Top of Texas

   

March 25, 2012

No camping at Carlsbad Caverns? Where are we going to stay? Oh look this park I've never heard of has camping and it is close by!
That's how our trip to Guadalupe Mtns started.
 There tent sites are desert gorgeous. But we only have a 2 person tent with us. Long and short version of the tent story; 4 person tent finally at end of life, sent it home. Bought new tent, a 2 person. Thought is kids and grownups have separate tents. Problem: other 2 person tent is at home. So RV site it is, basically an angled parking spot next to more RVs.  But it worked.

At the Visitor Center we learned about the Butterfield Stage Coach, it never missed a beat. Guadalupe Mtns was a high elevation resting point.  Drivers could get food, horses, and water.  Water was a rare commodity on the route and Guadalupe was a reliable water source. We imagined ourselves as ranchers/farmers at Frijole Ranch. A ranch with a spring in the front yard. The spring was diverted to the orchard, garden, and a bath house. Ingenious little ranch. The Visitor Center had amazing displays on native animals in the different habitat zones found in their park.  Guadalupe is special because it has so many different habitats: high mtn, ponderosas, desert, and water to name a few.

Our big adventure at Guadalupe Ntl Park was hiking the Top of Texas trail, Guadalupe Peak, which is the highest peak in Texas.  We are not highpointers. Do you know what a high pointer is? Someone who seeks out the highest peaks in each state and then goes there.  Our adventure loving selves makes one think we should be highpointers but we are either searching out water or rocks not highpoints.  Anyway, we thought let's try it, give it a go, reach for the top, Top of Texas that is. So here is our account of the Top of Texas.


Guadalupe Peak is 8.4 miles roundtrip with a 3,000 ft elevation rise.  Backpacks loaded, check. Positive attitudes, 2 out of 4 people, check. Hesitation, the other 2 out of 4 people, check. And we are off. A fabulous description of the trail is found HERE! We wonder down the desert trail and almost instantly we encounter switchbacks. Then more switchbacks. As we round the mountain the habitat changes. Desert gives way to trees and deep green plants.  There is water and snow on the trail. As we go higher we encounter less plants and more gravel and rocks.  The views are stunning and with each view comes a peak.  This trail is 4 miles of "oh I see the summit" followed by reaching it and discovering that's not it.  The actual summit is hidden until the very end.  The boys were highly frustrated by this.  As we reached the 3rd false summit, I was so excited to be there. I thought this is the top of Texas, we made it! Then I turned a corner and saw another huge mtn in front of me; that was the top of Texas.  The boys were exhausted, we all were.  They sat on the rock (seen in picture with Anna and boys) and ate lunch.  Then proceeded to mutiny. They refused to go anywhere but down.  I wanted down too. I was so over this hike.  It was exhausting. But who hikes 3.6 miles of a 4.2 mile hike up to give up? Not us. So onward we pushed. Literally pushed. Pushed ourselves. Pushed the kids. Pushed our feet.  Our tired feet.




We had may moments of joy before and after the breakdown.  So many amazing vistas.








And eventually we made it to the summit. Yahoo!! We shouted from the mountain top! We signed the log book, rested our feet, met new people, and had a snack.  The log book had entries of Bible verses for strength and triumph. It had words of encouragement and referrals to the curses used to get up the mountain.  It was encouraging to see we weren't the only ones struggling.  At the top we met a co-ed scout troop from Cuidad Juarez, Mexico. We also took lots of photos with the summit marker.  The paper we are holding says the elevation, 8,751 ft. It was a long and hard hike. It took us 8.5hrs. By the time we reached the parking lot we could barely walk.  My toenails were sore from pushing into my shoes; 3,000ft up means 3,000ft down! We survived, enjoyed the view, stopped a kid mutiny, and decided we are not actively seeking highpoints!