BBRSP Part 4

 Change in plans. 

While speaking with the woman at the ranger station that I had chatted up over my last few visits, she told me about some petroglyphs at the apex of the Cerro De Las Burras Loop. The loop is an unmaintained 4WD two track off the river road, on the way to my next campground. So obviously I had to check it out. She advised me that there was not a trail to the cave and I would have to scramble through the wash and then up into the cave. Now that really got me excited!!!!  So off I went. It was quite the adventure, and when I was down climbing out of the cave, I was wondering, if I fell I hurt myself would my PLB have a clear view of the satellites? No worries, it was all okay and I made it safely back to Enzo. 

                                                 The cave from the "parking area"

                                                              The "parking area"

That night I was sitting in my campsite at Upper Madera Campground, shown below

and  thinking about driving 300 miles before the big game, and wondering if it was a wise move. As a couple of friends can attest, I did fall asleep at the Boston Garden during a Celitic’s playoff game once. So, change in plans, I woke up Saturday morning, ate a big breakfast, hiked the Closed Canyon Trail.

                                                         Entrance to Closed Canyon

 

The Trail

The trail is now closed at this point, but many years ago, Nancy & I went well past here because someone had previously placed fixed ropes to descent and then re-ascend these short pour offs. I guess the "end of trail sign" is a result of more people not being self responsible, or too many lawyers, sorry Kevan, but I do recognize that the park's closure is really only a message and that with proper gear and willingness, one can still continue, albeit with only personal liability and the potential for a verbal tongue lashing if caught.

After hiking Closed Canyon, I drove to Guadalupe Mountain National Park and arrived at 2:30 pm MST and got the last campsite. The hosts told me to take the handicap site, which was perfectly level and it received the last sunlight of the day, before the sun dipped over Guadelupe Peak. It was perfect. 

I met a couple from Wolfboro, NH, which isn’t all that far from Tilton, NH. I also met this really cool young mom with two small kids from LA, CA, her husband was home working and she was taking the kids on a cross country trip. How cool is that? They were in a very well appointed Mecedes Benz van camper conversion. I heard all the challenges they experienced along the way. It sounded like the Robin William’s movie RV. The kids were pretty cool about the events and I could tell they really thought their mom was cool. They hoped to get to Maine, but need to be back in LA sometime in March. OMG, and they are only in Texas. Good Luck!

They were parked right next to me and so finally about 7:30pm, I said my good nights and went home. Sunday, tomorrow, I plan to hike McKittrick Canyon, then head home to watch the Super Bowl.

Tight lines and safe travels