Guadalupe Peak May 2010
As we drove out to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, I could not help but realize how stark the landscape was around us. My girlfriend and I were following our Dad's through the west Texas Desert, driving behind them, the heat outside the car was stifling. We stopped in Kermit, TX for some last minute supplies and four hours after leaving we arrived at the National Park. When we got there, the place was nearly full. We checked in at the visitors centre for a camp site and were told it is first come first serve. The Ranger at the desk was extremely helpful and gave us maps and directions and we headed off to the camp ground. When we arrived, all of the camp sites were full except two. the first was in the full desert sun with no shade at all, and the second was a handicapped site with a sign that said "Please reserve this site for the handicapped, do not camp here unless all other sites are taken". We decided to wait it out. Not 15 minutes later a family showed up and took the last site.
Enter Wally, the camp ground host. Wally, was a sort of small grumpy old man who appeared to be over stressed and under paid. He spouted out that we were not handicapped and that we needed to go to the overflow camping area in the full desert sun. Now first I should mention that there was no sign or mention of an overflow camping area any place or else we would have already gone there, secondly when we found it 5 miles down the road, it was at the stables. Now, when I say at the stables, I mean the horses and you were sharing a stall. This was not an option.
We returned to the main camp ground and my girlfriend and her dad went to the visitors centre to see about our options. They talked to the guys in charge of the place Craig, who mentioned that Wally reported to him, perfect. Craig told them we could stay at the group site for 3 dollars per night per person since the group that reserved it never showed up. When they returned to the camp ground and told us we were ecstatic, finally after an hour of running about, we had a place to set up camp. Wally did not agree, after all he is the "boss of the camp ground". He told us, I run this place not Craig, if we want the group camp ground, it will be $30.00 per night no exceptions. I might mention that on his way out he also told us that since we already paid $8.00 that $30.00 minus $8.00 means we only owed $46.00 for the night. I bet Wally's Math teachers are proud, way to go Wally! Back to the visitors centre we trudged, we needed to get passes to sleep in the back country the next day anyhow.
Once we were there, we pulled out our map and asked about camping on the peak the next day and at McKitrick Ridge the following. The ranger at the desk looked at us, smiled and said "Honestly, I'd recommend not doing that." Apparently, from the bottom to the Guadalupe peak camp ground is a little over 2000 vertical feet over 3.2 miles then another 1000 foot of climb from the camp to the peak over about a mile. All in all you climb 3300 vertical feet over 4.2 miles. McKitrick ridge is about 2/3 the climb but over fewer miles and the back to back gruelling climbs are too much for many people in the desert heat. He also mentioned that there was no water available in the back country and that we would need to pack in all that we would need, weighing our packs down even more as water is generally the heaviest thing you will carry. We decided to get the passes to camp the next day at the peak and then when we got back down make a decision about McKitrick Ridge.
As they started the paperwork for the passes, I ran back to the main camp ground to write down car license plate numbers it felt good to be running on a trail again. the base camp is at 5400 ft above sea level and I ran at a pretty good clip without breathing heavy. That made me feel pretty good! When I got back, they had the paperwork filled out, and added the license place numbers. The only thing left to do was pay for the group site for the night and we could go set up our tents, eat dinner and relax.
It turned out Craig had just left for the day, but they were going to call him to ask about the rate if we could "just wait for a moment". Hello Wally, what timing you have. He barged into the visitors centre and pulled the ranger in charge into the back room. After a lengthy, and loud I might add, conversation, were were told we would need to meet the park superintendent at the group site and we headed back out. We were wondering at this point f we would end up sleeping in a road side park tonight.
Once we arrived at the group site, the superintendent was fantastic. He was amenable to us taking the group site for the night, apologized for Wally and was really a first class guy. He agreed to give us the site for $26.00 and we took it. Instant upgrade, it was the nicest site in the camp ground, we had privacy, shade trees and enough space for 5 tents even though we only had 2.
