Alan and I got up a little before sunrise and soon Jim, Alan, and I were hiking down an unnamed ridge. We eventually came to the end of the ridge and descended several hundred feet into the bottom of the canyon and headed downstream. The canyon was absolutely beautiful! I had really enjoyed the hike thus far. When we intersected another canyon we headed upstream an soon spotted the very large entrance to Big Canyon Cave 80' above the canyon floor. I followed Alan up to the cave and determined that he chose the hardest route to the entrance involving much more nearly vertical rock climbing than I preferred to do with a 45 lb pack.
Anyway, when we arrived at the entrance I descended into the huge circular entrance room. I was soon checking leads. We expected this to be an extensive cave. I covered all the holes between the breakdown slope and outer wall but nothing went. There was only one lead left. It required a 12' climb up. I climbed up through a narrow slot noting that the rock became more fractured as I ascended. I entered a small room with a balcony overlooking the large chamber. There were no leads. Above the balcony two Mexican Spotted Owls were roosting. Alan climbed up to photograph them. They weren't bothered at all by our presence.
After Big Canyon Cave, we hiked further upstream. I climbed up a steep slope behind Alan to check out a hole but it ended up only being a karsts feature. It was getting very hot outside. I'd brought 3 Nalgenes with me but was still dehydrated. I'd quickly figured out that I could have easily drank 4 or 5 liters of water that day. We spotted another potential cave high up the canyon wall which was inaccessible from below. Alan and I climbed up another very steep slope and tried to come down from above with no success. Further travel up the canyon was prevented by a tall Dry Waterfall so we decided to head back out the way we came in though we did detour up the canyon we'd come from a bit to confirm that that route was also impassible. On the way back to the steep slope below the ridge top we passed a shallow pool. I took my shirt off and laid my head, arms, and back into the water to cool off. It felt great! The death hike began when we started out of the canyon. I'd earlier decided that I'd carried too much weight. The climb back up the ridge was grim. After an eternity of maxed heart rate and burning legs clambering up the steep shrub infested slope and further up the ridge we finally came to flatter ground. I'm used to hiking flat ground. The flatness was short lived; we soon ascended further up the ridge. Finally, the ground became mostly flat for what seemed like a mile. Now the soles of my feet hurt pretty bad. I was glad to see camp again.
Phyllis Boneau had found our vehicles and come to chat. She came bearing many 3 liter water containers which were appreciated by all. After socializing, Alan and I drove into Carlsbad for Chinese. It was very good. Then we drove to Guadalupe National Park. The plan was to rise at 4:00 AM the next morning and climb Guadalupe Peak to photograph the sunrise. To Guadalupe Peak
Big Canyon
The sun rises near our Big Canyon campsite.
The sun's light through some trees.
Big Canyon
Hiking along the bottom of Big Canyon.
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Viewed:
Big Canyon
Alan stands majestically atop a rock in Big Canyon.
A picture I took while kind of looking for a cave entrance.
Big Canyon
Two Mexican Spotted Owls roosting inside Big Canyon Cave.
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Viewed:
Big Canyon
The majestic entrance of Big Canyon Cave.
Jim poses atop a large rock inside the entrance to Big Canyon Cave.
The Rim
Alan and I stopped to photograph the Rim at sun set.
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Viewed:
The Rim
Despite my worn legs and feet I descended a boulder slope to get a better picture.
The ridge was so pretty.
The Rim
Almost worthy of being a desktop background.
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Viewed:
The Rim
That big yellow ball descends towards the horizon once again.
Bye bye sun. See you tomorrow :)
The Rim
As we were leaving I couldn't help but exclaim. Look it's coming back up!
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Viewed:
The Rim
Alan plays with a rattle snake. (Don't try this at home kids; Alan is a trained professional - he's only been bitten in the crotch by one copperhead)