indy_dad

Hello All,

We decided to take advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday by getting outside and doing some hiking. We took a full week and visited Big Bend, Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks. We also took the opportunity to visit the McDonald Observatory for the solar program and tour which was outstanding.

Who: mid-40s couple & DD16, DS13

When: Thanksgiving 2015

We flew in/out of Midland Airport.

Lodging: Chisos Mountain Lodge (4 nights), Holiday Inn Express Carlsbad (2 nights), Hampton Inn Midland (1 night)

Itinerary:
Day 0: Arrival @ Big Bend
Day 1: Window & Lost Mine trails
Day 2: South Rim trail
Day 3: Santa Elena Canyon, Mule Ear Springs (aborted), Balanced Rock trails
Day 4: Drive to Carlsbad w/ 4-hr stop at McDonald Observatory
Day 5: McKittrick Canyon Trail, Guadalupe Mountains NP (not up for Guadalupe Peak)
Day 6: Carlsbad Caverns, drive to Midland
Day 7: Depart

Photos and commentary:
https://freytravel.wordpress.com/201...d-caverns-nps/

Not a lot of info on the boards for these. Hope someone finds this helpful.

Enjoy.

MichelleY

Thanks for the info and photos. On our bucket list to see the Carlsbad Caverns.

alisa23

Always enjoy your report, thank you! This year we went to Wengen in the summer and then to Sedona over Thankgiving. Your reports were of great help!

indy_dad

@Michelle -- we were very pleasantly surprised with the caverns. Having been to a few others (Mammoth Cave and Luray Caverns for example) we didn't expect to be amazed but it was a great experience. Even if they fix the elevators, I'd still recommend walking down the Natural Entrance if you can manage. I can only imagine going during bat season; that must be a unique experience as well.

@alisa -- Thanks! Those are two of my favorite places; glad you got to go as well. Always good to get the feedback.

WhereAreWe

Good report, thanks for posting.

You didn't miss much on the Mule Ears Spring trail. It's decent but not a must-see. Yes, that was Mexico on the other side of the river when you were at Santa Elena Canyon. Also, Rio Grande Village is probably the lowest priority so you were ok not getting to that section.

The evening bat program at Carlsbad is well worth the wait if you ever get back in that area.

emalloy

Sounds like a great way to spend the holiday. Loved the pictures. Thanks for the report.

sundowner

Great trip report, indy_dad. I've always wanted to go to Big Bend but never actually planned a trip. My son started college in Alpine this year and that combined with your trip report makes me really want to go. I think I'll plan a trip.

indy_dad

Thanks, sundowner. We noticed the college when driving through Alpine (which qualifies as a major metropolis in that area ); it looked nice. Sounds like a good excuse to go! (Do pick the cooler months -- I can't imagine what summer must be like).

WhereAreWe

Alpine is a nice town, I spent a day there wandering around the various art galleries. Museum of the Big Bend at the college is great too.

Summer is the rainy season so that has it's good and bad points. The desert is hot (obviously) but the mountains are comfortable.

OO

I really enjoyed reading your trip report and seeing the pictures! Our son-in-law's brother was talking that trip up enthusiastically a couple weeks ago and we decided we really must do it, so I especially enjoyed previewing the scenery via your photos. It's definitely on our "to do" list.

Our family used to enjoy Thanksgiving hiking trips as well. Our SIL was in grad school at ASU at the time so most were centered in that area. Of the hiking we did in that era: Grand Canyon (twice), Sedona, Zion Nat'l Park (twice), and Bryce NP, all very different, all beautiful, but Zion and the GC were by far our favorites. We did GC and Sedona from Phoenix, Bryce, and Zion from LV airport. If you haven't done these hikes I highly recommend giving them a try. Weather was crisp then which we especially enjoyed, as we were living in FL

indy_dad

@OO

Glad you liked it; it looks like we have similar tastes.

We spent a week last Thanksgiving in Sedona and have visited GC/Bryce/Zion during early June.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...anksgiving.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-zion-long.cfm

Zion would definitely be worth a return trip but I was a little concerned about how warm it would be at the end of November.

OO

Oh my...we certainly do have similar tastes! I just read and thoroughly enjoyed your two linked reports. We've done many of the same trails. Your Sedona pics were beautiful, and that might have joined our top tier too if it were not so touristy. That sort of wrecked it for us.

You and your kids are making wonderful family memories, and our trips did for us as well, tho our kids had all graduated college except for SIL who went on (and became an anthropology professor and could lead us to little known rock art just at the Zion exit) when we did our trips. They all now have kids of their own and the family Thanksgiving trips came to a halt as grandchildren started arriving, we lived in different states and between work and school schedules, it was impossible. Hopefully you can keep it up--your kids are off to a wonderful start!

It was brisk at both GC and Zion at Thanksgiving, but for us coming from Florida, that just added to the fun. GC, the lower you got (Bright Angel Trail), the warmer it became. Layers...and we had stripped down to our base layers by the time we arrived at Indian Gardens and Plateau Point, and certainly didn't need to cover up hiking out. There was a light dusting of snow our last day one year at Zion...it just made it beautiful! Isn't going below the rim a wonderful experience? It makes that trip what it is. We enjoyed the diversity of hikes in Zion, something for everyone, and congrats to you on completing Angels Landing!!

Hike on! Your kids will remember these times forever, as will you, these times with them!

virginiafish

Thank you for this great report. Very helpful. Going to Big Bend for three days Jan. 1.