Guadalupe Peak 09-02-03

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      highpointersclub
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      [Ed: Imported from Americas Roof ‘Summit Trip Reports’ forum]
      [By: Jerry Bresnahan on March 13 2004 at 6:15 PM]

      I climbed Guadalupe Peak, the Highpoint of Texas at 8,749 feet, on Tuesday September 2nd, 2003 the day after Labor Day. It was my 7th state highpoint.
      I left my timeshare condo in Ruidoso, NM at 6:20AM. I started noticing a brown smoky haze before reaching Roswell and the air pollution was apparent during my entire drive south. It was depressing to see smog so far from any large metropolitan areas. Is no place safe anymore? The signs at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park visitor’s center said the smog comes mostly from plants in Mexico and also from as far away as Los Angeles.
      I first saw the Guadalupe Mountains as I was driving south between Roswell and Carlsbad but couldn’t actually distinguish Guadalupe Peak itself, and El Capitan, until I crossed the New Mexico – Texas border.
      I arrived at the visitor center at 10:20AM, checked in with the Ranger and watched the 12-minute slide show. I drove to the trailhead parking area and signed the register. The National Park Service recently started charging a small fee of $2 or $3.00, which should be placed in an envelope at the register. Since I have a National Park Pass, which is a great deal, at $50.00 per year, if you like to visit National Parks and Monuments as I do, I simply wrote my Park Pass number on the envelope and began my hike at 10:50AM. Be sure to be alert and read the signs at the beginning of your hike. Although the trails are well marked it would be easy for an enthusiastic hiker to hurry past the signs and miss the turn for the Guadalupe Peak Trail. Within the first hundred yards there are signs showing that you have to turn left. If you miss the turn and walk straight down the trail you will not be going to Guadalupe Peak. According to the register there were already three other hikers on the trail. I met them, as I was about 2/3 of the way to the top as they were coming down. The first was a man in his 50’s who worked for American Airlines in Tucson, AZ. He was apparently making his pilgrimage to the American Airlines shrine at the summit of Guadalupe Peak. Shortly afterward I met a middle-aged couple that sounded like they might have been from Europe.
      I reached the summit at 1:40PM. Although this climb is rated as a Class 1 – Moderate or Strenuous hike, depending on which guidebook you read, the trail was good and not too difficult by my standards, I’ll admit that I was tired and my legs were fatigued causing me to use my hands to scramble up a couple spots during the last hundred yards. The view from the summit was spectacular. The smog was still evident but was not as bad as I expected. I could clearly see Sierra Blanca, a 12003-foot peak near Ruidoso, NM, where I had hiked just two days before, which is over 100 miles to the north as the vulture flies.
      It was an overall perfect day. Clear, 75 degrees, which I understand is cooler than usual for this time of year, and not very windy as is often the case. I had the mountain all to myself. I ate lunch and signed the register. As I looked through the register I counted over 80 entries for the past three days. I was glad I waited until after Labor Day to avoid the crowds. The three people that I had met on my way up had not signed the register. If that is any indication of the average percentage of people that actually sign the registers at Highpoints then there may have been over 200 people on the mountain over the holiday weekend. I hate traffic jams.
      On my way back down I met Blake Murphy, from Georgia, who was on his way to a late afternoon summit. I told him that the skies were clear and there were no T-Storms in sight. He was on a two-week road trip doing as many state highpoints as he could. Although he was not yet a member of the Highpointers Club he did have the pocket edition of Charlie and Diane Winger’s book Highpoint Adventures.
      I reached the trailhead parking lot at 4:20PM and drove to the Pinery Butterfield Stage Station ruins and the Frijole Ranch, which are part of the National Park, and did a brief walking tour of both areas. I then headed back north and stopped at Carlsbad Caverns National Park to watch thousands of bats leave the cave at sunset. I arrived at least an hour before sunset. During that time a Park Ranger gave a presentation to the fairly small crowd. She was assisted by a baby rattlesnake and a tarantula that just happened to be in the amphitheatre at the time. The Ranger admitted she was afraid of snakes but everyone wanted to get close and take pictures of both critters. The Ranger also told us about the time someone was filming a video of one of the other Rangers giving the presentation while a Mountain Lion was very slowly moving across the cliffs above the cave. Neither the person taking the video or anyone else in the amphitheatre, including the Ranger, ever noticed the Mountain Lion until they saw it while watching the video. I guess that explains why very few people have ever seen Mountain Lions while hiking in the wild. I’m sure the Mountain Lions have seen many of us.
      The bats started leaving the cave at approximately 7:30PM. I watched thousands of bats darkening the sky until about 8:00PM. From where I was sitting I also had a great view of the planet Mars beyond the cave to the southeast and most of the bats seemed to be flying off in that direction. The bats were still coming out when I left but it was getting too dark to see them. I headed north and got back to my condo just before midnight.
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