Outstanding place to hike, grandeur amazing
Guadalupe Mountains National Park - 9/5/2006  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 15.00 Miles Duration: N/A
I took my three older boys (12,8,6) on the trails from Dog Canyon Campground to McKitterick Canyon Visitor's Center with an overnight stay at McKitterick Ridge Primitive Campground, about halfway. The weather was in our favor; it quit raining the night before we hiked out, which made for some beautiful wildflowers along the trail. The trail up from Dog Canyon is a steady climb; we gained about 1900 feet in elevation before stopping for the night. The trail is good, and though strenuous, the views make up for the pain and suffering. The next morning, we hiked solid switchbacks for roughly 4 miles, dropping a whopping 2,600 feet in elevation before we reached the Grotto in McKitterick Canyon. Made a nice place for a lunchbreak. Large flagstone picnic tables are there, and McKitterick Creek flows nearby with clear, cold water (be sure you filter or treat it, and only use what you need). The hike from the Grotto to the Visitor Center is level and well maintained. Seven or eight creek crossings make for wet shoes if the creek is running high, as it was after the rains. Otherwise, the creek normally runs beneath the outwash gravel for most of the trail. As this is a desert, the most important thing to carry is water, and plenty of it. The recommended amount is 1 gallon per person per day, and I promise that you will use every drop of it, even when the weather is cooperative and cool.