Blog

After our day underground at the Carlsbad Caverns it was time to get back out into the sunshine. Before heading out on this trip I had never heard of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. After studying the map, we were going to be too close not to go, and it was a very pleasant surprise. We were a few days into December but the fall colors were on full display in Pine Spring Canyon as we hiked up to the Devil’s Hall.

The Guadalupe Mountains National Park was full of surprises. First surprise: there is actual topography in Texas. I haven’t spend a lot of time it Texas, but one impression from a previous visit was the lack of topography. Guadalupe Mountain is the highest point in Texas at 8751 feet, and the park is home to some impressive topography.

Second surprise: It was the first week of December, but it seemed like peak fall colors in the canyon. The big tooth maple were glowing red.

Third surprise: The diversity of vegetation. Our hike time probably doubled because I was constantly trying to identify all the new to me trees along the way. Alligator juniper, chinquapin oak, and Texas madrone as well as many more.

We neared our destination when we reached ‘the staircase’ which we scaled on the left, and continued on to the Devil’s Hall.

Sometimes when you don’t do a lot of research on a place it can lead to pleasant surprises and our day in Guadalupe Mountains National Park was surely filled with plenty of those.