Driving down to Guadalupe N.P. from Carlsbad was quite the experience. The wind was howling and of course it wasn’t blowing the same direction we were driving. I think we averaged about 7 mpg. Since there’s almost no fuel stops between Carlsbad and El Paso, it’s going to be tight.
We arrived in time to get a spot in the small G.M.N.P. “campground”, which isn’t much more than a parking lot, but it has some beautiful views.We were here early enough to take a 6.8 mile (800 foot elevation gain) hike through the McKittrick Canyon portion of the park. It was cold when we left our campground, so we hiked in jeans. Big mistake! It was warm there even though it was just a few miles down the highway. But, there were some really nice views along the trail. We hiked back to an area called the Grotto, basically an overhang cave, but it did have stalgtites and stalagmites.
After a cool breezy night, on the second day we set out early to tackle the climb to the highest point in Texas, Guadalupe Peak. Starting around 5,700 feet at the campground, the peak was 4.2 miles and just about 3,000 feet elevation away. We did make it, although there were some pretty hair-raising portions, especially as we neared the summit. Took us just over 3-1/2 hours to get to the top. The view was amazing when not covered in clouds. It was also pretty cold and windy up there.Little did we realize that coming down was much harder than climbing. Frequent stops to rest, plus the slow going on the slippery trail, and it took us nearly five hours to get back to camp. My knees and ankles are killing me! I highly recommend this to the more adventurous of you, but I have a couple of recommendations. Leave early, take lots of water and snacks, wear ankle supporting boots, and carry trekking poles. Oh, and be in better shape that we are!
Expecting some wind and rain storms here tonight. Seems like it’s blowing here all the time. Hope we weather the storm as we are planning to leave early in the morning to head to Caballo Lake State Park N.M., via El Paso, Las Cruces, N.M., and Organ Mountain National Monument.
LyndDebTravel 