Reach the Top of Texas at Guadalupe Mountains National Park!
Located in the western corner of Texas, Guadalupe Mountains National Park protects the worlds most extensive Permian fossil reef. Also home to the aptly named Guadalupe Peak, the tallest point in the Lone Star State at 8,751 feet. The peak abruptly shoots up from the Chihuahuan Desert that surrounds the eastern side of the range; providing views of the park miles before you have arrived.
The Guadalupe Mountain range is also home to El Capitan. Not to be confused with Yosemite National Park’s, El Capitan, although they do share some resemblance. One thing is certain, you will never have to worry about crowds, in 2017 the park was ranked 48 out of 58 for visitors. Do not let this be a deterrent though the park has plenty to offer, but due to the remoteness and lack of a major city nearby (El Paso/2 Hours) the park just doesn’t see Yellowstone-like traffic.
It should be noted, Carlsbad Cavern National Park is 40 minutes north of Guadalupe as is definitely worth a visit.
Spur of the moment
My last minute December trip to Guadalupe National Park was based sole around reaching the Top of Texas. The weather was forecasted to be sunny, with highs in the 60’s and lows in the 40’s for the next few days so I quickly shifted things into gear and made my move.
It was pretty easy to talk my friend Adam into tagging along. After all, it doesn’t get much better than spur of the moment, ten-hour road trip across your home state with intentions of climbing the tallest peak it has to offer.
Looking back down at the truck, Pine Springs.
We left Houston at 3:00 in order to reach the park with enough daylight to hike 3.5 miles to the high campground. This would put us roughly a mile from the summit, which we would tackle the following day.
The drive went smooth, no flat tires or speeding tickets. We pulled into the Pine Springs visitor area right on time at 2:00 PM. Quickly scribbled our names on the entrance fee envelope, crammed a mix of bills, totaling $18 in the honesty box. Then we tossed on our packs and headed up the mountain, I would guessed we were both lugging roughly 35 pounds of shit on our back, much of which we wouldn’t end up even needing.
At first we both had quite the pep in our step, probably from spending the last 10 hours sitting down. It didn’t take long for the trail to rise from the valley floor towards the top of Texas. We took a quick water break at the junction for the stock trail. The lookout point gave some perspective of how far we had came, but also was a humbling reminder of how far we still had to go.
Keep the motivation burning!
Our motivation was holding strong until we reached the exposed, north facing slope. Where we were greeted with a brutal northern wind. We both simultaneously had to catch our hats from blowing away. It didn’t take long for us to stop so we could put on warmer clothes, and secure our hats inside our packs.
Adam, moments before the wind would attempt to blow us off the north facing ridge.
The wind became more violent every step we took, a tree blowing over on top of us became a real concern as we marched up the mountain. A mountain, that mother nature didn’t seem to want us on.
Eventually we spotted a few tents across the valley and new that was our destination. I didn’t say anything to Adam but I started to worry that there might not be any available camp sites. The sign clearly stated the 5 spots were first come, first serve. It took another 30 minutes to make it around to the split in the trail, one leading to the camp ground, the other to the top of Texas.
As I stumbled into the camping area I estimated the wind to be gusting around 45-50 mph. Two guys, popped out from behind a large fallen cedar and said hello. They looked at me like I was a ghost. One of them haphazardly pointed me towards “the last available site” as the other guy stated, “Good luck, its pretty exposed over there”.
Well shit, we made it.
I was a few minutes ahead of Adam but didn’t see the point in waiting so I pulled off my gloves and began unpacking my tent. This lasted about 45 seconds, until I realized the ground was impenetrable to my tent stakes. Then it became apparent why there were so many large stones stacked on the edge of the tent site. The poor souls before us had used them to anchor down their tent, just as I now would.
As Adam approached he pointed out a tent that was tangled in a tree top further down the valley. We both looked at each other like that would soon be our fate as well. But we managed to set up each of our tents and bunkered in at 8:00 PM. Both of us agreed that the wind would die down after dark and we could fire up the stove and make a proper meal.
Long story short, the wind never died down. It lashed out at us all night with a violent tempo. My tent, unlike Adam’s allowed for me to sit up. However, this created much more resistance and quite literally beat the shit out of my tent. Adam, was close to the ground in a coffin like tent. He wasn’t able to move around, much less sit up but he was alsoless likely to blow off the mountain.
A beating from Mother Nature.
Every so often after a harsh gust of wind nailed us, we would yell out a few curse words. Just to ensure one of us hadn’t been taken away by mother nature. As if the wind wasn’t bad enough, it was also cloudy so we were unable to see any stars but I was able to snap a picture of the sunrise, signaling we had survived the night!
The sunrise was like a fire in the sky! (Notice the useless tent stake)
We crawled out of our tents around 7:30 AM, nearly twelve hours after we entered them. By this time Adam was pissed off at the mountain. He rolled up his coffin like tube tent (with everything still inside) and shoved the entire wad into his back pack. It took me a little longer to “properly” pack up but soon enough we were on our way back to the trail head.
I turned right and headed towards the peak, delirious and unsure of how long it would take but it didn’t matter. The wind was still howling but I was making it to the top of the damn peak! I turned back after a particular exposed section, but Adam was gone. I jogged back around the corner where we had came from, nothing. I peered down into the valley but couldn’t see him down there either. I figured if he fell off the edge he would have at least yelled. So I continued on.
Thirty-four minutes later I was standing next to the silver pyramid marking the summit of Guadalupe Peak. I snapped a few pictures and signed my name on the registration list (inside of an old ammo can) careful not to let any pages be blown away by persistent wind. Then I quickly retreated down the mountain, with a smirk on my face. Mother Nature wasn’t going to get the best of me, not today anyway.
Mission Accomplished: Top of Texas!
Smiling through the sleep deprivation! Time to retreat down the mountain before I get blown off it!
On my way down I passed a crazy guy who was running up the mountain. I stopped him to ask if he had seen a big, pissed off guy with a huge pack? He quickly glanced at his watch and said “ya he’s 1.2 miles ahead of you”. Very precise I thought to myself. Then I asked what he was running for? He smiled, said he was training for an “ultra” and took off. (This trip took place before I began running ultra-marathons. Now that I think about it, he was probably the first person who introduced me to the sport. Didn’t get his name, but thanks dude)
I eventually caught up to Adam, who had by now cooled off and relaxed a bit. The last 30 minutes back to the truck was filled with laughs and curses about the mountain. We were both in high spirts and happy to see the truck but were also exhausted. The idea of driving 10 hours did not sit well with either of us so we got a hotel that night, probably one of the best decisions I had made that week.
It may seem like our trip was a miserable trip that ended up as a failure depending on who you ask but I can assure you that our Guadalupe Trip is talked about much more than trips where everything went perfectly.
The park doesn’t have as many amenities or ranger lead programs that some of the others do. Horseback riding is one of the main activities besides hiking/camping. Besides the summit trail there are a few others including, Devils Hat, Smith Spring Loop and McKittrick Canyon. I can’t attest to any of them but in my opinion the main draw of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, is reaching the Top of Texas.
Top of Texas in retrospect..
I obviously would have done more research on the weather conditions for the night. On my next visit, I will camp at Pine Springs (where we left the truck). Then hike to the summit on day hike instead of an overnight hike. It would have been much more enjoyable not having to carry a 35 pound pack to the top. Live and learn.
Have you been to the Top of Texas? Was it windy? Did you camp or day hike to the summit?
Share below and be sure to check out the other National Parks Here.
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