About 58 miles south of Carlsbad, crossing into the tip of the West Texas, is the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, one of the newest in the national park system. We arrived about 10 a.m., driving past the same oil fields and desert landscape as on the way to Carlsbad Caverns, past signs warning that there was no services for the next 135 miles. There we found a small but modern Visitors' Center. Inside we checked in, using our Golden Age Passport issued by the park service (best $10 ever spent), watched a short video on the history and geology of the park, and got directions for the Smith Spring Trail.
The trail head was a short one mile drive from the Visitors' Center, starting at the Frijole Ranch. The trail was an oval, distance about 2.3 miles, gradually climbing about 800 feet to a spring fed from the precipitation landing on the heights above. The trail was rocky, but the scenery was wonderful. There were cacti and desert flowers in bloom, including agave plants which take long periods of time to bloom, and once bloomed, die. And above us were towering mountains, below us the expanse of the Chihuahuan Desert.
We came back to the Visitors' Center about 12:30 p.m. and headed back to Carlsbad to take in the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park. As the name implies, the focus of the displays was all things desert - plants and animals including mountain lions, prairie dogs, buffalo and elk. It was not crowded, the weather was sunny in the low 70's, perfect for an afternoon stroll. We enjoyed it.
Tomorrow we head back northward for the Pecos National Historical Park and Santa Fe.
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