Guadalupe Mts TX & NM

Guadalupe National Park, Texas
The Guadalupe Mountains are part of one of the finest examples of an ancient marine fossil reef. A vast tropical ocean covered portions of Texas and New Mexico. Millions of years ago calcareous sponges, algae, and other lime secreting marine organisms, along with lime, precipitated from the sea water, built up to form the 400 mile long horse shoe shape Capitan reef. The sea evaporated. The reef was entombed for millions of years until a mountain building uplift exposed part of it. This is part of the remote wilderness of the American West. To Sue it just looked like a desert mountain range. Even though it is a desert, it gets enough rain fall so that the valleys and the high mountains are covered with some vegetation and trees. Lincoln National Forest abuts the National Park and we took the opportunity to visit Sitting Bull’s Falls which has water flowing over it year round. There are some natural springs in the high forest which supply the water. People are allowed to refresh themselves at the bottom pool which is very welcoming.