Yep. We have now been there and done that. After carrying the goal of climbing the tallest peak in Texas around on a bucketlist for years, we did the dang thang.

The park was actually stop #2 of a 7 park, 10 day trip that we had planned all year with my newly retired dad to tackle with us. We started October 1st with an overnight at Monahans Sandhills State Park. Second visit for us, first for my dad. The kids were thrilled to be back there and I questioned if starting the trip off covered in sand was the best idea haha. Thank goodness for the parks excellent bathhouses.

The drive from Monahans to the national park the next day was quick and easy and we were set up in our “parking space” by noon. There is no electrical access in this park, only water. RVs park side by side in a parking lot and tent campers have a trail to some pads. There is a bathroom with flushing toilets and one sink as well as a dishwashing station. They also have a water bottle filling station that is filtered. We were aware of all the “boondocking” that this trip would entail ahead of time and Dad came armed with a solar panel, rechargeable battery and a portable refrigerator. So we had lights, charged phones or cold food! All while being good neighbors not running a generator constantly. The weather also stayed just right being 70 and sunny during the day with 40s at night that a good layer of blankets and warm clothing handled.

After getting the camper settled, the kids and I were restless and decided to tackle a hike to Devils Hall which also trailheaded at our campsite. We would be pushing it to get it done before dark, but it seemed doable. My brief research noted there was a large section of the hike where the trail was a “pick your own path” through a creekbed. Not really a big deal, we’re used to a rocky creekbed…except this was a BOULDERED creekbed that took a long time to traverse and was quite the effort. We made it to the first attraction along the trail, “Devil’s Hole,” and took in the crazy geological structure.

The trail beyond was more creekbed and I couldn’t tell how much farther we had to go with the limited trail map provided on line. It seems National Parks are geared towards hikers having handheld GPS capability than just going by a paper map with marked distances. Sooooo after gauging how long it took us to get to that point and still having to make it back, we decided far enough and turned back. Our neighbor later told us we were looking at another mile to the hall and that would have definitely put us back after dark and very exhausted before our big hike the next day. oh well.

We were on the trail to Guadalupe Peak by 7:30am Monday morning. The crowd in the park was fair during the week, but lots of cars had shown up in the pre dawn hours to get started. I’m going to just let pictures tell the story of what we traversed for 6 hours up and 3 hours down with an elevation change of 2,940 feet for 4.2 miles one way to put us at 8,750 feet above sea level. 🙂

It was intense, long, strenuous and could’ve gotten the better of us a few times. But it was also beautiful, historical and adventurous. We saw people give up and turn around with only a mile to go. We also saw people running up and lapping us. The way back down was quicker, but quite painful for all but Archer lol! The kid is built for distance and can keep a pace unlike anything I’ve seen. We were constantly calling him back to us or to at least wait!

The next day, we visited a historical homestead in the park and got a great view of the entire span of trail and peaks we covered.

All of us decided we are “one and done” with this feat. Tackling such a challenge with my dad, who has obviously had a huge hand in teaching me how to take on the hard stuff, along with my own kids made the victory even more special. Maybe, just maybe, they will want to haul their own kids up there one day and *maybe* I’ll do it again then.

There is definitely more to Guadalupe Mountain National Park than just the peak. The mountains are covered in geological marvels and 100s of miles of beautiful trails. One could spend weeks there exploring. The visitor center has a ton of fascinating information on the geographical and geological history for the area and then to see evidence of it in person is remarkable. I wouldn’t mind going back and making it all the way to Devil’s Hall at least!

-Lindsay