I led the pre-trip meeting on Thursday 11/20. During this meeting we explained the trip details, and what the participants would need to bring. At this point, the weather forecast looked pretty brutal, with most nights expected to drip into the 20s in the mountains. We also handed out rental backpacks, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and headlamps to everyone who needed them.
Emily and I worked from 1pm to 5:30pm on Tuesday 11/25 to complete the food buy, repackage the food, pull the group gear, and pack everything.
We met at 5:45am on Wednesday 11/26, and all 13 of us left campus around 6am as planned. We stopped in Ozona for gas and Fort Stockton for a Pizza Hut buffet lunch before heading to Van Horn for a final fuel up. Manuel took over driving my Suburban in Van Horn. We arrived at Guadalupe Mountains National Park around 3pm Mountain Time, and went to the visitor's center to pay our entrance fees and obtain our back-country permits. I had planned four different itineraries in case obtaining particular back-country sites was difficult, but we easily obtained permits for our first choice itinerary. Although we had 13 in our group, we decided to only report having 12 people in order to only take up 3 back-country sites at each back-country camp ground (since park regulations require a site for each four people).
Hence, our itinerary ended up being:
Wednesday (2.3 miles): leave GRE 6am, drive to GMNP, obtain back-country permits, hike 2.3 miles on Smith Springs trail, overnight at Pine Springs (reserved group camp site)
Thursday (4 miles + 2 miles): Backpack 4 miles from Pine Springs camp (elevation 5822 ft) to Guadalupe Peak camp (elevation 8160 ft), set up camp, hike 1 mile to Guadalupe Peak (elevation 8751 ft), hike 1 mile back to Guadalupe Peak camp, overnight at Guadalupe Peak camp
Friday (3.1 miles + 3.9 miles): Backpack 3.1 miles from Guadalupe Peak camp (elevation 8160 ft) to Pine Springs camp (elevation 5822 ft), drop trash, pick up water and supplies, backpack 3.9 miles from Pine Springs camp (elevation 5822 ft) to Pine Top camp (elevation 8081 ft), overnight at Pine Top camp
Saturday (9.3 miles + optional 2.0-2.9 miles) : Day hike on Bush Mountain Trail to Blue Ridge Trail to Tejas Trail, with optional extension to Hunter's Peak via the Juniper Trail and Bowl Trail, overnight at Pine Top camp
Sunday (3.9 miles): Backpack 3.9 miles from Pine Top camp (elevation 8081 ft) to Pine Springs camp (elevation 5822 ft), drive back to Austin
After getting our permits, we realized that if we set up camp quickly, we could go hike the nearby Smith Springs trail before sunset. I was worried about the gate being locked at the end of our hike (especially since the gate only had an 8am opening time, but no closing time, marked on it), so I pushed our pace throughout the hike. The hike was also a bit rockier and rougher than some of the group imagined, as most of us did not change out of our car clothes and shoes for the hike. We finished shortly before sunset and the gate was fortunately not locked when we left. After the hike we cooked chicken noodle soup, tomato soup, grilled cheese, and crackers for dinner at our Pine Springs group spot. We ran out of bread too quickly though, and it also took a long time to toast sandwiches with only one small skillet. It was good that we reserved the group site though, as the entire camp ground seemed to be full by the time we were cooking dinner.
After dinner Emily, Keith and I had a guides meeting to discuss the next day. We decided to wake at 6am, wake the participants at 6:30am, serve breakfast at 7am, and try to hit the trail by 9am. We opted to skip the Devil's Hall trail, which would have added 2 miles to Thursday's hike. Then Emily and I met without Keith and she encouraged me to speak up more with my ideas and not be afraid to be wrong. After all, it's my trip - I did most of the planning so I know the trip better than anyone. I tried to take this to heart for the rest of the trip.
The first night was pretty cold. It got close to freezing in the Pine Springs camp ground, which made deciding to sleep without the rain fly on the tent a bad idea. It wasn't terrible, but I did wake up many times due to the cold. I began getting ready around 5:50am, and worked with Emily and Keith to prepare our bagels (half were pumpkin flavor!), yoghurt, and granola breakfast. We packed our food for our next lunch, dinner, and breakfast into 3 bear canisters, filled 7 dromedary bags half-way, and divided the group gear into 13 piles. Then we instructed everyone to select a pile and pack that gear into their pack. I ended up with a half-full dromedary bag and a first-aid kit. I also carried a topographic map and our trip discontinuance forms (in case anyone decided during the hike that they did not want to continue).