We were all excited about the next day and had a drink to relax as we talked, ate sandwiches and soup and checked our gear for the morning. As we sat there the ranger from the visitor centre showed up in our camp and told us they were having a geology program at the amphitheatre that night and that it would talk about how the mountains were formed here in the middle of the desert. We said thank you and he headed off to let other campers know abut it. We returned to our conversation, I was amazed at how many stars you could see out here and my girlfriend's father mentioned a program he saw where Stephen Hawking
tried to explain the origins of the universe and how in the beginning there was only a sphere but there was nothing outside it. The concept is hard to get your head around. My Dad brought up that the universe is now infinite in size and he and my girlfriend's father decided that if the universe is infinite in size then where ever we are we are in the center of the universe. My brain was starting to hurt. The sun dropped casting shadows across the basin surrounding the camp ground and we began to see shapes outlined in the mountains. My girlfriend's father pointed out how one mountain in particular looked just like Dr. Seuss's Grinch from his book How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We laughed about it speculated that perhaps the good Dr had spent some time here and continued to pick out shapes in the mountains. As we sat there talking, a red moon started to rise in the east, it was really beautiful. We watched it for a long time then finished our drinks and turned in for the night, it is going to be a long day on the trail tomorrow.
No one got much sleep throughout the night, the moon grew steadily brighter until it illuminated everything like it was a flood lamp in the sky. The inside of the tent was as bright as day and I could here the old men moving around a lot in their tent trying to get comfortable. Eventually, I fell asleep and my girlfriend and I woke in the morning to find my Father milling about the camp, he had already been up and moving, and was fiddling with his new backpacking stove. I got up and moving slowly and filled a cooking pot with water. I needed a good strong cup of coffee. I pulled out a package and brewed up 2 cups one for me and one for my girlfriend, made some toast and oatmeal and settled in for breakfast. Our older, wiser companions decided on Starbucks instant coffee
and breakfast bars which was not only faster to make, but less mess and no clean up. It struck me that the way they were eating and moving my girlfriend and I looked like the older generation. I laughed a little inside about it and quietly ate my breakfast. After breakfast we briefly discussed not camping out, but just going up and down in the same day. This is what most people do, we could travel lighter and make better time, but we decided that since we were getting a late start and had already gotten the passes, we might as well use them. We finished breaking camp and loaded our packs and were about to head to the trail around 10:30 when we realized our passes for the peak camp site were missing. Back off to the visitors centre. Turns out, we left the passes on the counter in the confusion of the night before and they threw them away. We were issued new passes and finally about 11 AM hit the trail.
We started out all smiles, looking to attack the peak and optimistically be there by 3 PM including a stop for lunch. The heat was starting to crank up, but we were hoping that it would cool off as we climbed. The trail started with a gradual up hill then rapidly turned into a series of intense switchbacks. It went up fast and continued on this way for most of the journey to the Guadalupe Peak Camp ground. After the first mile we had already gained some significant altitude, my girlfriend and my dad were getting pretty tired and breathing heavy. It was pretty clear they were not used to the altitude. I was doing okay, but the heat was starting to get to me. I was wearing my 5 fingers
for the trip up the mountain as I did in Peru and I was once again amazed at how well the gripped the trail. Terrain I would never have dreamed about walking over before, I was going over with ease, gripping everything and not slipping at all. We stopped and took several breaks and it took us about an hour and a half to go the first mile. The trail was hard and steep and reminded me of several 14ers I have hiked up in Colorado. 
We walked on, several people we met told us that the back side of the mountain would offer us more shade. The trail kept moving steadily and steeply upward, at one point I used the GPS on my phone along with the map to get a fix of our progress, we were moving really slow, but the good news was that soon the switchbacks would end and we would be on a rolling trail that, although not slouch in terms of altitude gain per foot of horizontal travel, was milder than the switchbacks we were now on and we would be on that terrain on the back side (Shady side of the mountain remember) for the next mile and a half or so before the switchbacks started up again. We finally gained the backside of the mountain about 2 PM and many more switchback than I wanted later. The good news is we timed it right, we go to the back side just in time for the sun to move across the nose and into the valley we were now walking in. No rest for the wicked, the sun was going to beat on us all day it looked like. Our only reprieve would be the few shady spots where the pine trees grew along the trail at the higher elevations. We kept walking, taking frequent breaks and finally stopped to each lunch about 2:30. We found a nice shady spot that was relatively level and settled in with cans of tuna salad and more breakfast bars and trail mix.
