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Sorry, that was from a trip on Oct 24.

Same spot (or close to it) on Nov 25:


Tends to get pretty darn cold at night on the rims, but the bottom was absolutely delightful. That time of year the only water taps that will like be on are Indian Gardens, Phantom Ranch, and (possibly) the Caretaker's cabin. There's water in Bright Angel Creek though.

Big Bend N.P., Texas; Organ Mountains, Las Cruces, NM; both can be accessed from El Paso (though if you just want to go to Big Bend then you want to fly into Midland, Tx); also, Guadalupe N.P. in Texas, which is 30 miles from Carlsbad Caverns. Midland is basically equidistant from Guadalupe and Big Bend, right in between.

[quote="Tommy Dorr] 46 miles, 23,200ft. Haha, you got us all in check!! Bravo[/quote]

46 miles and 11,000 feet of gain.

steelfrog wrote:[quote="Tommy Dorr] 46 miles, 23,200ft. Haha, you got us all in check!! Bravo

46 miles and 11,000 feet of gain.[/quote][/quote]

Yes, about 11K in gain. 23K total gain/loss. Thank you for clarifying that for everyone.


Anyway, Guadalupe and Carlsbad Caverns would be a great combo. I didn't realize they were only 30 miles apart.

Check out Death Valley at time of year, a *bit* cooler, less people and still plenty of hiking and photography to keep you busy.
Telescope Peak would be a cool climb, depending on the snow if any then.

Joshua Tree and and San Jacinto could work well too.

Spring Mountains outside of Vegas - Mt Charleston and Griffith Peaks, Red Rock and also the Valley of Fire are all cool places.

Tommy Dorr wrote:


Anyway, Guadalupe and Carlsbad Caverns would be a great combo. I didn't realize they were only 30 miles apart.

Yep--Guad may be the most underappreciated gem of a N.P. around. You can hike/camp at the main area, with access to Guad Peak (high point of Texas) and Tejas trail, Devil's Hall, etc or around McKitterick Canyon, which is spectacular. There is no lodging or food there--all camping; now, White's City near the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns has a bunch of lodging options; of course the bats will have flown the coop by Thanksgiving, but the caverns are some of the best around. Also, other near by things are the city of Carlsbad, White Sands isn't too far away--in fact you can do a pretty good loop Guadalupe NP, Carlsbad, Cloudcroft NM, White Sands and then, for the adventurous, go mine exploring looking through the tailings of old mines near Oro Grande, NM, then back to Midland. Now, if you are just going to do this loop, the closer airport is El Paso.

nyker wrote:Check out Death Valley at time of year, a *bit* cooler, less people and still plenty of hiking and photography to keep you busy.
Telescope Peak would be a cool climb, depending on the snow if any then.

Joshua Tree and and San Jacinto could work well too.

Spring Mountains outside of Vegas - Mt Charleston and Griffith Peaks, Red Rock and also the Valley of Fire are all cool places.

If you do DV, I highly siggest you hit the I guess north of the park, Ubehebe Crater and the Racetrack for sure. North of the park is underappreciated. There are tons of mountains to climb there as well, some over 11000'.

One more suggestion: The Everglades and Big Cypress in Florida; totally different scene but really nice area, if wildlife and quiet-FLAT serene settings are what you were seeking and doable in 3-4 days.

Ease of access, cool scenery, photography, great wildlife, gators, snakes, water birds and other birdlife, even very good fishing if you know you know where to go. Lots of hiking trails, but all flat.

From KY, probably drivable also. Mosquitos should not be bad at all that time of year.