2002 Labor Day Guadalupe Mountains National Park Backpack

Friday August 30, 2002

In the afternoon, I left Dripping Springs, heading westward in my 1988
Mercury, for a Labor Day solo backpack in Guadalupe Mountains National
Park. The weather was warm, unseasonably so, but nonetheless, I was
looking forward to spending the three-day weekend backpacking. I
followed my usual route westward on US 290, stopping to top off my gas
tank in Johnson City. I reached I-10, and continued west, stopping in
Ozona at 'The Cafe Next Door' for a bowl of beans and cornbread for
supper. I continued west and stopped at the 'Deluxe Inn' in Fort
Stockton, a small older family-owned motel I have stopped at
before. The room rates had gone up a bit; before they had been $18.99
for a room for one; now they were $21.99. The room was clean, though.
I arranged for a wakeup call at 6:00 am.

Saturday August 31, 2002

I woke up in advance of the wakeup call, and filled up my water
bottles at the sink, then took them out to the car. I left the motel,
and headed northwestward toward Pecos on US 285. I stopped and had
breakfast at the Flying J Truck Stop, filled up with gas, and
continued toward Orla on US 285. I turned west onto 652, then
southwest onto US 62-180, arriving about half an hour before the
ranger station opened at 8:00 am MST. I made use of the time to put on
my hiking boots, and load my water bottles into my pack, and finished
arranging my equipment in my pack. When the visitor center opened, I
went in to get a permit. The ranger warned the people ahead of me
about the heat, and that the usual gallon per person per day
recommendation should be considered a minimum under the
circumstances. Though I had 2 1/2 gallons, I decided not to go for the
Blue Ridge campsite, as I had been planning, but instead to camp the
first night at Mescalero, a shorter and less strenuous
destination. For my second night, I would stay at Pine Top as
planned. I got my permit, returned to my car, and pulled into the
parking area for the trailhead. 

I signed the trailhead register, and weighed my pack using the big
fish scale there. It came to 50 lbs, about 4-5 pounds less than had
been normal. I attributed this to my new 3 season tent (a Sierra
Designs 'Clip Flashlight' instead of the heavier North Face 4 season
'Westwind') and my new Slumberjack 30F 'Super Guide' sleeping bag
(instead of the 0F North Face/Windy Pass 'Bees Knees'). I continued up
the Tejas trail. It warmed up as I continued up the trail, so I
stopped from time to time to cool off. For being a Labor Day weekend,
the trail was remarkably uncrowded. I met a couple pairs of people
hiking down, and one pair of day hikers with day packs passed my on
the way up. I finally reached the trail junction where the Tejas, Bush
Mountain, and Bowl trails meet, and stopped. I removed my hiking boots
so my feet could cool off, and had lunch. After a while, a park ranger
hiking along the Bush Mountain Trail came along, checked my
backcountru use permit, and speculated that I might have Mescalero to
myself that night. The backcountry ranger was the only person I
encountered at that intersection, which was unusual. I continued down
the Tejas Trail, passing the Tejas campsite, and continued uphill to
the Mescalero Campsite. I decided to camp at the site number 2, a spot
that on previous trips had been overgrown and obviously little
used. (I have had a recurring dread that one day, I would get a permit
for Mescalero, arrive there, and find that the only vacant site left
would be a badly overgrown site number 2, with brush too big to remove
with the tools on hand). It appeared someone had worked on it a
little, as the sign for the spot had been moved a little, and a clear
path up to the site could be discerned. It was still badly overgrown
though. I walked up to the site, removed my pack, rested and drank
some water for about an hour or so. I felt so tired that I considered
just hiking back up the Tejas trail to camp at Pine Top the next
day. I also walked around and looked at all the other camp sites at
Mescalero, and bear-bagged my food. I used my garden trowel and the
small saw on my pocket knife to dig out/cut down the oak saplings that
were growing up through the tent pad, and after quite a bit of work,
it began to look like a usable camp site again. I erected the Clip
Flashlight, and fixed my supper, one of two MRE's that Joe Amaya had
given me. I had decided to save weight by taking the two MRE's and not
bringing along the stove, cookpot, fuel bottle, etc. The MRE was pasta
with vegetables in a cream sauce, which I had with a bagel and instant
ice tea. It was tasty and worked out well. While I was eating, a man
and his son walked up the trail toward campsite number 1. He said he
was from Carlsbad, so I assumed he had come up Dog Canyon. After
supper, I walked around the Mesalero campsite, looking over the other
sites (there are a total of 8). I pulled out some saplings in site
number 8, another site that doesn't see quite as much use, but where
Joe Amaya and I had camped once on a snowy April day after descending
from Blue Ridge (it was the only site not covered in snow). I stayed
up till sunset, watching a swarm of vultures circling the area, then
climbed into my sleeping bag and quickly went sleep.

