OTHER Trip Report 02/12/2014

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Guadalupe Peak - 8749
Date Posted	02/12/2014
Date Climbed	02/09/2014
Author	anasarca76

A wonderful day in west Texas!
First off I want to thank everyone who responded to my inquiry about conditions on this peak! All the advice I received was spot on and really helped make this an enjoyable experience I was on my way from Phoenix to Oklahoma City and I thought a slight detour was in order to check out the mountains I had heard about in west Texas. I had never really given much credit to Texas for having mountains as my only experience with the state was a lonely drive through the panhandle a few years back, this trip is not advised. What is advised is hiking Guadalupe Peak! I arrived at the trail head quite late so I really hadnt seen the Guadalupe Range other than in some pictures I had seen. I was pleasantly surprised to wake up to a great sunrise that kept me company while I got ready > > I left my car at 7:45 which is quite a bit later than normal, but I was still the first one on the trail. As advertised, the trail starts out quite steep and switches back up the initial slope and winds its way up through some pretty cool rocks and eventually some trees. This part of the trail was sheltered from the wind which had been blowing pretty consistently most of the night. > > > > The wind hit me initially at the first saddle, but it was not a huge factor on this day. There was a few areas of residual snow from a previous storm, but it was nothing to worry about and was not difficulty to walk over without any additional traction. The trail continues to wind around and up the peak until you near the campsite where you get your first view of the summit. > > There is a cool little bridge right before you cross over to the final summit push which give a bit more character. Overall the hike up to Guadalupe peak is pretty straightforward but full of great views > Summit! > After spending a bit of time on the summit, I was off to my next goal which was El Capitan. > To include this side trip was the best piece of advise I received prior to this trip! Its highly recommended!! There is no trail to this mountain and I liked it that way! It seemed like it was not well traveled and it provided a bit of an adventure for an other wise straightforward hike! I did everything I could to minimize my impact on the terrain and vegetation to try to allow others to have the same adventure as I did. The initial decent was pretty slippery due to the loose rock and dirt mix; however with some careful foot placement I was down to the cliffs in no time! > These cliffs are the best part of the hike! I kept right on the ridge as the views were incredible and it was also much easier to walk on the solid rocks rather than the loose ones and aggressive vegetation. I did take the advice I received and bought some work gloves, and I'm glad I did! The plants can do a number on your hands and some of the rock was pretty sharp too. The gloves negated those worries so I could concentrate on the hike and taking WAAAAAY to many pictures that wouldn't do the environment justice! haha I also learned that I have an almost unlimited capacity to attempt to take these picture in hopes that one or two might actually convey what I was feeling at the time... no dice on this day, but here are a few attempts > > > > > > There is a false summit to El Capitan that I wasnt expected, and it even has a pseudo register for you to write whatever you want, so that was pretty cool. Its not really not that bad of a false summit and the rest of the journey was a very fun hike through some trees with intermittent cliff views, well worth the trip over! On the summit I was treated more spectacular views and an unexpected find in the register, where Gerry and Deirdre Roach had signed it in 1988! Pretty cool to see stuff like that > > > After spending some time lounging around I began the arduous task of getting back to the Guadalupe Peak trail. I picked a spur going back up that proved to be pretty good. This was the least enjoyable part as there again is no trail, the rock can be slippery and the vegetation seemed to be pretty aggressive... but overall it was just some determination and slow and steady progress until I was back on the trail and heading down! Here are a few pictures from getting back up to the trail and the trip down. > For reference, the summit of Guadalupe Peak is on the left of this picture > > The wind progressively increased throughout the day, which was expected, but I was back by 1pm, so it was never a real factor. I can see how it could be a huge factor with a late start on a windy day or if the weather was a bit colder. > The view from the road > The view from the east on the New Mexico/Texas border I hope you all get a chance to visit this little gem in Texas! Its a wonderful and unique area which I thoroughly enjoyed! Happy Hiking! Start time - 7:45am Guadalupe Peak Summit - 9:50am ElCap Summit 11:15am Rejoined the Guadalupe Peak Trail - 12:20pm To the car - 1:30pm

A wonderful day in west Texas!

First off I want to thank everyone who responded to my inquiry about conditions on this peak! All the advice I received was spot on and really helped make this an enjoyable experience

I was on my way from Phoenix to Oklahoma City and I thought a slight detour was in order to check out the mountains I had heard about in west Texas. I had never really given much credit to Texas for having mountains as my only experience with the state was a lonely drive through the panhandle a few years back, this trip is not advised. What is advised is hiking Guadalupe Peak!

I arrived at the trail head quite late so I really hadnt seen the Guadalupe Range other than in some pictures I had seen. I was pleasantly surprised to wake up to a great sunrise that kept me company while I got ready

>

I left my car at 7:45 which is quite a bit later than normal, but I was still the first one on the trail. As advertised, the trail starts out quite steep and switches back up the initial slope and winds its way up through some pretty cool rocks and eventually some trees. This part of the trail was sheltered from the wind which had been blowing pretty consistently most of the night.

>

The wind hit me initially at the first saddle, but it was not a huge factor on this day. There was a few areas of residual snow from a previous storm, but it was nothing to worry about and was not difficulty to walk over without any additional traction. The trail continues to wind around and up the peak until you near the campsite where you get your first view of the summit.

>

There is a cool little bridge right before you cross over to the final summit push which give a bit more character. Overall the hike up to Guadalupe peak is pretty straightforward but full of great views

>
Summit!

