Texas is certainly not known for its mountain ranges. In fact, if any Texas topography could be considered well known it would be the Hill Country, quite the opposite from mountain ranges. But, over 500 miles away from both Houston and Dallas lies the rarely known Guadalupe range– with its heart preserved in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Within the park is Texas’ tallest peak, Guadeloupe Peak (8751 ft), making the national park one of five to contain a state high point. An 8.5 mile round trip trail begins behind the park’s visitor center and ascends 3,000 ft to Guadalupe Peak. This is the park's iconic adventure!

 

My trip to the ‘Top of Texas’ began early, at around 8 in the morning hopefully allowing me to avoid storms. The trail begins with a steep switchback section with almost 1500 feet of elevation gain in the first 1.5 miles. The trailhead is located in a valley between Guadalupe and Hunter Peaks and each switchback climbs you further and further out of the valley. As you could expect, the views keep getting better and better! Once you finish the first set of switchbacks, you are onto a covered ridge walk. When on the ridge, you can avoid the Texas sun while enjoying sweeping views into the valley you just climbed out of. The ridge empties into a small forest of new-growth trees with great views of the upcoming mountain slopes. As you climb out of the forest, you will pass the Guadalupe Peak Wilderness Campground, creating the option for a multi-day hike up the peak. Once you pass the campground, you are 3 miles into the ascent and ready for the next set of switchbacks. This time, however, the switchbacks are up steep and exposed rocky outcroppings. As you climb up the switchbacks, El Capitan (No not the one from Yosemite!) will begin appearing on your left and eventually dominate the views. In this section of the trail, keep an eye out for the markers, it is easy to get lost and end up off the blazed trail. Having the end in sight makes the final switchbacks seem less challenging. After about a half mile of rock scrambling, the summit comes into view. The summit is decorated with a stainless steel pyramid and breathtaking views of both El Capitan and the surrounding desert landscape. I spent about 15 minutes at the summit before beginning the 4.2 mile descent back to the visitor center. Luckily, the difficult switchbacks on the way up became a nice downhill stroll on the way back. The way back down the mountain took only half the time as the ascent and before I knew it, I was back in the car ready to find food for lunch. While the National Park website advertises 6-8 hours for the round trip hike, I completed it in just about 4 and a half.