Monday, April 9, 2012

Lincoln National Forest: Big Canyon Ridge

This morning Robby came over and Noelle and I packed our daypacks and got Parker ready for our hike in the Lincoln National Forest. It was a long drive up Dark Canyon and the Guadalupe Rim. When we finally parked the car, Parker was so excited he ran out of the car as soon as Robby opened the door!

After putting on our hiking boots and getting our packs set to go, we hit the trail which is really just a rough road FR540. The hiking was easy at the start. Eventually we found ourselves at an intersection. At the intersection we took FR 9335 which led us out onto a high ridge. Soon we had some impressive views of Big Canyon.
First Overlook
We stopped near the first overlook to relax and eat a snack and then continued on.
Snack Break
We saw lots of ants,
Ants
some really pretty wildflowers,
Pink Flower
Pretty Flowers
Yellow Flowers
and even a horned lizard.
Horned Lizard


Soon the road ended. We followed a rough but well-trodden trail down to an awesome overlook of the mouth of the major canyon system.
Canyon Mouth
As we admired the view I realized that it looked familiar. Noelle and I had hiked here several years previously.
Noelle and Canyon View
After a short break for water, snacks and photographs
Robby at Final Overlook
Grunwalds at Overlook
we got back on the trail and retraced our steps back to the car.           

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