We left camp around 8:45am, but we probably did not leave the trail head until 9:15am. A ranger checked our back-country permits in the parking lot before we began. I signed us in on the hiker log, and then led the group up the 4 mile trail to the Guadalupe Peak back-country camp site. We opted to take the horse trail up, which added 0.9 miles but climbed less drastically. I'm not sure whether this was actually a good idea - if I did this backpacking trip again I might consider taking the hiker trail up (although it is much more brutal - most people say the first mile is the worst). I tried to take a moderate pace up the mountain, only stopping when I was really out of breath. The group as a whole was really strong, and many probably did not need as many breaks as I did. Emily said I set a good pace though.
We reached the Guadalupe Peak back-country site around 12:45pm. One couple had just finished setting up their site, so we claimed the three sites around theirs. We opted to eat our lunch of hummus, pitas, and sun-dried tomatoes before setting up our tents. We decided to leave for the 1 mile hike to the peak at 2:30pm, so most people rested after setting up their tents. Our group had five tents for 13 people - 3 3-person tents and 2 2-person tents. People moved slowly when it was time to leave for the peak, so we did not actually end up leaving until 2:45pm.
The outside of my knee was still hurting from the morning hike up, so I had Keith lead the hike to the peak and I went last. The climb to the peak was difficult for me because my knee was hurting and I constantly felt out of breath. However, it was worth it! Everyone enjoyed taking pictures and exploring. Since it was windy and cold, we opted to hike down before sunset. My knee was seriously hurting, so I lagged behind the group on the way back to camp. Once JT and I returned to camp, we found that a group of 3 people had unstaked our tent and was claiming that our group had taken too many sites! I told them to go check our permit (hanging from Emily's tent). They knew that there were five campsites, but instead of trying to find the fifth site they had instead decided that we had too many spots. As I found out later, they had also confronted Keith when he arrived back to camp and Keith had found the fifth site for them (yet they still claimed when we found them at our site that they did not know where the fifth site was). In general, it was a frustrating experience, but I think Keith and I handled it correctly. Most of the time the people you meet in the back-country are good people, so it was particularly surprising to run into these incredibly rude people.
Emily and I made our Thanksgiving dinner shortly after sunset. Emily manned the potatoes, while I made the stuffing and then grilled the turkey spam. We also had some dried cranberries for toppings. We were all surprised at how delicious our Thanksgiving dinner was! Certainly a Thanksgiving to remember between climbing Guadalupe Peak and having a great Thanksgiving-themed backpacking meal. We all retired pretty early after finishing dinner - partly to stay warm and partly because we were tired.
Friday morning Emily, Keith, and I opted for waking again at 6am, waking the participants at 6:30am, serving breakfast at 7am, and trying to hit the trail by 8:30am. Friday's breakfast consisted of oatmeal and toppings. We successfully left camp by 8:30am, and all of us reached the parking lot by 11am. Since Emily likes downhill hikes and my right knee was still pretty painful, Emily led downhill and I trailed. We gave ourselves 90 minutes to repack and redistribute group and personal gear before heading back into the mountains. Since we were now packing for two nights, we prepared four bear canisters with food and filled 7 dromedary bags completely full. Hence, 11 people had either a bear canister or a dromedary bag and two people had various other group gear. I took one of the bear canisters, since they were really bulky. After repacking and eating a lunch of tortillas with peanut butter, sunflower seeds, and dried apricots, we hit the trail again at 12:30pm.
