1976 Trip Report

[Mark D]

The Guadalupe Mountains have a special place in my heart. They were the site of my first ever backpacking trip.

May 1976.  My friend and coworker, Al, and I took off 3 weeks from work for a trip out West. After work on a Friday we loaded up my ’74 Toyota Celica, left Lebanon, Pa and drove all through the night. About 10:00 the following night we stopped to visit a long-lost cousin of Al’s in Arthur City, Texas. It’s a little town near Paris.  After about an hour of chit-chat we got back on the road and drove all night and arrived at Carlsbad Caverns the next day. We pitched our tent at the KOA there and toured the main cave.

On Monday we took a flashlight tour of New Cave in the morning and then drove south to Guadalupe. I believe it was a relatively new National Park at the time, since I had never heard of it. I was kind of surprised to see it on the maps when we were planning to go to Carlsbad. At the visitor center, which if memory serves, was just a trailer, I bought a 15 minute USGS topo map—Guadalupe Peak, 1933. Someone had gone through the trouble to draw on the map with a felt-tipped pen, the park boundary and all the backcountry trails and campsites. We camped that night at Pine Springs campground. Since it was so hot (May 31st) we didn’t bother with the tent and just rolled our bags out on the ground. When darkness fell, the skunks started roaming around and the deer were running down the hillside through the campground. I moved my bag up on top of a picnic table and slept there.

The next morning we drove down the highway to a point south of El Capitan. We pulled off onto a dirt track and parked the car. In those days the trail to the peak started at this point and went straight north up a drainage along the east side of El Capitan to a saddle, and then west up to the Peak. The ranger told us to camp at the saddle. My backpack was a borrowed Boy Scout canvas pack with only shoulder straps—no hip belt. My hiking boots were a pair of steel-toed hi-top heavy leather work shoes. Since the park ranger recommended a gallon of water per day, I put two one-gallon milk jugs of water in my pack.

The trail started out on the old dirt road and when that fizzled out, we just had to follow our noses uphill, uphill, uphill. It was quite hot and being on the south side of the mountain we got the full brunt of the sun. A few hundred yards from the saddle, I was dead. I took one of the gallon jugs out of the pack and laid it on the trail to lighten my load. When we finally made the saddle there was shade there and I lay down for a rest. After about a half hour my heart was still beating like crazy. I checked my pulse and it was 120. Good thing I was only 24 years old at the time or I probably would have had a heart attack.

After a good rest I went back down the hill and got my jug of water, and then we made our way up to the top of the peak. I remember it being kind of a scramble up some big rocks. The rocks were composed of zillions of tiny shells cemented together. The view from the top was fantastic, especially looking down at the top of El Capitan and south over the Delaware Mountains. That seemed like a funny name for a mountain range in the Texas desert, especially since I grew up in Philly along the banks of the Delaware River. Perhaps some old pioneer from back home had come out this way long ago and given them that name.

All the pictures I have from that trip are still in the form of slides except for this one which I had enlarged and mounted. The print got scratched and the colors have faded over the years. After all my travels it is still one of my favorite pictures.


The next morning we made our way back down to the car. We drove back to the ranger station to let them know we survived. I went in and washed of the desert sweat in their bathroom sink while Al chatted up the female ranger. We then got back on the road and head west to El Paso and New Mexico.

[Al]

I am a different "Al"

As I remember from back then, we would pull off on a little paved turn off by a drainage and ridge that was just north of where the road was blocked and we hiked in from there.   I don't remember when the trail on the back side, as used today, was put in.  Did you go to the little store/grill near the trailhead?
Al

[Mark D]

We stopped at a restaraunt/gas station after the hike that was south or west of the park. It wasn't too far, but it wasn't "near the trailhead". It was a long time ago and the memories are faded. I can't remember anything about it except that we were there.

[Al]

Mark D, I am not challenging your memories.  I love your picture.

Just wondering if you met Mrs. Glover.  If you went in her store you would remember her.  A simple question that does not diminish the experience of having hiked up to the highest elevation in Texas!  Thanks for sharing.

Al

[presidio]

I am a different "Al"

As I remember from back then, we would pull off on a little paved turn off by a drainage and ridge that was just north of where the road was blocked and we hiked in from there.   I don't remember when the trail on the back side, as used today, was put in.  Did you go to the little store/grill near the trailhead?
Al

The current trail, with the bridge up near the top, was constructed in 1979-1980. Prior to that time you either went up Guadalupe Canyon directly off the highway or took other goat trails off Pine Canyon that were even steeper than what you walk today.

[Picacho]

Too bad they didn't just leave the peak the way it was without constructing the highway trail to the top.  That's why Shumard should be on everyone's list, no trail, do it the old fashioned way.

[presidio]

Too bad they didn't just leave the peak the way it was without constructing the highway trail to the top.  That's why Shumard should be on everyone's list, no trail, do it the old fashioned way.

Yep and yep.

[Mark D]

Yes, I noticed on the gumo website that the trail I took no longer exists. At least not officially, I guess.

Presidio, what did you mean by "bridge"? Are you talking about a man-made structure?

[presidio]

Presidio, what did you mean by "bridge"? Are you talking about a man-made structure?

Yes, there is a short bridge structure that spans a crevice. It's 20 feet long or so. It's up in an area where they blasted the trail into the mountain.

[RichardM]

Presidio, what did you mean by "bridge"? Are you talking about a man-made structure?

Yes, there is a short bridge structure that spans a crevice. It's 20 feet long or so. It's up in an area where they blasted the trail into the mountain.

Not the best pic, but it's all I've got for now.

[presidio]

Not the best pic, but it's all I've got for now.

That would be the one.

[randell]

That's a great story and photo.  I'm all too familiar with the friendly skunks at GUMO (as I backhanded one that tried to enter my tent one freezing windy night!)

[Mark D]

Nice bridge. I guess I'll have to go back and check it out.

Does anybody know if GUMO is also a designated Wilderness? If so, are they allowed to build a bridge there?

[presidio]

Does anybody know if GUMO is also a designated Wilderness? If so, are they allowed to build a bridge there?

Per their online map, which is pretty crappy, the peak and the upper part of the trail appear to be just outside the wilderness area.

Regardless, the Wilderness Act is not an absolute and many things that purists would find objectionable can and do occur in wilderness areas. It's the real world, after all, that these areas exist in.

Section 4c of the Act (which few people read; most prefer their own interpretation of what they think it means) says the following--

PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN USES

Except as specifically provided for in this chapter, and subject to existing private rights, there shall be no commercial enterprise and no permanent road within any wilderness area designated by this Act and, except as necessary to meet minimum requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of this Act (including measures required in emergencies involving the health and safety of persons within the area), there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such area.

Who makes the determination as to 'minimum requirements for administration'? The controlling agency, of course. This is how you get constructed, maintained trails in wilderness areas...and the occasional bridge because they are deemed necessary for proper management of the area.

[okiehiker]

There are many bridges, shelters and other "structures" within the boundaries of protected widlerness areas.  Some are "grandfathered" in while others are seen as consistent with the desired uses of the area.

The challenge is the planning and construction of a structure such as that bridge without the use of power tools.  Most of the trails are quite appropriate for the context.  There is a place, however, for leaving remote and rugged places remote and rugged for future generations.