Guadalupe Mountains Ntnl Park

The Guadalupe Mountains is actually part of an ancient under-sea reef which just happened to be in the way as the mountains were being formed millions of year ago. As the mountains pushed up parts of this reef was exposed and is now the Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

One sense that was overwhelming to me during my stay here was solitude. I hiked more than 9 miles and during that distance only ran across 3 other people; a single hiker heading up as I was coming down and a couple which followed me on the trail. If seclusion is what you are looking for, this park delivers.

My hike started from the camping area, where I would be staying later that night. This lower portion of the trail is in the high Texas desert at 5700 ft elevation. This is altitude that I am accustomed too, but the top of the trail would be nearly 8400 ft, one of the highest peaks in all of Texas (the highest was right next to me, Guadalupe Peak at 8700 ft). Taking the advice of the ranger, I hike up via the Bear Canyon trail which was a brutal 2 miles uphill to climb almost all of the 2700 ft gain. This climb is now the highest single gain in altitude I have hiked, and it just about whooped me, but I did make it in the end, though it took 3 hours to make the first 3 miles of trail.

Once on top of the mountains, I was met with a foot of snow on the trail. This too is something I have grown use too, but the snow here had already turned to ice, which meant I ended up on my ass a few times resulting in one pretty good gash on my elbow. Another mile brought me to the climax of the hike; Hunter Peak where I sat staring Southward overlooking all of Texas. You could see tens-of-miles (or more?) in each direction and if I could fly, this is where I’d want to call home.

Panoramic view from Hunter Peak (click me)

After leaving Hunter peak, already in pain from the climb, I had 5 miles of another trail to navigate to make it back to camp. This trail, though not as steep as Bear Canyon, was littered with loose rocks the size of your fist. Each rock was sharp and constantly jabbed at the soles of my feet before rolling out from under me causing even more im-just-learning-to-skate gestures complete with flailing arms and all. The trail was just as brutal as the other, just in a different way. It didnt help that my right foot was already bothering me from two days before when during a run I stepped on a thorny bush which pierced through my shoe and into the bottom of my right foot. This small sore was turning into a huge pain.

My bigger concern was the dropping sun. I feared that I may not have enough time to get back to camp before the sun set behind Guadalupe Peak and the final mile was complete in the shade which was significantly colder and I had already stripped down to a single layer of clothing (though the other layers were in my pack). My face and fingers were just about frozen by the time I reached camp where I BBQ another burger, sponge-bathed, and cried myself to sleep by 8PM.

In the end, I hiked 9.1 miles, climbed up and back down 2700 ft. This took me over 7 straight hours of hiking. To put this into perspective; nearly an entire work-day on my feet climbing and descending on rugged terrain. I think it will be a while before I do any big hikes like that again…