Guadalupe Mts Nat Park

Trip legs (latest at top):

16 Mar 05 - Traveling to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas
We break camp in Stillwell, finally getting used to camping in the desert. Today we travel north from the Chisos Mts along US 385 to Marathon, then turn east on US 90. We pass through Alpine, where we stop on a city side street to make lunch out of the back of the car. We continue northwest, cross I-10, and then head north on SR 54.

Banana Yucca
This bud still has at least a week before it blooms. The photo was taken in camp in Stillwell before we left in the morning. The Chisos mountains are in the background.
Sierra Diablo Mountains
As we head north on Texas SR 54, the Sierra Diablo mountains loom on the west. Particularly striking about these mountains are the alluvial fans of stone deposited by erosion. Note about halfway down the mountain face, the eroded piles of slightly redder rock.
El Capitan from SE
Later in this trip, I climb to the top of Guadalupe Peak, which is just behind El Capitan in this photo. From the peak I get another photo of El Capitan from the other side. See below. El Capitan is the southwestern edge of the Guadalupe Mts.
Guadalupe Mts Entrance
A month before I didn't even know this park existed.

We pitch our tent in the Pine Springs campground right inside the park, which is at just over 5000 feet elevation. Seems a bit windy as we set up and eat. Actually the night is so windy that we sleep fitfully, as we are not used the incessant flapping of the tent fabric.

17 Mar 05 - Hiking McKittrick Canyon. Guadalupe Mountains NP, Texas
Right after breakfast we stop by the Headquarters Visitor Center at Guadalupe Mountains National Park, which is just a 5 minute walk from our campsite. We find out that the wind is a force to be reckoned with in these mountains, especially in the spring. The wind blows out of the southwest over the barren desert, then runs into the mountains.

McKittrick Canyon
The ranger has suggested we spend the day hiking this protected canyon to get out of the wind. We will hike about 10 miles round trip today. Because the canyon is protected from wind, and supports a (mostly underground) stream, there is greater plant and animal life here then in most of the mountains.
Pratt Cabin
Wallace Pratt, an early oil-company geologist, slowly bought pieces of property in the canyon, until he owned most of "the most beautiful spot in Texas." During the Depression he had what he referred to as "The Stone Cabin" built from native materials. They used the cabin as a summer getaway for over a decade, but a flood trapping them in the canyon on year meant they knew they could never live here permanently. Eventually the Pratts donated over 5,000 acres to the Park Service, including the canyon. Notice the stone roof.
McKittrick Cliffs
I don't know if these cliffs have a specific name, but they are prominent from the floor of the canyon. And the moon was cooperating.
McKittrick Grotto
The Grotto Picnic area is further up the canyon from the Pratt Cabin. There's not much info on how these stone formation grew, or what they are made from, though the neighboring stone seems to be sandstone. There are some picnic tables nearby, and a few hundreds yards further up this spur trail is the Hunter Line Cabin.
Mule Deer
One of the nicest parts of this trip around the country is the chance to see so much wildlife.
Evening Primrose
These flowers were blooming among the foothills in the Nature Trail just at the entrance to McKittrick Canyon. I'm pretty sure I've identified them correctly as Desert Evening Primrose.

18 Mar 05 - Visiting Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
Carlsbad Caverns National Park on the southern border of New Mexico is only about 40 miles north of Guadalupe Mountains National Park on the northern boundary of the Texas panhandle. The National Park Service creates a single Visitor Guide which combines both parks.

As a day trip, today we visited Carlsbad Caverns. I have grouped this visit as part of the next leg of the trip. Click here to see our visit to Carlsbad Caverns.

Guadalupe Sunrise
It's usually a struggle for me to wake up before dawn, she's a light sleeper. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. Anyway, sometimes I do manage to figure out when sunrise is supposed to occur, and then actually climb out into the cold, get dressed, and wander around taking pictures. Sometimes the results are spectacular.

