Iron Hiker: Guadalupe Peak, TX

State High Point
Hiked: 12/30/2017
Distance: 8.4 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 8749'
Prominence: 3029'
Elevation Gain: 3048'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.43
Round trip time: 4 hours 10 minutes
Recommended water: 64 oz.
Parking/Fees: $5 National Park Fee
Difficulty: Moderate

Guadalupe Peak is in Guadalupe Mountains National Park within the Chihuahuan Desert. It is the high point of Texas. We were visiting family over Christmas in Arkansas and planned to drive back making a vacation out of it. The return itinerary included Roswell and Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Guadalupe Peak is less than an hour away from Carlsbad so I wanted to dash across the border to climb it. My daughter really wanted to tour White Sands Missile Base, but the only way to make that fit into our travel plan was for me to start at night and summit at sunrise. I hadn't really planned on it, but since there is a good trail all the way, I didn't think it would be a problem. Special props to my wife who was nice enough to get up at 3:45 AM and drop me off at the trailhead (love you Leisa!). There is a $5 day use fee, self paid at the Pine Springs trailhead. I started in complete darkness with my headlamp burning. The trail gets down to business right away with a steady upward grade. The trail was well maintained and in great shape. I felt the weight of mountains around me blocking out the stars but couldn't see anything beyond the end of my light beam. About a mile up the trail, I spotted a pair of glowing green eyes looking at me from between two boulders. My light showed a small head and feline type ears. I've read that green or green-gold eyeshine is typical of cats, so my guess is it was a baby bobcat or mountain lion. I dug around in my pack for my phone because it takes better night photos than my point and shoot camera. I tried to take some photos of whatever it was but none of them turned out. I marked a waypoint at that spot to check it out on the way down. Since I reached the summit at sunrise, I decided to present the photos from the top down, starting at the summit and ending at the trailhead. The summit was spectacular. It was capped with a stainless steel pyramid placed by American Airlines in 1958 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Butterfield Overland Mail, a stagecoach route that passed south of the mountain. There was an incredible view of El Capitan, the prominent cliffed peak below.

Summit pyramid and horizon shadow

El Capitan from the summit

The latest register book, already full

The summit registers were in an ammo box at the base of the pyramid. The latest one was a large green book that was placed in October, 2017 and was already full. I found a place to sign on the inside cover, but this is one of the most popular peaks I've ever visited. After taking summit photos, I started slow jogging down the flat parts of the trail. There were two sections of the trail that traversed cliffs, but both were 5' wide and were not exposed. The top cliff section has a wooden bridge over part of it. As I descended, I passed dozens of parties that got later starts. The views on the way down were just as great as from the summit. It was a beautiful desert landscape. When I reached the spot where I saw the cat, I got my headlamp out again and crawled into the space between the boulders where we saw each other. I was hoping to find a den, but it was just a 20' wedge between the boulders with no sign any animals lived there. Just before I got to the bottom, a huge buck hopped across the trail in front of me and started eating leaves from a small tree. It was a perfect way to end a memorable hike. The family picked me up a few minutes later and we had plenty of time to tour White Sands.