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Ascent of Guadalupe Peak on 2011-11-10

Climber: Melanie Deare

Others in Party:

daughter
Tiffany Cauley

Date:

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Ascent Type:

Successful Summit Attained

Motorized Transport to Trailhead:

Car

Peak:

Guadalupe Peak

Location:

USA-Texas

Elevation:

8749 ft / 2666 m

Ascent Trip Report

This was the highest peak I've attained yet, and it was the most challenging. My daughter and I started out on the trail at 9:40 a.m. If you're attempting this peak after Daylight Savings Time is over, you need to start even earlier. It gets dark at 5:00 p.m., and we barely made it off the mountain before sunset. We also didn't have much time at the top due to limited daylight. So start early if you decide to do this one in the fall. It was also windy and quite cold. I wore a hat, two pair of socks, two pairs of gloves, and silk underwear, so I stayed pretty comfortable. It was cold though. A Snickers bar I had in my backpack froze so hard that I couldn't even eat it. The water we were carrying didn't freeze though.

The trail is steep and rugged. It's very rocky also, so wear good shoes, preferably hiking boots. Some parts of the trail are quite narrow, no more than a boot's width wide in a couple of places, and yes, there are rocky ledges to navigate that sort of hang over thin air, so if you have a great fear of heights, better pass this one up.

That's all the bad stuff. The good part is the amazing views of the surrounding mountains and valleys below once you gain a little altitude. We had the top all to ourselves, but we couldn't stay long due to the short day. As I said, we should have started earlier.

We met five other hikers on their way down, and a young couple on their way up. The young couple also passed us on their way down, so we were the last ones on the mountain.

Very sore legs the next day, but my daughter and I both had been training for this trip, so we'll recover quickly. My advice would be NOT to attempt this one if you're not in pretty good shape, and plan to spend most of the day on the mountain.

Summary Total Data

Elevation Gain:

8752 ft / 2666 m

Elevation Loss:

8752 ft / 2666 m

Quality:

8 (on a subjective 1-10 scale)

Route Conditions:

Maintained Trail

Gear Used:

Ski Poles

Nights Spent:

0 nights away from roads

Weather:

Cold, Windy, Clear
unseasonably cold and windy

Ascent Statistics

Elevation Gain:

8752 ft / 2666 m

Distance:

4.5 mi / 7.2 km

Route:

Maintained Trail

Trailhead:

-3 ft / 0 m

Time Up:

4 Hours 0 Minutes

Descent Statistics

Elevation Loss:

8752 ft / 2666 m

Trailhead:

-3 ft / 0 m

Time Down:

3 Hours 30 Minutes

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