospheric pressure decreases, and the watch says I am higher than I really am). So I am probably just 500 feet higher.

From here I did take another look down, of course:

Since I had not yet stopped for lunch, I did so as I came back to the last colorful place I passed:

The walk back was somewhat tricky where the trail was steep, it is always harder to keep from sliding coming down, for me, although it is faster. This is one of the steeper parts of the descent:

I was glad at the end of this walk-beyond-the-Notch to see the Ranger (light and dark green clad person) waiting there reminding one and all it was probably close to time to head back:

And that is the end of my third foray into this wonderful canyon. It will not be my last, but there are other canyons to explore in this mountain range, so it may be a while before I come back here again.

NAVIGATION HAS BEEN SIMPLIFIED

The entire list of page links is shown on every page, with THE NEXT PAGE IN THE SEQUENCE prefaced with a 'cool" or "hot" button and highlighted in color and larger type.

Previous pages on McKittrick Canyon are linked as the last item in the list below.

NOTE: it is the word PAGE that is the actual link!

PART ONE: To the Pratt Cabin

Page 1 A: Starting to encounter color