Sept. 4, 2004 trip report

[highpointersclub]

[Ed: Imported from Americas Roof ‘Summit Trip Reports’ forum]

[By: MarkB on September 9 2004 at 1:55 PM]

[Link: http://www.network54.com/Forum/198362/message/1094752556/Sept.+4%2C+2004+trip+report]

I climbed Guadalupe Peak the morning of 9/4. I flew into El Paso Thursday night, then spend Friday checking out Carlsbad Caverns (well worth the trip, and a lot better than Mammoth Cave, Kentucky IMO.)
I got on the trail a bit before 7AM, a little more than 3 hours later I was standing on top. Pretty clear day, warm but not hot, light breeze – great day to be on top of Texas.
But the real story was my hiking shoes – they are a few years old and a bit worn in. As it turned out, they were TOO worn in, because about 1/2way up the sole of my right shoe came off! In retrospect, I should have turned around & left the hiking for another day. Instead, I thought “I can make it up & back down” and kept going. When I got to the top I mentioned to a couple people what had happened. “We know, we saw your sole down on the trail” was the response I got – but wait, didn’t I pick that up? Then I checked my other shoe and realized the sole had come off of IT, too. Yikes!!
Long story short, it took longer to get back down than it had taken to come up. I finally limped back into the parking lot at about 3:00PM, the only thing holding the bottom of my shoes intact was my shoelaces which I had rigged to wrap around the plastic insole so it wouldn’t come flying off on the trail (which happened a few times, anyway.)
On Sunday I checked out White Sands and the Gila Cliff Dwellings, which is well worth seeing if you are near Deming/Silver City.

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