Top of Texas

Well, this is an obviously late posting, but I just wanted to share the greatness that was accomplished last month. If you review Allison's post on 4-14-07, you will see what happend while we were on the road in West Texas.
Our trip began around 1 PM with Aaron, Johnny, Matt, Dalton and I piling in Johnny's F150 and heading west. We were aware of approaching storms, but cancelling our trip would have been dumb. The weather in Texas is far too unpredictable. As proof, the storm knocked over trees at Aaron's in-laws less than 3 miles from our house and nothing happpend here. So...bottom line, we left town and families behind...and to make myself feel better, I thought, "What can I do if a tornado comes? I can't stop it, I have a state to conquer". Well, I guess everyone hates me now.
We left early enough to avoid the storms, although we did get to experience a West Texas windstorm as the skies turned red and gray from blowing dust and heavy clouds. It was very eerie, especially since the other guys in the truck had at least one child and wife at home. The result of that was 4 guys on cell phones at the same time after our dinner in Odessa.

We arrived at the campground (Balmorhea State Park) right after sunset with three very disturbed men in the back seat (they watched for the first time a movie about 4 men on a river rafting trip on Johnny's dvd player right before we arrived).

The next morning we headed out of camp around 7 AM toward Guadalupe Peak. After a truck stop tailgate breakfast our hike began around 10 AM. The parking lot viewable in the second picture is roughly 5600 feet in elevation. Needless to say, those who were not in great shape (me) were exhausted after 5 minutes of hiking. It was more of an elevation adjustment than exhaustion, so once we were able to breathe again, the trek continued.

The skies were clear and the air was cool, which was a great help. The peak and surrounding mountains are ancient reefs that stick out of the high desert. The view from the top was very good with a little remaining haze from the heavy winds on Friday.

After almost six hours, we returned to the parking lot with very sore feet, knees and ankles, but huge egos as we had just conquered Texas.

We returned to the campground and Aaron, Dalton and I jumped into the San Solomon Spring located at the campground. The natural spring had been converted to a large swimming pool. There were catfish in the very clear waters. The muscle soreness completely vanished while we were swimming. The pain did return the next morning.

The hike was 4.2 miles each way with about a 3000 foot elevation change to the peak which is 8,749 feet. Well, there you have it. Greatness accomplished.