After Lunch we walked on fresh and rested. By the time the trail got steep again, we were beginning to wonder i the map was right about the distance. Our Dad's were getting leg cramps and my girlfriend was feeling bad, even I was feeling the effects of the trail, the pace and the sun. We had been walking at this point about 4 hours and even though the mountains were spectacular, we were more than ready to be at the camp. Suddenly the trail levelled some and we rounded a corner into a little valley, 20 minutes after that we saw the sign for the camp ground. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
We arrived in the camp ground about 5 PM and off in the distance the weather was turning nasty. You could see the supposedly only 10% chance of rain moving in along with the thunder and lightning. We quickly scouted the area and decided who would camp where. My girlfriend and I decided to pitch our tent in a spot sheltered a bit in the trees since I failed to bring guy lines for my old tent. The theory being that at least the trees would offer us some protection if the wind kicked up. Also since my old tent was, well, old, I was worried about how water proof it might still be. Our fathers would take the exposed camp and guy out their tent in case the wind came. We got the camp set up none too soon, just as we finished pitching the tents, the rain came. I crawled in next to my girlfriend and we layed there talking and eventually dosed off a bit. I woke to a park ranger yelling through the tent flap. As I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and tried to make sense of what he was telling me I could hear the thunder getting louder in the distance.
He said that we were not in an officially designated camping area and that we would have to move our stuff to one of the exposed camps. As I talked with him he agreed that we could wait for the rain to stop and moved off. About 15 minutes later the rain slowed and I threw on my rain shell and went to the other camp to let them know what happened. As I was standing there, talking to them the storm broke and we got a reprieve from the rain for a bit. The park ranger came into the camp and asked to see our permit, he had a female ranger with him and I tried to reason with them to allow us to stay where we were already established for one night. The male park rangers only response was that it was not raining right now and with four of us moving would be a piece of cake. He turned and walked away. my girlfriend's father decided that this was Wally getting his revenge and we trudged off to move our camp. Just as we got established in our new spot a beautiful rainbow appeared on the horizon and we stared at it for a long time, while talking about making dinner
. Dinner was going to be interesting, this was the first time anyone, except myself, in this little party ate a dehydrated backpacker meal. Just as we got done cooking them, the rain came again and we scattered to eat in our tents. Thankfully, everyone ate and liked their dinner. Once the rain stopped, we spent the rest of the evening on our own. My girlfriend and I walked and talked, the dads talked and sat around their tent. It turned out to be a beautiful, crisp cool evening and the views were astounding. 
My girlfriend and I slept better than our Dads did and the next morning we ate breakfast, broke camp and decided that my girlfriend's father and I would leave our packs and head to the peak while my dad and my girlfriend stayed at the camp. Off we went, it is amazing the difference having no pack makes, we moved along just fine, the trail here did not feel nearly as steep as it was coming up to the camp the day before even though we had over 1000 vertical feet of climb still left to go before we reached the top. As we walked along the trail I felt good, my legs felt strong and we made pretty good time, it only took us about an hour to make the peak. When we did it felt awesome, we were finally there standing on the roof of Texas looking down on everything including El Capitan. Perhaps it is prophetic that we chose this trail since we are going to see El Cap's big brother later this summer. On top of the peak is a metal triangle placed there in the 1950's by american airlines. We walked around some and signed the log book, as I went to write in it, there was already an entry for the day. Apparently an 80 year old man ran to the top of the peak and back earlier this morning to celebrate his birth day. Humbling, it only took him 2.5 hours to make the summit. We stayed at the top for about 45 minutes then made our way back to the the campsite. As we walked we chatted and 45 minutes later realized we missed our turn off for the camp. we turned around and headed back up hill. hurrying this time since the others were waiting on us.
When we got there my girlfriend was standing there alone, she said my dad got a head start and had headed out about 45 min ahead of our arrival back into camp. I was immediately taken by something Dad taught me when I was younger and was reinforced over and over again through experience as I got older. You are always safer with a partner. We hurriedly threw our packs together, put them on and set off, after him. About 5 min down the trail it was apparent we would not catch up and we decided rather than me sprinting ahead, we would be better off sticking together, the trail was only 3 miles long and was heavily travelled, he would be okay.
The climb down made our quads burn, but we made good time. The three of us reached the trail head in half the time it took us to go up and dad was already there with the truck and a powerade. Boy was it good to see him, we weighed our packs just for fun and they were all lighter than when we started up the mountain. Then we threw the packs into the back of the truck and my girlfriend and I drove to the overflow lot to get the four runner. When we got back to our dads several minutes later, there was once again rain coming in. We decided to head out to White's city and camp there, at least we could get a shower and a hot meal if nothing else. When we got there, the camp ground was really bad, the heat was boiling and the rain was coming down again. We decided to eat something and talk over our next move. We ate at the only place in White's City that was open and it was a mom and pop hamburger joint. The food tasted good and really hit the spot, we were all tired, no one had really slept in two days and we all agreed to head back home. The trip was a success, despite the hard effort of the day before we all had fun and learned a little something about ourselves. I really enjoyed the trip and the remainder of the weekend.
