Guadalupe Peak

To the Campground

The six of us left College Station, TX early Friday afternoon for the 10 hour drive out to the trailhead. Our so-called leader is a state highpointer that had climbed Guadalupe several times before. It was right around midnight before we finally got started up the trail. Upon reaching the first switchback we realized that one of the guys was already in pain (lower back); we tried several things to try to solve the problem. We eventually figured out that it was his sleeping pad which was attached to the back of his pack that was pulling him off center and adjusted things accordingly. We continued up through the numerous switchbacks by headlamp, periodically stopping to enjoy the spectacular stars. The weather was perfect, temperature around 55 and little wind. We were definitely grateful once we reached the top of the main section of switchbacks that start the climb.
We hiked along the trail, making sure to err to the cliff side as the drop is severe for a ways further. We were always keeping a lookout for the turn off to the campground, but apparently missed it because we heard some of the slower guys that were back a little from us three call asking which fork to take. We knew they were seeing our turnoff so we backtracked and made our way to the campsite. We arrived there at 2:45am.
The campsite consisted of several cleared off pads two of which had wind breaks. One of the windbreaks was occupied so we took the other and settled in for a bit of sleep.

To the Top of Texas

I slept well, but apparently some in our group did not. It was colder than expected (around 40F) and very windy we woke at 6am. We left our sleeping supplies at the camp and headed up with water, snacks and cameras. This part of the hike is very enjoyable. Soon after we crossed the bridge just before the summit climb we saw (and crossed a tiny one) a couple snow patches. This was possibly the last snow left in the state. As we began the somewhat steep climb to the summit we noticed the wind picking up. Upon reaching the summit it was really howling. It took us 38 minutes to reach the summit from the campground.
We spent a while taking pictures, enjoying the spectacular scenery, signing the registery and doing some things only Aggies would understand. To sign the registery we had to find a sheltered spot and even then it was to a simple task.

Down to the Car

We headed on down from the summit to our first detour which was to scramble around on a big boulder just before the bridge. We spent a bit of time scrambling around and taking pictures. We again made our way down; we began to meet a good number of hikers coming up as it was Saturday morning. We detoured again at an outcrop just before the start of the switchbacks. to do more scrambling and picture taking, at this point we could see the parking lot far below. Finally we decided to get on down so we could get some lunch.

Back to College Station

We loaded up the cars and headed down to Van Horn, TX to eat at John Madden's favorite restaurant Chuy's. Then on to Lost Maples State Park in the Texas Hill Country to camp for the night. We got back to College Station Sunday afternoon having enjoyed an awesome weekend of climbing and fellowship.

Images

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