Quest for the Missing Liberator

On the afternoon of August 31, 2001, Joe Amaya's S71 Chevrolet pickup
supercab pulled into my driveway. Joe, Neal Baltz, Mark Boyer and I
had planned a backpacking trip to see if we could locate the remains
of a B-24 Liberator that crashed on the ranch land now part of
Guadalupe Mountains National Park during a storm in the mid 1940's. The
episode was described in a book, 'Tales of the Guadalupe Mountains',
by W. C. Jameson.

We loaded my pack and overnight bag into Joe's truck, and started
westward in Highway 290 fueling up in Johnson City, and followed the
usual route to Interstate 10. We stopped for supper at 'The Cafe Next
Door' in Ozona, and continued to the Motel 6 in Pecos. We requested a
wakeup call for 6:30 a.m., and turned in for the night.

At 6:30, we received the wakeup call, got up dressed, and drove to the
Flying J truck stop. We fueled the truck, and had breakfast. I had a
bowl of oatmeal and a scone. We got back in Joe's truck, and drove on
to the park, arriving there a few minutes after the park visitor's
center opened, at 8 a.m. mountain time.

We asked for a permit for a campsite at Bush Mountain for the first
night, and Pinetop for the second night. We asked the ranger about the
location of the remains of the plane, but he showed us on the diarama
the location of the wreckage of a commercial plane, on the slopes of
Guadalupe Peak. I guess he either wasn't aware of the location of the
B-24 or was reluctant to discuss it.

We returned to the truck, and pulled up to the trailhead parking lot,
where we completed our final packing. There is a big fish scale at the
trailhead where you can weigh your pack, so I hoisted mine and found
that it registered 52 pounds; about what it always seems to on my
two-night outings in the Guadalupes.

We started up the Tejas trail, entering the wilderness area a short
distance from the trailhead. It soon became apparent the Neal and Mark
were more energetic than Joe and I, so they went in the vanguard, and
we brought up the rear. There had been afternoon thunderstorms the
previous day, and the weather was unusually humid, compared to other
times I have backpacked in the Guadalupes. There were a few other
hikers, but the trail wasn't overly crowded.

Eventually, after 3.8 miles, we reached the trail junction where the
Tejas trail meets the Bush Mountain and Bowl trails, so we turned
westward and continued the hike the remaining 2.5 miles to the Bush
mountain campsite. When we arrived, Neal had already finished putting
up his tent, an REI tent. Joe and Mark put up Joe's new Eureka tent.

In the evening, we cooked supper. Joe had brought his two-burner
butane backpacking stove, and I set up my MSR Whisperlite. I had a
carton of Taste Adventure Navy Bean Soup. After cleaning dishes and
pots and pans, we hiked the short distance to the summit of Bush
Mountain, and watched the sun set over the desert, behind the Franklin
Mountains, after which we returned to camp. I was kind of disappointed
that our neighbors had a campfire, in violation of the park rules. I
couldn't remember encountering anyone having a fire at the backcountry
campsites before. 

The next morning, we got up and had breakfast. I had instant oatmeal
and a packet of instant Taster's Choice coffee. After breakfast, we
discussed our strategy for locating the remains of the plane. Neal and
Mark would follow a northeast-tending  ridge just north of Bush
mountain. Joe and I would hike just east of the Bush Mountain campsite
about a half mile, to the beginning of a ~ 1.5 mile long
northeast-tending ridge. We would follow the ridgetop and scan the
facing slopes to look for evidence of the wreckage, and keep in touch
with Neal and Mark with a talkabout radio. 

Joe and I started down the Bush Mountain trail, and had a little
difficulty locating the ridge, until finally we could see that we had
passed it by a short distance. We cached our packs a short distance
from the trail, and with day packs, began hiking the ridge top. At a
point just east of the minor summit at 8362', there was a knoll that
offered clear views of some the adjacent slopes, and we scanned the
hillsides. Joe pointed out a few light colored objects on the lower
reaches of an adjacent slope, and realized immediately that it must
have been part of the wreckage. He radioed Neal and Mark, who began
hiking back up their ridge toward Bush Mountain. Joe and I returned up
the ridge toward the trail, until we reached our packs, where we met
up with Neal and Mark. 

We continued on the Bush Mountain Trail toward Pinetop, stopping at a
high point on the trail near the slope we needed to go down to look
for the plane wreckage. We cached our packs, and started down the
brush on the slope. Eventually, we spotted a glistening through the
trees, and as we got nearer, it was apparent that it was the wreckage
of the plane. The aircraft aluminum was hardly oxidized at all, and we
found the four propellers. On some parts that were out of the sun, the
olive green paint could be discerned. The wreckage was scattered over
a wide area. Neal took a measurement of the precise location of the
wreckage site on his GPS. We explored the area for a little while,
then headed back up the slope toward the trail.

We made our way to the Pinetop campsite. Some of the other sites were
occupied as well, though it was not full. We set up camp, and spent a
little while relaxing at the campsite before supper. Mark spent some
time reading 'The Lord of the Rings' by Tolkien. We fired up the
stoves, and I had a carton of 'Taste Adventure' Curry Lentil soup for
supper. Joe had brought a flask of some Scotch Whiskey, which we
enjoyed. 

The next morning, we had breakfast (granola and tea for me), and took down
the tents. We decided to split up, with Neal and Mark taking the Bowl
Trail and Bear Canyon Trail down, and Joe and I following the Tejas
Trail. We quickly made our way down, and arrived at the trail junction
near the wilderness boundary at the same time. At the parking lot, we
washed off at the water spigots as well as we could, changed clothes,
and went to the Visitor's Center. I picked up a copy of the book
'Trails of the Guadalupes', and Joe bought a Trails Illustrated Map
for a friend of his. Then we boarded Joe's truck and headed out.

We stopped in Pecos at Alfredo's and had some Mexican food for lunch,
which really hit the spot, then continued the drive back to Austin.