2003 Labor Day Guadalupe Mountains National Park Backpack

Friday August 29, 2003

I left Dripping Springs in my Mercury and headed west along the usual
route (US290 to IH10), stopping in Ozona at 'The Cafe Next Door' for a
grilled cheese sandwich for supper. I continued to Fort Stockton,
where I stopped at the 'Deluxe Inn' for the night.  I asked for a 5:00
am wakeup call. I filled up my water bottles before turning in for the
night.

Saturday August 30, 2003

I received the early wakeup call, got up, dressed, and loaded my
overnight bag and water bottles in the car. I proceeded throught the
dark and mostly deserted streets of Fort Stockton to the turn north
onto US285, I followed northwestward to Pecos. I stopped in Pecos and
filled my car with gasoline at the Flying J Truck stop, and had a
garden omelet and coffee for breakfast. I continued up US285 to Orla
and the junction with Ranch Road 652, which I followed for 41 miles to
US62-180, where I turned left and drove southwestward to the park
headquarters for Guadalupe Mountains National Park. I pulled into the
parking lot just after the headquarters was scheduled to open at 8 am
mdt. I was astonished to find that the parking lot was completely
empty. I walked up to the ranger station and waited at the door, which
the ranger opened after a few seconds. I was first in line for a
backcountry camping permit. The ranger warned me that they were
predicting intermittent thunderstorms, so to watch out for
lightning. I got a permit to camp the first night at Mescalero, and
the second night at Pine Top. I mentioned that I would probably follow
the Juniper and Bowl Trails on Sunday to go from Mescalero to Pine
Top, and visit Hunter Peak. I drove up to the parking area near the
trailhead, went to the restroom and changed into my hiking clothes,
loaded the water bottles into my pack, and put on my hiking boots. I
paid the $3 trail fee at the trailhead, and weighed my pack using the
big fish scale; 56 pounds. I started up the trail at about 9 am mdt,
and made fair time up the Tejas trail, stopping occasionally to enjoy
the view of Pine Springs Canyon and Guadalupe Peak off to the south. I
eveventually reached the trail junction with the Bush Mountain and
Bowl Trails. I stopped there and took off my boots to let my feet cool
and dry off and have a snack. After a half hour or so, I put my boots
back on, and followed the Tejas trail down the ridge, past the
junction with the Juniper Trail, and took another break at the Tejas
campsite. The park service had improved the Tejas campsite
considerably, constructing some tent pads from landscaping
timbers. The previous time I had camped there, some of the campsites
had been somewhat eroded and there were no tent pads. I think they
also added a campsite or two there; needed as Tejas is one of the more
popular backcountry campsites in the park. I put my pack on again, and
continued on to Mescalero. Along this segment of the trail, I met a
man and his son who were hiking in from Dog Canyon to Tejas, the first
other packers I had encountered since leaving the trailhead. I looked
the sites over, and decided to camp on site #2, which I had camped on
before. I put my tent up (a Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight), and put
up a 40 meter doublet ham radio antenna to use with my 40 meter
Rockmite. I looked over some of the other sites at Mescalero. A tree
had snapped and the trunk fallen over, and some of the branches were
blocking the trail to some of the other sites at Mescalero. I used the
small saw on my pocketknife to cut some of the branches to at least
partially clear the trail, but some of the branches were too thick. I
made supper (macaroni with cheese and chili pepper). I tried to
operate a little on my 40m Rockmite, but there were some powerful
radioteletype stations on the QRP calling frequency, so I wasn't able
to make any contacts.

Sunday August 31, 2003

I woke Sunday morning, and had a bowl of instant oatmeal for
breakfast. I put some calls out on the RockMite, and was called back
by K5BOT, Ed Popp from the Austin QRP Club. We had a short chat, and
after the QSO I was called by KG5VU, Lee in Katy, Tx, who was also
using a RockMite and had heard me telling Ed that's what I was
using. We chatted for a short while, then I packed the station up and
took down the 40m doublet, packed the stove, and took down the tent. I
left camp, and hiked to the junction with the Juniper Trail. I turned
east on the Juniper Trail, and followed it to the site of an old water
storage tank, where I took a break. I then continued on to the
junction with the Bowl Trail, which I followed to the old water
storage tank at the head of the Bear Canyon Trail, where I took
another break. I continued along the Bowl Trail to the junction where
a spur heads up to the summit of Hunter Peak. I left my pack at this
junction and hiked the short distance up to Hunter Peak, which I
hadn't visited before. I admired the view from Hunter Peak for a short
while, then returned to my pack, and continued west along to Bowl
Trail to its junction with the Tejas Trail, and on a short distance
further to the Pine Top Campsite. I checked a few sites over, and
settled on #7, where I put my tent up, and again put up the 40m
doublet. I explored the campsite a bit more; I was the only person
camped at Pine Top, which is often a pretty popular campsite. I tried
a few calls on my RockMite, but didn't raise anyone. I headed up a
bowl of potato soup (made from instant mashed potatoes, vegetable
bouillon, and powdered milk), and enjoyed the views from the
campsite before turning in for the night.

Monday September 1, 2003

Monday morning, I woke, though not as early as I should have. I had a
bowl of instant oatmeal and hot tea for breakfast, and broke camp. I
hiked to the Tejas Trail junction, and began hiking down the Tejas
trail. I didn't see anyone else going down the trail. As I neared the
trailhead, there were a few day hikers heading up the trail. I reached
the trailhead, and put my pack in the car. I changed from my hiking
clothes in the bathroom, then went to the visitor center, where I
bought a few postcards to send as QSLs, and wrote one to my
folks. Then I continued to Pecos in my car and stopped at Alfredo's
for a plate of cheese enchiladas, which were very nice. I refueled at
the Flying J, then continued down US 285 to Fort Stockton, and
drove west on IH10, and US290, eventually arriving home a little after
9.