Guadalupe - McKittrick & Frijole

As we entered Guadalupe Mountains, we stopped at the McKittrick area to do a nature hike and learn about the native plant life and how the Native Americans have use the plants years.

So interesting that there are tons of sea fossils including coral found in this area.

I have always been curious about using plants as natural resources for food and medicine. We learned so much about how to do that from the placards (like the one below) on the McKittrick Canyon Nature Trail.

Then we stopped at the Frijole Ranch and found a small house with 2 foot thick adobe walls. Incredibly, right outside the house that was a spring. And there were two more within a mile of the house. Of course, this is why this house was built here in the middle of the desert, because of the natural springs. Impressively, there was an old school house and even an orchard that was only able to be in existence because the springs were there.

The ranger here had so much information about the prior inhabitants and how they built this place up and made life work out in this desert.

The exhibits inside the house were intriguing.

The little red schoolhouse... imagine teaching 8 students in here!

This orchard had many hand grafted fruit trees growing and was watered by the spring.

Inside the white house with the green roof the spring continually flows.

I think we would really enjoy more time hiking at this park. And it would definitely be a fun place to do a backpacking camp out up on Guadalupe Peak.