Guadalupe--Day Two

So, one of the "things to do" in Guadalupe Mountains State Park is to hike Guadalupe Peak.  Sitting at 8,750 feet, it's the highest point in Texas. The beginning of the hike starts 3,000 feet below that so it's an estimated 6-8 hours of hiking time.  Johannah and I had been going back and forth on whether or not to hike it.  My asthma had been fully controlled this entire trip (thank you, Nucala!), but 3,000 feet of elevation would definitely be pushing it.  Too, with only nine hours of daylight in January, we would need to start early.  We asked the ranger about doing it, and she didn't discourage us at all, but she did warn us that after hiking it, the most difficult part of the hike can be getting back down the mountains on the rocky trail with tired legs.  She said people slip all the time.

So, we woke up early that morning, and Hannah had suggested we have a look at the trail.  As we drove into the park, there was dense fog at the lower elevations, and the mountains were actually covered in clouds.  And rain was expected around noon.  So Hannah devised a rather brilliant plan: there was a four mile trail that began at the same point at the Guadalupe Peak hike but the two split off after a mile.  We could see how we were feelings and what the trail was like and decide from there.  

Of course, I probably should've thrown a little less caution to the wind when she told me the name of the other trail:  Devil's Hall.

Our entire experience hiking for the past week had been on rocks.  Like, the trails are literally made up of rock.  I counted my blessings when we would hit a small stretch of gravel, because the majority of the miles were river stone.  I remember reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson where he describes hiking the Appalachian Trail through Pennsylvania.  He basically said skip PA because the trail will eat your hiking boots for breakfast; the rocks are just sharp and big.  I've hiked a bit of those trails, and I believe the trails of Southwest Texas could make your boots an appetizer.

The ranger had suggested the hike, saying "it's a rocky trail until the last mile.  Then it's boulder climbing which is fun...if you like climbing boulders."  I figured "boulders" were the river stones we had been conquering for the past week.

So off we went.  There weren't many cars in the parking lot at the trail head, so we didn't anticipate seeing many people, and I wondered if any were climbing Guadalupe Peak.  We also used the bathroom one last time.

It did not start out easy.  We hiked straight up a narrow trail, climbing over stairs and rocks.  We eventually came to the dividing point:  Guadalupe Peak to the left, Devil's Hall straight.  Hannah looked right at me and said, "I don't think we should do it."  That was all I needed.  On we went towards the devil's home.  

Pick me! Pick me! (See the cloud we were walking into?)

We knew as soon as we hit the "boulders" because they were, literally, boulders.  I was thankful Hannah was in the lead so she could look for the easiest way to get up and around them, but sometimes I just didn't have the leg strength to pull myself up.  She quickly judged what would be hard for me, and she would turn around and offer a hand.

I hadn't done much reading about the end of the trail, but Hannah mentioned something about "hiker's stairs".  I couldn't believe it when we reached them for two reason.  1) Had I actually climbed those boulders for a mile and survived??, and 2) Were they real?  I kid you not, it looked like something the national park system had built as an amphitheater.  Naturally occurring stairs.  Hannah climbed up these like they were the stairs from the living room to her bedroom at home, but I was a bit more cautious. 

 

And while I was trying to convince my legs that  we still had miles to go, Hannah decided to try and climb  a side "non-authorized" trail.  Obviously hikers for years have thought the view from the top is just too good to pass up.  I just went to my happy place and imagined how I would get a cell signal to call for emergency evacuation.

We had to have our snacky-snack before we left.  Again, we weren't really hungry,  but it feels like something to do to indicate you've arrived ;-) I must admit, it had been a sweaty hike for me, and believe it or not, with the fog, it was pretty humid.  I needed some water for sure!

And that was it.  Well, almost.  We had to go back.  And the boulders on the way back were the exact same ones we had just climbed.

I gave up fighting the boulders and decided to just let them win.  It felt kinda nice to just stop for a minute, even if I WAS plastered to a boulder.

My boots got a bit torn up....

...and curly hair just don't care.  I seriously couldn't control it anymore. I did appreciate the genetic similarity my half-sister and I have with curly hair ;-)