Today we drove 50 miles from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas. The park is home to the highest point in the state. Since we previously "climbed" to the highest spot in Florida we decided to go to the top. But this was a little different than the elevation of 324 feet we conquered there.
This is before we started and we thought the peak behind us was the top. It turned out to be only about a third of the way up.
Looking down from the top of the previous peak to the parking lot below you can see some of the switchbacks that we hiked.
El Capitan on the left is the end of what was a huge ancient reef when this area was covered by a vast tropical ocean 260 million years ago. Guadalupe, the middle peak, is the highest point. As we were driving you could see the mountain rising out of the flat land from over forty miles away.
Looking down on El Capitan from the top. One of the great things about this climb was that we could see for miles in different directions as the trail meandered up the side of the mountain.
WE MADE IT! The trip to the top, 8749 feet above sea level, required a hike of 4.2 miles while climbing almost 3000' and took three hours. The 4.2 miles down took another 2 1/2 hours. There were quite a few people on the trail including a class of seventh graders who were making the climb for Earth Day.
We had a wonderful time in Texas and have enjoyed the sites and the people. But while we understand they want to recognize their native son do they really need the first word on the sign after eight years of this administration?
Today we drove 50 miles from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas. The park is home to the highest point in the state. Since we previously "climbed" to the highest spot in Florida we decided to go to the top. But this was a little different than the elevation of 324 feet we conquered there.
This is before we started and we thought the peak behind us was the top. It turned out to be only about a third of the way up.
Looking down from the top of the previous peak to the parking lot below you can see some of the switchbacks that we hiked.
El Capitan on the left is the end of what was a huge ancient reef when this area was covered by a vast tropical ocean 260 million years ago. Guadalupe, the middle peak, is the highest point. As we were driving you could see the mountain rising out of the flat land from over forty miles away.
Looking down on El Capitan from the top. One of the great things about this climb was that we could see for miles in different directions as the trail meandered up the side of the mountain.
WE MADE IT! The trip to the top, 8749 feet above sea level, required a hike of 4.2 miles while climbing almost 3000' and took three hours. The 4.2 miles down took another 2 1/2 hours. There were quite a few people on the trail including a class of seventh graders who were making the climb for Earth Day.
We had a wonderful time in Texas and have enjoyed the sites and the people. But while we understand they want to recognize their native son do they really need the first word on the sign after eight years of this administration?
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