I spent the last week of April 1999
out in west Texas hiking with Brian, Chris and Jay. We got up around 5:30, packed up, ate and
hiked up to the top of the mountains, then spent the next 4 days hiking
and having a wonderful time testing our fitness and ability to conserve
water. There was absolutely NO water up there. We had to carry 2
gallons (16 lbs) per person and then resupply 2 days later. It was quite
a test indeed. As it turned out, we managed fine and spent a fabulous
time together. This was Chris' first big hike and he did great.
The Guadalupe Mountains are an uplifted
fossil reef formed millions of years ago. Its hard to imagine today
that this area used to be part of the Gulf. We did find conical sea
shells. Today the mountain is home to forests with Ponderosa pines,
maple trees, elk, mountain lions, deer and the Peregrine Falcon.
We had a ring tail cat visit us 2 nights also!
We came down out of the mountains
late Tuesday and camped one more day at the park campground, then drove
back Wednesday. I got a real neat surprise when we wandered around
the visitors center. The Butterfield Overland Express that ran back
in 1858 had a stop right here where the park headquarters is located called
the Pinery Station. John Butterfield guaranteed passengers that he'd
get them from St. Louis to San Francisco in 25 days! So he ran all kinds
of horse teams and support stations through the West. I'd been on
a segment of that line just west of San Diego last year so this was a neat
discovery to join the two parts of the trail. Can you imagine traveling
through the desert West in a 9-person stagecoach dealing with Indians,
desperados, and the environment? Good Lord! The mountains were also home
to the Mescalero Apache Indians until the late 1880's.
I slept so good in the cool night
air. It got down to around 35 at night up in the hills and got up to around
75. Not bad for Texas eh? We hiked the Tejas trail over to Dog Canyon
and back. We covered about 25 miles in all.
Here's a few photos that I took with
my digital camera. It was a hard decision to add that to the weight
I was already carrying ( 50 lb pack) but I love that silly camera.
Keep on smiling!
Wayne
(bottom center photo is the Pinery Station ruins)
References:
Guadalupe Mountain National
Park