Guadalupe Peak/Carlsbad Caverns

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April 27

After breakfast we packed up the Chisos Basin campsite in Big Bend National Park and got on the road. Destination: Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and Carlsbad Caverns about 4 hours away. We enjoyed more beautiful Texas scenery.

Along the way we were required to pass through a Border Patrol checkpoint. They just asked us a few questions and we were on our way.

Marfa, Texas

We took a pit stop in Marfa, Texas for a late lunch. Marfa is on several web lists as a cool artsy town to check out, so we were glad to see it was on the way. Unfortunately, we found the town underwhelming. It was a disjointed hodgepodge of rundown streets and store fronts with the occasional cafe or art studio. There were lots of closed businesses. Marfa must have seen better days than this. We did manage to find a funky art gallery/deli that served an amazing chicken soup.

The best part of Marfa, for us, was the larger than life-sized colorful cutouts of the actors in the classic 1956 movie “Giant”, which was filmed in part in Marfa. These were along the side of the road as we headed out of town.

About 30 miles further down the road, still in Marfa technically, was a faux Prada store art exhibit “Prada Marfa” in the middle of nothing…and with nothing else. It was stocked with fake Prada shoes in the window. It was just so out of place in the Chihuahua Desert it was great.

Salt Flat, Texas

On to our home for the next 3 nights at an Airbnb campsite on somebody’s own piece of desert in Salt Flat, Texas.  This was where we settled since we were unable to secure a site at the Guadalupe Mountain NP campground. This Airbnb campground was about 30 minutes from the park, and one hour from Carlsbad Caverns. This place is definitely off the beaten path, and really in the middle of the Texas desert. The hosts did their best to make an oasis, and they were mostly successful.

We got there around 6:30 pm and were greeted by the hosts. We chatted with them for about half hour. It was a primitive campground with no running water or flush toilets. But there was a homemade solar and propane powered hot water shower near us. It worked  great. Each of the well separated sites was provided with 2 large water bottles for washing and drinking, and solar lights lined the paths to the two pit toilets which also had their own water and soap for washing. We set up camp and had a meal in a bag and watched a magnificent sunset over the desert mountains. At the campfire we made friends with a very cute and friendly kangaroo rat.

Off to bed.

Carlsbad Caverns

April 28

Bfast at the campsite. There were predictions of high winds today so to keep our tent from blowing away we took it down and laid our camp chairs on top of the downed tent.

Then we made our way to Carlsbad Caverns National Park about 1 hour away. I had pre-registered for the 1:30 pm self-guided 1.25-mile Natural Entrance Cavern Tour but we got there around 10:00 hoping to get in early and to sign up for an additional ranger-led tour which are infrequent and have limited space. When we got out of the car in the parking lot, we realized just how cold and really windy it was outside…a good day to be inside caverns!  The line for tickets at the ranger desk was chaotic because a large school group had just arrived as well. Oh oh! This did not look good, but the line itself was actually not long. The ranger got us early entry for our self-guided tour, and he got us into a 1:30 “King’s Palace” 90-minute ranger-led tour. Perfect!

We immediately set off on our self-guided tour at the Natural Entrance, around 10:30 am. The entrance was massive, and we were treated to the sight of a flock of swallows swirling around us.

 

The “Big Room” was one of the main attractions of the self-guided tour.

We completed this self-guided trail in the cavern at around 12:15 which gave us an hour for lunch and souvenir shopping at the Visitors Center cafeteria before our ranger led tour.

Met up with our “King’s Palace” tour down the elevator within the caverns. Our ranger guide was Mark. There were 24 people on the tour. We were fortunate to have Mark as our guide. He was a 15-year Carlsbad Caverns veteran, and a self-proclaimed “caver” who had actually discovered his own “room” within caves he had spelunked; so, he had keen insights on what it was like discovering the various parts of the caverns, and deep knowledge of the geology within.

The King’s Palace tour was excellent. We are so glad we did both;  one on our own, and one led by a ranger.

We got back to the campsite around 5:00 pm.  It was a good thing we took our tent down before we left. The wind that day surely would have done damage to it. But now we have a desert-sand-covered tent to clean off and put back up. The new air mattress inside was still good…the most important thing!

Upon the recommendation of our campground host we went into Dell City, the closest “town” about 30 minutes away for burritos at Two Ts.  Two Ts is a small mom and pop convenience store that also makes burritos. Unfortunately, we missed Two Ts by about 5 minutes…grill was closed.

Back to campground for a meal in a bag, a campfire and a gorgeous sunset.

Our kangaroo rat pal joined us again. He enjoyed the peanuts we gave him.

Off to bed.

Guadalupe Peak Trail

April 29

Awoke early to be sure to get a parking spot at the Guadalupe Peak trailhead. Got there around 7:15 am. Upon getting a spot, we had cereal and coffee at the car, and got our hiking gear in order as we prepared to hike the highest peak in Texas. Oh, we also used the flush toilet at the trailhead!

Started hiking 8:15 am. This hike is the primary reason people come to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. It’s a very challenging and strenuous 8.2-mile out and back trail with an elevation gain of 3,000’ to an altitude of over 8,000’.  We planned on this hike taking us about 8 hours. The weather was perfect for west Texas. It was in the upper 60s to low 70s with just a bit of wind. So, with what felt like 83 pounds of water in our packs, off we went. In a classic Dean Magellan move, I led us astray onto the horse trail spur about 1/4-mile in. Luckily, Magellan recovered quickly and we got back on the correct trail adding only about 1/3-mile to the hike.

Even with great weather, this was a tough hike. About 2.5 of the 4.1 miles to the top are a steep ascent. The first 1.5 miles being the hardest, and the last mile a close second hardest, which didn’t leave much of the hike being easy! The vistas were stunning all along the hike up. There was just a constant wow factor that made this hike so great.

 

But the view from the top is the real prize. It took us about 4 hours to reach the peak. We had lunch at the top with a couple dozen other people and stayed at the top for about a half hour.

It was a faster hike down for us, though there were several opportunities for sliding and falling on the rolling scree. I took advantage of one of these opportunities and completed a split that any Olympic gymnast would be proud of. Somehow, I popped up unscathed…only to get a 4 from the Russian judge. It took us about 3 hours to get back to the trailhead.

We spent some time at the car recovering before driving over to the visitors center to buy our requisite park sticker and magnet, only to be thwarted by an early closure by the rangers…damn. So, we headed back towards Dell City to get a burrito at Two Ts, as highly recommended by our CampBnB hosts. Emilie raced to get there by 5:00, the time when they close the grill. No kidding, we got there at 4:58, and they made us each an authentic Mexican burrito…and we also bought some beer to wash them down. We took our dinner back to the campsite and downed our awesome burritos.

After dinner we each jumped in the campground’s primitive yet somehow luxurious free standing hot shower. I think at this point, somebody spraying us with a garden hose would feel luxurious.

Another fantastic desert mountain sunset, and some time by the fire with our adopted kangaroo rat, then off to bed.

 

Next: Roswell & Santa Fe