Hiking Coronado National Memorial

Well we had a fun Saturday. I have pictures but the camera battery needs to charge so I'll put those up tomorrow.

We went hiking up Coronado National Memorial. It's about 30 minutes south of us. We've lived here 3 1/2 years and have never been here. So we decided to try it out.

1. We first went to the visitor's center and Traylor got to try on some conquistador's armor. It was very heavy. She looked so cute that I had to take pictures.

2. Next we drove to Coronado Peak. It had started to rain and the forest ranger said to not get out if it was thunder and lightening. Well It was downpouring. So we just waited it out. The thing is there were 2 cars there and 0 people. The next thing we see are 2 people coming down the trail soaking wet. It was pretty funny.

After 10 minutes we were good to go. Traylor absolutely loves hiking. 3.She had to be first in line. We'd get to a bend and she'd say we're there and then it would still be going up. I've got to say I am pretty out of shape. I was pretty winded. 4. The elevation at the top was 6864 feet. The view is beautiful. You could see the Arizona/Mexico border and then into Mexico. 5. There were some beautiful wildflowers and cacti along the trail.

6. Traylor practically ran back down the trail. You'll see....

Next we drove back down the canyon and went back to the visitor's center. Traylor had to use the potty. :)

We then went for another hike. Mind you I thought the first hike was enough for 1 day. This next hike was to see a cave. We had to take flashlights since it is unimproved. Their word not mine. 7. This time we followed the river for awhile and then headed up. I was beat. My legs were going to kill me the next day I thought. (correct. They do). We had to stop alot this time. This hike was almost 1 mile both ways. Plus going into the cave. Ugh. Traylor was a trooper. I told Robert that the cave better be worth it.

8. It was awesome. Getting down into the cave was tricky. 9. Water was running down the limestone and made it really slippery. But once we got down... WOW is the word. We actually saw a squirrel down there too. We didn't go to far into the cave just enough to get a feel for it. 10. Going up the limestone wasn't quite as bad. On the way down the hill another family was heading up. Good luck I was thinking. :) 11. There was some very pretty flowers on the trail.

We plan on going back again. There are more trails to explore.

Once you see the pictures, this will all make sense. Hopefully.

But man do my legs hurt!!!!