Hiking: Guadalupe Mountains National Park

On the Tejas Trail in the Guadalupe Mountains

Have you wondered where the highest point in Texas is located?  It's Guadalupe Peak, way out in the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas.  You can see the backside of it in the above photo which I took while hiking in Guadalupe Mountains National Park (GUMO).  The park is located about 50 miles north of Van Horn (which is about 120 miles from El Paso on I-10) and is relatively close to Carlsbad (home of the eponymous caverns).  Why am I posting about this?  I'm going in  2022 (relatively early, before it's too hot).

I've hiked in the park twice.  The first time was to the top of Guadalupe Peak.  The second time, I did the Bowl Loop (short version) which included going to the top of Hunter Peak and this (pictured above) sunset hike down the Tejas Trail.  On the second trip I also hiked Devil's Hall and visited the sand dunes (on the other side of the park, near Dell City).  Not only do I recommend visiting GUMO, but I also recommend any of the above excursions.  

Here are a few thoughts, compressed into bullet points instead of flowing prose:

• You must now reserve a campsite in the Pine Springs campground.  The freewheeling days of first-come-first-serve are over.  
• See my previous post on hiking up Guadalupe Peak.   Obviously, the above bullet point supersedes the previous point on Pine Springs.  Also, if you camp on the peak trail (backpacking style) you must now pack out your own solid waste (like you might do for your dog at the dog park).
• I highly recommend taking hiking poles.  There are plenty of areas with loose rocks and an incline.  My poles kept me from doing a face-plant while walking down the Tejas Trail.
• Pack plenty of water.   On the trails I have hiked, there is none.   Also, it's the desert and you will lose more water than you think.  
• Another thing about the trails: the Guadalupe Peak trail is well-trafficked.   Not so much for the other trails I've been on.  When I hiked up to the Bowl, I ran into one person over the course of several hours.  Cell coverage is almost non-existent, so if you go alone then let someone know where you're going.  
• Visit the Salt Basin Dunes at sunset.  The sight of the twilight on the sides of the cliff walls below the peak is fantastic.  

These are my preliminary thoughts as I'm planning for the upcoming trip.  I'll post an update about the trip (should it reveal itself to be a post-worthy experience).  

Looking East, From Top of Hunter Peak

Backside of Guadalupe Peak, Seen From Tejas Trail

Everything You Need to Know to Hike Guadalupe Peak - The Texas State Hig...

Check out this informative video about hiking to the top of Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas.  I made it to the top back in 2007.  I had planned a return trip to the top during my last trip to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, but I ended up spending my hiking day on the Bowl Loop (with side trip to the top of Hunter Peak) which ended up being a great time.  I'll post about that hike at some point, in addition to more about my trips to the park.

In case you are heading out that way now, here are some tips:

• Pine Springs campground is first come/first serve.  Also, the tent sites are hard (too hard for my stakes).  Come prepared to tie your tent down to rocks.  
• Pack in all of your food.  The park's gift shop may sell a few snacks, but the nearest places to Pine Springs campground where you can buy actual food are Van Horn and Carlsbad.  If you are on the western side of the park, there is a store (with pizza) in Dell City.
• Drink lots of water.  This is the desert and your body will lose a lot of water even when it is cool outside.
• Download the Hiking Project app, if you haven't already.  It works offline, so when your phone is in airplane mode or in a no service area the map will still tell you where you are.  
• Don't expect to find electric outlets.  In addition to using your car's charger, bring charging packs if you have them.  

That's all I have to say for now, other than I highly recommend a trip out to this fantastic part of Texas.  

Video: Rain Over the Sangre de Cristo

Shot this from the Earthship Compound, west of Taos on Highway 64 in northern New Mexico.   You're looking across the Taos Plateau, east toward the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  Wheeler Peak, the highest point in New Mexico, is obscured by the rain.

The video is from May, when I was in the area with +Andy Graham and +Dal Latsha

Travel: Colorado

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs

[Photos by Dave Floyd]


It's good to be back in Austin after an excellent trip to Colorado.

For the past three years, I've gone up to Colorado for vacation.  In 2009, I hiked to the top of Mt. Elbert with my mountain climbing buddy.  In 2010 and 2011, I went to Denver, Boulder, and Estes Park with friends.  Both of these trips included a lot of fly fishing, hiking, and road tripping around the mountains.

This year, my trip to Colorado was more business oriented as it was center around the 2012 Association of Government Risk Pools ("AGRIP") Institute for Management and Leadership conference.  The conference was held at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs.  I hadn't been to that part of Colorado in a long time, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.   Furthermore, the conference was full of very informative seminars.   I have been a regular at AGRIP's Fall and Spring conferences since 2007, but this was the first summer Management & Leadership session I'd attended.  I walked away with some very valuable information, as well as quite a few ideas for tweaking things at Prism Risk Management.  I also left with ideas for the Texas Schools Property & Casualty Cooperative and Oklahoma Schools Property & Casualty Cooperative programs.  I'll get into some of these concepts in detail on the Prism Risk Management blog over the next few weeks.

Mt. Elbet and Mt. Massive in Colorado

Owing to the business nature of my Colorado trip, I had compressed time to travel around the mountains for fun.  I did take a day to drive the following route:

• Glenwood Springs to Aspen
• Aspen to Twin Lakes (via Independence Pass)
• Twin Lakes to Leadville (in the shadow of Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive)
• Leadville to Frisco
• Frisco to Grand Lakes
• Grand Lakes to Estes Park (via the Trial Ridge Road in Rocky Mtn. Nat'l Park)
• Estes Park to Ft. Collins

This route took me about 9 hours, but there were significant breaks in driving for photography.  The Twin Lakes to Estes Park portion of the contained several portions of a by-way called "Top of the Rockies."  If you have a short time frame and want to see some spectacular mountain scenery in the vicinity of Denver, I highly recommend the route listed in the bullet points above.