19 Mar 05 - Hiking Guadalupe Peak Summit, Guadalupe Mountains NP, Texas
Today Dawn decides against 3500 feet of elevation gain, instead opting to remain in camp and work on her Guadalupe Mts Senior Ranger patch. I pack a couple cheese and mustard sandwiches and head for the highest point in Texas.

The Guadalupe Mountains, and indeed Carlsbad Caverns, and the Apache and Glass Mountains, are part of an ancient marine fossil reef formed 250 million years ago. The Capitan Reef was 400 miles long, and shaped like a horseshoe pointing south, bordering an ancient sea to the south. Over millions of year sea organisms died, secreted lime, and fossilized the organisms that died before them. Eventually parts of the reef were elevated during a mountain building uplift, and the limestone fossils weathered slower, became exposed, and remain as mountains. So at the top of Texas I can expect to find marine fossils. Pretty cool, huh? And to think, I could be indoors somewhere writing software.

Guadalupe Peak Trailhead
It's cold, damp, and windy as I register in the logbook at the trailhead, and promising to get only colder as I rise in elevation, and windier as I leave the protection of the mountain's foothills. So I'm dressed very warmly: rain pants and shell to keep off the wind, two fleece tops, and polypropylene skins top and bottom.

After an hour of hiking, as I warm up and start shedding layers, I realize I don't have any shorts. Although I am happy for the warm clothes when I reach the top, hard climbing at these lower altitudes has me wearing my royal blue polypropylene skins as an outer layer. Quite the fashion plate.
Dismount and Lead
Before reaching this section of the trail a sign is posted for the horsey set: CLIFF - RIDERS DISMOUNT AND LEAD It is indeed a cliff on both sides. Here we are looking back downhill after passing through, east towards the unremarkable Glover Canyon.
Footbridge
This gives some idea of the vertical cliff face on both sides of the trail at points. In this section the trail tended to be on the north side of the various hills, with the result that there was a few inches of snow on the trail.
Guadalupe Canyon
I think this is Guadalupe Canyon, not Glover Canyon. It was a pretty nice view, especially framed by the mountains in the foreground.
Guadalupe Peak Summit
Finally at the highest point in Texas, at 8749 feet above sea level. (In Coral Springs, my house was located 11 feet above sea level.) This is the second highest peak for me on this trip, the first being Mt Rogers in western Virginia last November. It's cold and windy up here. I sign the register in the ammo box at the base of the marker, eat lunch, and look around.

The summit marker was put in place by American Airlines, with a plaque commemorating the nearby Butterfield Stage route and early airline pilots. On the triangular marker's three sides are also circular plaques with a Pony Express rider, an airline pilot in the middle of a compass rose, and the American Airlines eagle/AA logo. Who would have expected to find Texas crowned by a commercial?

The rectangular plaque has a bas-relief image of a stagecoach on the left with the date 1858, and a jet airliner on the right with the date 1958. The plaque reads: Dedicated to the airmen who, like the stage drivers before them, challenged the elements through the pass with the pioneer spirit and courage which resulted in a vast system of airline transport known as "American Airlines"

El Capitan from North
Here I can look south for a terrific view of El Capitan, which we saw as we headed north into the park 3 days ago. See the top of this page. I can't decide if it is more impressive to see it from the SW looking up at it's massive cliffs, or to see it from above, knowing what lies on it's hidden face.
Salt Basin
Another view from the top of Texas looking SW to the Patterson Hills 6 miles away, which is the range running horizontally across the photo about 1/3 down. Just above the hills in the photo is the Salt Basin, which looks whiter than the sky. That's all they call it, The Salt Basin. I think Continental is missing an opportunity here.
Fusilliad Fossils
OK, I think they are called fusilliads. They are large, single-cell plants, which probably made dinosaur food and light sweet crude. Hey, that rhymes! Anyway, these fossils are everywhere up here at the summit.
Capitan Reef Fossils
As I begin the return down, I keep my eyes open. This photo shows fossils of what looks like barnacles and seashells or snails. It took quite a hike to get up here, but I imagine geologists and paleontologists would go crazy about the fossils lying everywhere.