Mt. Livermore...trip report

[fartymarty]

    Just a reminder and to guide the newbies to it, westtex made this hike when visibility was better
 and he could see from the Guads to the Chisos with photos.

     bdhawk133, Thanks for the report, I look forward to the pics if you can get 'em.

      madplanter, thanks also, I'm not sure why but I enjoyed the pic of little lonely Valentine. I guess because I always wonder why that town is there when I drive through .

[astrofizz]

I've wanted to climb that since I first laid eyes on it.

Sleepy ... That's Sawtooth Mtn just off the Davis Mtns Loop, isn't it? 

[astrofizz]

The trip from the paved road at TX 118 (10 miles N of McDonald Obs) onto the Conservancy's Davis Mtns Preserve and then along dirt roads to Bridge Gap at approx 7300 ft elevation is a great off-road trek. There are multiple interesting side-roads, too, though I don't know anymore how often the Conservancy allows traffic and/or hikes into, e.g., Right Hand Canyon, around to Shoe Tank, or up to the base of Pine Peak.
 
My first few trips onto that high-elevation Davis Mountains property were when it was still owned by Don McIvor and the Jeep trails were more challenging, esp the last couple miles to Bridge Gap. Don blazed many of the U Up U Down trails with his bulldozer, and they were great places to go adventuring in my Jeep Wrangler or on foot. Though one mid-September afternoon I had to high tail it out of the high country in my Jeep when thunderstorms formed w/o much warning & dropped ALOT of rain quickly, raising the multiple water crossings in Madera Canyon to impressive heights (This trip was also memorable also for an outstanding late summer wildflower bloom).
 
I always found the hike from Bridge Gap to Mt Livermore more challenging on the way down than going up because of the loose rock. I counted my descent from the Livermore area as excellent if I managed to not slip and fall anywhere on that relatively short but steep trek.
 
Thanks to those of you who posted photos of the views from Mt Livermore and elsewhere that allowed me to visit again vicariously.

[sleepy]

I've wanted to climb that since I first laid eyes on it.

Sleepy ... That's Sawtooth Mtn just off the Davis Mtns Loop, isn't it?

DOH!

[emsprofessional]

The mention of the big trees reminded me of the saw mill in the Davis mountains from back in the Fort days.  Most people never realize we have huge trees in west Texas and even more find it hard to believe there used to be a mill.