>

After spending a bit of time on the summit, I was off to my next goal which was El Capitan.

>

To include this side trip was the best piece of advise I received prior to this trip! Its highly recommended!! There is no trail to this mountain and I liked it that way! It seemed like it was not well traveled and it provided a bit of an adventure for an other wise straightforward hike! I did everything I could to minimize my impact on the terrain and vegetation to try to allow others to have the same adventure as I did. The initial decent was pretty slippery due to the loose rock and dirt mix; however with some careful foot placement I was down to the cliffs in no time!

>

These cliffs are the best part of the hike! I kept right on the ridge as the views were incredible and it was also much easier to walk on the solid rocks rather than the loose ones and aggressive vegetation. I did take the advice I received and bought some work gloves, and I'm glad I did! The plants can do a number on your hands and some of the rock was pretty sharp too. The gloves negated those worries so I could concentrate on the hike and taking WAAAAAY to many pictures that wouldn't do the environment justice! haha I also learned that I have an almost unlimited capacity to attempt to take these picture in hopes that one or two might actually convey what I was feeling at the time... no dice on this day, but here are a few attempts

>

There is a false summit to El Capitan that I wasnt expected, and it even has a pseudo register for you to write whatever you want, so that was pretty cool. Its not really not that bad of a false summit and the rest of the journey was a very fun hike through some trees with intermittent cliff views, well worth the trip over!

On the summit I was treated more spectacular views and an unexpected find in the register, where Gerry and Deirdre Roach had signed it in 1988! Pretty cool to see stuff like that

>

After spending some time lounging around I began the arduous task of getting back to the Guadalupe Peak trail. I picked a spur going back up that proved to be pretty good. This was the least enjoyable part as there again is no trail, the rock can be slippery and the vegetation seemed to be pretty aggressive... but overall it was just some determination and slow and steady progress until I was back on the trail and heading down! Here are a few pictures from getting back up to the trail and the trip down.

>
For reference, the summit of Guadalupe Peak is on the left of this picture

>

The wind progressively increased throughout the day, which was expected, but I was back by 1pm, so it was never a real factor. I can see how it could be a huge factor with a late start on a windy day or if the weather was a bit colder.

>
The view from the road

>
The view from the east on the New Mexico/Texas border

I hope you all get a chance to visit this little gem in Texas! Its a wonderful and unique area which I thoroughly enjoyed! Happy Hiking!

Start time - 7:45am
Guadalupe Peak Summit - 9:50am
ElCap Summit 11:15am
Rejoined the Guadalupe Peak Trail - 12:20pm
To the car - 1:30pm

Comments or Questions

Jay521	Nice pics! 2/12/2014 5:22pm Guess I'll have to add this to my list. Thanks for posting this! One question - what were the temps when you were there?
FireOnTheMountain	this is neat 2/12/2014 5:59pm I thought Texas was supposed to suck ass...
anasarca76	Thanks! 2/12/2014 7:18pm Temps were from like 35 to 65, the wind in the morning was chili and I had lots of layers just in case, but it turned out to be a perfect day temperature wise! And FOTM, the part I drove through after the hike fit your thoughts... haha But I got to give Texas a bit of love as that region was pretty awesome!
mathguy	A nice read and look! 2/12/2014 8:30pm The southwest Texas landscape definitely has a distinct character to it, but it can quite beautiful in its own way (as your pictures show nicely). I live in Oklahoma, so I may try to wander down that way sometime. I'd also venture a guess that you picked the perfect time of year to do that hike; probably would be a tad toasty in July!
ChrisinAZ	Awesome! 2/12/2014 11:33pm Thanks for a new perspective on this peak I haven't seen before...Guadalupe was already on my to-climb list, but now I'm even more excited for it! Will definitely plan the side trip to El Cap too :D
d_baker	Blind in Texas 2/13/2014 2:23am Cool! I hope to check this out sometime soon! Thanks for the info!
swampthing	Wild West Texas 2/13/2014 2:45pm This makes me insanely homesick :( But it is a wonderful TR and looks like y'all had a wonderful time. Next time you should go about 4 hours farther south to Big Bend NP and spend some time in the country there.
greenehorn	Well done! 2/14/2014 2:16pm We live in Houston, and I took my oldest two boys to summit Guadalupe Peak after they were only comfortable getting to Keyhole on Longs the year before. It was a big deal for them to say they were on the top of Texas! We did it during a spring break in March and got lucky. That area in March is one of the windiest places on EARTH. Really. Very normal to have 60-70 mph winds and 100 mph gusts. Crazy. We Texans have a little bar joke we like to use. When folks back east start to bag on Texas as being boring and flat, we get an innocent bewilderment on our face and say ”Naaah. We have mountains too. I bet ya there are a dozen peaks in Texas higher than anything east of the Mississippi.” Once the mark has taken the bait, you look it up and find it's true! Nice hike, and glad you made it out to ElCap. Great views.
painless4u2	Sweet Hike! 2/16/2014 1:02am Loved seeing that register, too. The Guadalupes are well worth exploring. On one of our trips there, we backpacked from Pine Springs to McKittrick Canyon, traversing the Park, then hitch-hiked back to camp. Lots of rugged fun! Glad to hear the wind didn't become a big factor. Thanks for your post.
AprilForever	Fascintating! 2/24/2014 11:20am What a fascinating place!!! Also, I really like the pictures. Being a nurse, I am getting a chuckle out of your name... :lol:

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