Guadalupe Peak (09-24-13)

The last time we came through Guadalupe Mountain National Park, I was still recovering from foot surgery, so we elected to do a shorter, easier hike.  




This time- we came for the peak.  Guadalupe peak is the highest mountain peak in the state of Texas. The trail is 9 miles long, with 2900 feet of elevation gain.

 

We found out that the same storm that caused all the massive flooding in Colorado, dumped 13 inches of rain here at Guadalupe- all in a 24 hour span. In the picture above, you can see the dry riverbed. Usually there’s no water in it.  Paul said he would have loved to have been here to see the water gushing down the mountain.  To give perspective- on the right side of the picture there is a parking lot.  You can see our trailer in that lot.

Of the 85 miles of trails in the park, only 11 miles remain open, and luckily for us, the one we wanted was one of them!  There were quite a few areas of the trail that were almost washed out, which made for difficult walking.

We haven’t done much hiking lately so we were a little apprehensive about the elevation gain, but in the end, we did fine.  Every corner we turned, the view got better (and we groaned as we realized the peak we were climbing was not the peak.

Once we arrived at the top, we stayed for a bit, chatting with some of the others who had made the trek up the mountain. The lake in the background is actually the salt basin dunes.  It’s very rare that there is water there, but the recent flooding has completely changed the look of them.

Eventually though, we had to begin the descent.  This is where the washouts were more noticeable. With all the loose gravel and steep inclines, it took us longer than it usually does to come down the mountain.