Guadalupe Mountains National Park

After we looped around Carlsbad Cavern's Scenic Drive, we hit the road for Guadalupe Mountains National Park, which is about 36 miles south of Carlsbad Caverns, just over the Texas border. Click here to see my blog about the first time I went.

An impressive edifice

Guadalupe Mountain, just like Carlsbad Caverns but unlike most of Texas, is in the Mountain Time Zone. But, be forewarned, GPS and telephones seem to get very confused about this. The time on our phones kept switching back and forth. That can get very confusing.

We we arrived at Guadalupe Mountain, the scourge of the desert had raised its ugly head. It had gotten windy. Very windy. That made hiking much less appealing. So, we started at the Visitor Center, which may have a new sign. I don't remember this one.

Does this look like Texas?

We watched the film, did a short walk through the Frijoles Ranch (the museum was closed – as it always seems to be – this time because the volunteer who was running it had to go back to Iowa to plant his crops – really).

This does look like Texas

The ranch was built by the Rader Brothers next to Frijole Spring in 1876. It comprises seven buildings: ranch house, bunkhouse, barn, double outhouse, springhouse, shed and school house. Most of the buildings are built of local stone. All are surrounded by a stone rubble wall. 

The complex represents the most complete early ranching operation in the Guadalupe Mountains.

The Rader brothers left the area in the late 1880s and the property passed among several families before eventually being sold to the National Park Service in 1966 for $1.5 million.

Springhouse channel

One of the really cool things on the ranch is the springhouse and the little channel of fresh spring water that flows out of it. Because the house area is built next to several springs, it is a cool, green oasis in the middle of a scrubby desert landscape. Apparently, further up in the mountains (where we didn't hike) there are lots of cool, green areas with ecosystems generally found much farther north.

After looking at the buildings, we took the short, paved trail to nearby Manzanita Spring. The last time I was there, the trail had been damaged by a flood and was NOT accessible. It is now.

There's a pretty little pond at Manzanita Spring, surrounded by reeds.

Looks like a good birding spot

On our walk -- our very breezy walk -- encountered what we thought was a Golden Eagle way up high (too high for good pictures), but we later decided might have just been a very dark Red-Tailed Hawk. It was hard to tell (that’s how high it was). We also saw Turkey Vultures -- lots flying and a few that actually landed ...

They are usually soaring

Woodhouse’s Scrub Jays ...

A pretty bird (and large!)

Two very colorful Greater Earless Lizards (look closely to see the red dots on its back and green and black bands on its belly) ...

You can't see it, but it also has bold black stripes on the underside of its tail

With the exception of some bright cactus flowers, the landscape generally fairly brown and thirsty-looking.

Some relief in the desert

Guadalupe Mountain has no roads to speak of, so hiking is really the only way to see the park in detail, but I think the three different entrances give you a fairly good representation.

We scrapped our plans to hike to Smith Spring, the hike I had done in 2014, because the wind was just too unpleasant.

We then decided to make the drive around the southwestern end of the mountains and set up for sunset pictures. 

Not enough wind protection

We had an in-car picnic (we do that when we encounter wind). The picnic shelter had a very quintessential Texas look, but we found the orientation odd. It didn't seem to protect from the sun at any time of day -- and it didn't seem to block the wind. Maybe some other time of year ...

We took lots of pictures both from the picnic overlook ...

The Park's namesake

... before heading further southwest to set up for evening shots. There was no pullout that didn't have a blocked view, so we just pulled over on the shoulder. 

A look from across the desert

Since it's not really a high-traffic area, it wasn't too bad. We talked about how we could possible do nighttime star shots, but I think the shoulder might be dangerous in the dark.

Late afternoon

There were no clouds, so the sunset wasn’t everything we wished for. But, it was pretty and, as we were shooting, the wind did die down quite a bit.

El Capitan

The main -- and very impressive -- peak is named El Capitan (that seems to be a common mountain name).  Although it is the eighth highest peak in Texas, it is considered to be the "signature peak" of West Texas.

El Capitan is the southern terminus of the Guadalupe escarpment, an ancient limestone reef (this area was once under an ocean) that forms the present-day Guadalupe Mountains. It is guarded by cliffs on three sides and is rarely climbed because the rocks are unstable. Hikers can reach the summit by first climbing Guadalupe Peak and then scrambling down to the south to the Guadalupe Peak-El Capitan saddle, then up the backside of El Capitan. I think I would rather just look at it.

Getting later

An added treat was an almost-full Moon in a clear sky (unfortunately opposite, not over, El Capitan).

Too bad I couldn't move the Moon

It was also a treat to be outside in the evening without even needing a jacket.

Trip date: April 6-10, 2017