"Don't mess with Texas"

Wednesday we spent the day at Carlsbad Caverns NP. First we went in through the Natural Entrance, a 1 mile long trail, that descends 750' on a very steep winding path. Then we explored the Big Room, one of the biggest cavern chambers in the world. In the PM we took the Lower Cave tour, which is a wild caving experience. We climbed down a knotted rope, descended several ladders, and then went about a mile through the cave. Most of was relatively easy walking but we had to scramble through several parts and in one place we had a chance to do 20' of crawling/slithering/wiggling passageway. What a fun experience! We can see how people get hooked on caving.

Wed. and Thursday nights we camped in Guadalupe Mts. NP, just 50 miles south of Carlsbad. On Thursday we hiked 7 miles in McKittrick Canyon, which is one of the most popular hikes in the park -- combination high desert and deciduous forest that was in its fall colors. Another beautiful day.

On Friday we drove to the McDonald Observatory, one of the top observatories in the world. We took it all in--the afternoon guided tour to their 3 huge telescopes, the twilight tour that taught us how to use a planisphere (a star chart). We not only used them outside to locate a number of constellations but also got some basic astronomy information as well as additional tips on locating key stars. Did you know, for example, that if you hold your arm outstretched your fist equals 10 degrees above the horizon, and the North Star is as many degrees above the horizon as the latitude you're at. So in Texas, it's 3 fists above the horizon and in Michigan it's 4 fists. And we ended the evening at the Star Party and got to look at Mars, the Pleiades, a double star cluster, and a nebula through some smaller scopes.

Today we're on our way to Big Bend NP--we'll probably be out of touch for the week, it's pretty remote and there probably won't be cell phone or internet connections.