Sunday September 1, 2002

I had set the alarm on my pager to go off early, so I got up, hauled
my food down, and had a bagel with peanut butter and instant tea for
breakfast. I took my tent down, packed my backpack, and headed back to
the Tejas Trail. I headed southward on the Tejas Trail to the junction
with the Blue Ridge Trail, and, feeling better after a good night's
sleep and a couple good meals, commited myself to taking the Blue
Ridge Trail/Bush Mountain Trail loop. The Blue Ridge Trail climbs
steadily up a series of switchbacks through trees, to the intersection
with the Marcus Trail, then continues up a longer series of
switchbacks until reaching the top of Blue Ridge. I was glad to be
making the ascent in the early morning. Eventually, I reached the top
of Blue Ridge, and continued to the Blue Ridge Campsite, where I
removed my pack and stopped for a long rest and a snack. I walked
around and looked at the Blue Ridge Camp sites. One of them was badly
overgrown, too. The Blue Ridge campsite is so far in that it sees
little use. After a lengthy rest stop, I again put on my pack and
walked a short distance to the junction of the Blue Ridge and Bush
Mountain Trails. At this point, there is a dramatic view off the to
the west, and there was a stack of some landscaping timbers to sit on,
so I stopped for a little while, before continuing on the Bush
Mountain trail toward Bush Mountain. Along this stretch of trail are
several dramatic viewpoints off to the west of the Guadalupe Mountain
Range, and the Salt Flats below. I continued along this stretch of
trail, and stopped for a while to rest. While I was resting, a couple
who were backpacking passed. They had camped at the Bush Mountain
campsite the previous night, and would be camping at Pine Top that
night. I continued along the trail, reaching Bush Mountain, and
passing the solar cell system that powers the radio repeater on top of
Bush Mountain. Here the trail veered eastward, and I followed the
trail, continuing up and down the ridge until reaching the Pine Top
campsite. Here I picked out a campsite, and again rested a while
before hanging my food and putting up my tent. I walked around the
campsite and looked over the other sites. The Pine Top campsite is
heavily used, being the campsite closest in to the Pine Springs Ranger
Station. Again, I enjoyed an MRE of buttered noodles, a bagel with
peanut butter, and instant iced tea. A volunteer backcountry ranger
and his wife walked around to all the campsites and checked everyone's
backcountry use permits. Soon after sunset, I crawled into my sleeping
bag and went to sleep pretty quickly.

Monday September 2, 2002

I had again set the alarm on my pager, woke early, pulled my food down
from the tree branch, and had a breakfast of a bagel with peanut
butter and instant tea. I took down the tent, packed my tent, and
started down the Bush Mountain Trail, reaching the junction with the
Tejas Trail a short distance later. Here I continued down the Tejas
Trail, and descended uneventfully in about two hours. I put my pack in
the trunk, and washed myself off as best I could at the water spigot
by the parking lot, and changed clothes. I then drove back, stopping
in Pecos to top off my gas tank, and at Alfredo's Restaurant for some
cheese enchiladas, then continued back to Dripping Springs.