Guadalupe Mountains National Park

When I checked in to the Town & Country Inn in Fort Stockton last Friday night, I asked the owner how far it was to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. He thought about it for a moment then responded, "I don't know. Everyone wants to know how far Big Bend National Park is and that's about an hour and a half south."

The fact that he didn't know Guadalupe Mountains National Park--the other national park in Texas--is about two and a half hours northwest of Fort Stockton speaks to the park's remoteness and lack of visitors. Traveling along Highway 54 the next morning, the route connecting Interstate 10 to the park entrance, I encountered only a single car on the 65 mile stretch of road.

El Capitan, the Guadalupe Mountains National Park's most iconic structure, first appears from the highway about 35 miles away. Starting as a speck in the distance, the massive rock face gradually grows larger and larger until it's looming above the road.

When I arrived at the park in the early afternoon, I snagged a campsite in the Pine Springs Campground then did the 4.2 mile Devil's Hall hike. This trail leads through the Chihuahuan Desert to a dried up creek littered with round, white boulders. The creek bed eventually turns into a narrow, ribbed canyon that hikers enter by walking up naturally carved stairs.

I camped out in the park on Saturday night. Although the sky was cloudy at first, it cleared up as the darkness thickened allowing pinpoints of starlight to poke through. The darkness made for some inspiring views of the Milky Way Galaxy, which resembled a pale strip of gauze arching overhead.

The next morning, I packed up my supplies and began the eight mile roundtrip hike to the top of Guadalupe Peak. At 8,749 feet above sea level, this is the highest point in Texas. The hike starts out as a series of steep and rocky switchbacks through the desert. After ascending about a thousand feet, however, the terrain gives way to pine forests and splendid views of the surrounding mountains and valleys.

Overall, the trail rises about 3,000 feet over four miles. The last half mile or so hugs the side of Guadalupe Peak, which rises behind El Capitan. From the back, El Capitan almost looked like the prow of a ship. The peak is marked by a small aluminum pyramid with three sides commemorating the postal service, WWII airmen, and American Airlines.

Besides the stunning mountain views and overwhelming remoteness, my favorite thing about Guadalupe Mountains National Park was the wide variety of desert flora. Many of the plants--spikey ferns, towering grasses, exquisite wildflowers--looked like something straight out of Dr. Seuss.