4/23 - Guadalupe NP, Texas

Thursday, April 23– I slept wonderfully. It was cool but not too cold. Camp broken down before 8am, we decided not to hike into the back side of Carlsbad to see another cavern. It would be a hot hike and you were supposed to have a permit in order to explore the undeveloped cave. We headed out of the park towards Guadalupe.

You can see Guadalupe from nearly 50 miles away. I think one of the most impressive aspects of this National Park is the drive up to the mountain. It looks big from a distance, but it grows to enormous heights before you. Dogs were prohibited on the trails, so we were not able to climb the biggest peak in Texas, but we did go on a couple shorter hike.

The first hike we did was up to Smith's Spring. It was at the base of the mountain, around a 2 mile hike up across the low brush desert and into a shady canyon. Trees over 50 feet tall protected us from the hot sun, and the contrast to the nearly barren landscape outside the canyon was shocking. The spring was running, just a trickle, but enough to allow these thirsty trees to grow, and to allow a ranch below to function. The ranch was settled about 150 years ago, and was the first settlement in this area of Texas. They became a very important stop for thirsty travelers passing by.

After Smith's spring, we headed west out of the park and stopped at a very scenic overlook of the mountain. We noticed an old bridge down the canyon, and bushwhacked our way down to it. There had once been a road down here, but generations had passed since it was in operation. We continued down the canyon a little ways on the slick, smooth rock, but turned back soon because it was hot as heck and we didn't have much water. A side trip up to some overlook rocks above the canyon gave us incredible views of Guadalupe. The pictures we took don't do the place justice. You have to just go there and see it to understand the majesty of Guadalupe.

Down out of the mountains and across a huge salt flat, we finally were getting out of Texas. The interstate runs 857 miles from one side of the state to the other. We had driven over 1200 mile crisscrossing the state. El Paso wasn't too exciting. Like a big version of Del Rio, with some cool buildings downtown surrounded by miles of franchised fast food and auto repair stores. Thirty five miles later we crossed into New Mexico again as we came into Las Cruzes.

Jake and Fernando worked in Yellowstone with us for a summer, and they live here in Las Cruzes. They both go to school and lead very busy lives, but they were able to find some time to hang out with us. After almost 5 days without a shower, that felt incredible. We got ourselves caught up with the internet and battery charging and writing and spent a relaxing night with the guys. We had a couple drinks, watched some TV and I got the sleep on the couch while Tyne took the floor.

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