Guadalupe Peak, TX

[elhefe007a]

After recently relocating from Burlington VT to Dallas TX, and going through 3 months of mountain withdrawal, I finally had the chance to get a hike in. (Dallas is pretty um...flat).


My Uncle Dave (46er #1247) was in the area for business, and since he is casually working on the state high point list, we figured it would be a great idea to take the weekend, drive 600 miles to the remote Guadalupe Mountains and climb the highest point in Texas, Guadalupe Peak.

If anyone is interested, here are some pictures. Easily one of the best hikes I've ever done, who would have thought an area exists like this in remote west Texas.

Report and pictures HERE.

 

[Snowflea]

Nice TR and photographs!

I climbed Guadalupe Peak last fall while driving to California. You must have had quite a haul from Dallas -- the peak felt more like it was in New Mexico (or Mexico) than Texas, didn't it?!

Did you happen to see the bats at Carlsbad Caverns? I didn't -- missed it be a few minutes... have regretted it ever since!

Also, best wishes for Dallas. Here's a link to some local trails:
http://www.nttr.org/html/trails.htm Cedar Ridge has a nice loop trail. Sorry, no mountains though!!

www.runsuerun.blogspot.com

 

[Peakbagr]

Just an outstanding trip report. Nice photos and sequence. Came close to climbing Guadalupe a few years ago and would like to get down there.

Alan

 

[elhefe007a]

I'm actually bummed - we were going to head to Carlsbad - but dinner plans in el Paso derailed the idea. Next time I'm in the area I will be checking it out. ...And getting the park passport stamp

As far as the peaks in that range, all I can say is wow. It did not feel like Texas in the least, which was a good break. Thanks for the links to the Dallas trails!


If anyone has the chance to get down to that area, I highly recommend this climb.

 

[roadtripper]

Thanks for posting - those are the best pics I've seen of that hike.

I was in that area for a couple days 2 years ago but I couldn't convince anybody to climb that mountain with me. We went to the International UFO Museum in Roswell instead

Stinkyfeet - the bat flight out of Carlsbad is fantastic! You'll have to get back there!

 

[Peakbagr]

How long a drive is it from Carlsbad to Guadalupe?

Alan

 

[elhefe007a]

So close it's embaressing to say I didn't go to Carlsbad...the two are 40 or so miles apart.

 

[AMF]

Great pics... one of the favorite hikes I've done. Oddly enough, it's one of the few trails that have ever given me a sense of vertigo (and I do a lot of climbing & caving). Since you are stuck in Dallas, you should check out Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo. And it goes without saying, visit Big Bend.

 

[elhefe007a]

Thanks for the suggestions. I do plan on checking out Big Bend this year, probably this "winter". I'll be in VT for business in a couple weeks, and will get one day to keep plugging away at the ADK's, so right now I'm looking forward to that more than anything.

I know the vertigo feeling, there are some very exposed areas to that hike, where your a couple feet from a 2k+ drop in some places. From the summit on the west edge, your about a 5k drop to the desert flats. It was pretty wild, good stuff.

 

[AMF]

Thanks for the suggestions. I do plan on checking out Big Bend this year, probably this "winter"...

Don't misjudge "winter" in Big Bend... I was there in January & it snowed (more than once) in Chisos Basin. Never stuck around through the day, but cold if you are not prepared. Of course, you can solve that by dropping down to the Rio Grande, where it will be T-shirt weather! Enjoy... I have been there twice, both times on my way thru with the intent of other destinations, & found myself so captivated by what I found in Texas that I abandoned my original goals.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Thanks for posting - those are the best pics I've seen of that hike.

I was in that area for a couple days 2 years ago but I couldn't convince anybody to climb that mountain with me. We went to the International UFO Museum in Roswell instead

Stinkyfeet - the bat flight out of Carlsbad is fantastic! You'll have to get back there!

Bats, UFOs, aliens; the Guadalupe Peak area has it all, although we have our own alien abduction stories in the Whites.

 

[Peakbagr]

Any 'best time' to visit Guadalupe? Do the summits get much snow/ice and before the heat of summer?

 

[TrailwrightBratt]

Wow

Many thanks for your wonderful report and the pictures of the hike and sharing them with us all.
My wife and I climbed Guadelupe twice in the last couple years and like you was really impressed with this mountain. The first time we did the same drive except we left Paris Tx and drove to Dallas and on to the Park.We stayed over night and climbed it the next day as one of our state high points while on our way back from climbing Whitney.
We did it again this spring on our way back from a trip to Big Sur and San Francisco with a stop in you guessed it Rosewell N. M. It was a lot of fun going to the museum and driving to Carsbad which is really rewarding. So after that we just had to climb Guadelupe again on our way to Van Horne.I certainly recommend this hike and as a trail maintainer you really appreciate where they put that trail,and can understand why you dismount in those 2 locations epesc. by the bridge.
You really haveto go to Big Bend and climb Emory Peak in the future.The Chisos mtns. are well worth visiting. We spent 3 days hiking there.
Again thank you so much for sharing.Great Photograhy.

 

[oscar]

hi, i can't tell you what is the best time to visit guadalupe national park, but i was there this past december around the second week and i thought it was a good time go there. the weather was not all blue skies and sunshine. the day we drove up there, the winds were kicking pretty good. we saw two 18 wheelers blown over by the wind and a roof from one of the park service buildings had blown off. we decided on that day to head to carlsbad caverns to get out of the wind. the park rangers there said the winds were estimated to be anywhere from 90mph to 110mph. the next day we climbed guadalupe peak in a less windy day that the rangers estimated to be 50-60 mph. a snow storm passed through west texas about a week ago and there was still snow and some ice on the north facing side of the mountain, but it wasn't a problem. it definitely felt like winter on the summit that. at night in the campground it got down in the 30s. the next day the weather cleared with blue skies and sunshine (~50F). another hike that i did that i can recommend is up Hunter Peak via Bear Canyon/Bowl/Tejas trail. also i did mckittrick canyon which was okay; it is supposedly very nice if you are there in the fall to see the leaves on the trees turn. the only downside to going to guadalupe national park in december was that if you want to venture over to carlsbad caverns you will not see the bats.

as others have said, check out big bend national park. in addition, i recommend going to white sands national monument outside of almogorrda, nm.

hope something here is helpful to you.

 

[Peakbagr]

Really great information. Thanks.

Alan

 

[Daniel Eagan]

Great report. I'm wondering if you or your uncle could contact me at [email protected] concerning the summit photos. Thank you.

 

[Chugach001]

Great report and a beautiful area. Makes me want to escape the snow.

My condolences for moving from Burlington to Dallas. I once made a similar move but actually even from better to equally worse.