My knee was hurting, so I opted to trail the group. Keith went first, and Emily hung in the middle of the group. Our group divided pretty quickly, with 6 people staying close to Keith, 3 people staying with Emily, and JT and I dragging at the rear. JT had a pack that was too heavy for him, and I was really dragging energy-wise and kept feeling like I was going to throw up. We drug ourselves up the mountain, continuously falling further behind the group. I felt really embarrassed to be physically performing so poorly on a trip that I was guiding. How can you take care of the group if you can not even take care of yourself? Doubts continued to wash over me as I made my way up the mountain. Eventually, when we were somewhat near the top of the mountain (perhaps 0.5 miles from Pine Top camp), we saw Manuel and Keith coming down the trail with just day packs. They had come to make sure we were okay, and to carry our packs the rest of the way. Although I felt really embarrassed to take Keith's offer to carry my bag, I took the offer to get to camp quicker. It was super embarrassing, but I also felt so thankful for the assistance.
Once at camp, lots of people greeted us. Some people gave JT a chair when he arrived and made sure he had water and food. Others helped me set up our tent. Everyone really rallied around us - which was great to see, but I really felt like I let the group down by struggling so much. Emily, Keith, Ashley, and Kat took the lead on cooking dinner (which let me rest, but also made me feel even more useless). I really could not force myself to eat much of the quinoa and vegetables dinner, as it really did not seem appetizing to me (although everyone else seemed to like it).
We opted to sleep in a bit Saturday morning - waking at 7am, waking the participants at 7:30am, and hitting the trail for a day hike at 9:00am. Breakfast was more involved, as we cooked frozen hash-browns with sausage. It was delicious, but not very plentiful. The group as a whole decided to do the 9.3 mile loop on the Bush Mountain, Blue Ridge, and Tejas trails. Although long, we figured it would not be too strenuous with just day packs and we were all excited about the prospect of seeing the northern side of the park and different terrain.
I decided to take the lead on this hike along with Manuel. From looking at my topographic map, I could tell the first 2.5 miles of the hike would have us gain a bit of elevation as we hiked to the summit of Bush Mountain (8631 feet). The trail was a bit rough, and certainly went up and down rather frequently. But we made decent time, and got to the Bush Mountain summit. The trail between Bush Mountain and the Blue Ridge camp was a hiker-only trail and was pretty narrow and rough at points. I got stabbed pretty deeply by a yucca plant at some point during this hike, and soon realized that my pants were quickly becoming drenched with blood from the puncture wound. I found a part of the trail where I could step to the side and wait for Emily to come by with the first-aid kit, and then cleaned up the wound and the blood. It was amazing how much such a small puncture had bleed!
We stopped for lunch near the Blue Ridge back-country camp site. Lunch was tortillas with peanut butter, jelly, and chocolate chips as well as trail mix and jerky. None of this seemed very appetizing, so I ate a peanut butter tortilla and a bit of jerky. I knew that this being the third meal where I had ate very little likely accounted for my low energy, but I really could not force myself to eat anything else.
After lunch, we continued onward but my right knee became extremely painful and difficult to move. At one point I was unable to bend it at all without serious pain. I took Advil, and that seemed to help. But I was lagging pretty far behind the group at this point. The group decided to split near the Tejas camp, with 6 people opting to take a longer hike on the Juniper and Bowl trails to Hunter's Peak with Manuel. Keith, Emily, and I were all drained and opted to go with the rest of the group on the Tejas trail back towards camp as planned. Our group all seemed pretty tired and sore on this last bit of the hike. We pushed through though, and then Keith and JT opted to go to Hunter's Peak once we got to the trail junction by camp. Emily and I took the rest of the very tired group back to camp, and decided to start dinner in about 75 minutes at 5:15pm.
Dinner was pasta with peas, chicken, and spices. The first pot finished cooking shortly after most of the group had returned from Hunter's Peak. I was actually really hungry, but there was not really enough food go around, so it was yet another small meal for me. Emily and I really under-estimated how much food our group would want to eat for dinners!
We opted to wake at 5am on Sunday, wake the participants at 5:30am, eat a quick breakfast, and then leave camp by 7am. Our goal in doing this was to avoid having to drive late at night, especially since we only had three drivers for two vehicles and we were all accustomed to going to sleep around 7pm Mountain time. We successfully left the camp around 6:50am on Sunday morning. Since my knee was tender, and I go slow on downhills, Emily led the group downhill with Keith hanging in the middle of the group and me trailing. I made it to the trailhead by 9:55am, and was actually hindered not by my own speed but by the speed of a participant who had painful ankles. We left the park at 10:30am after changing clothing and stopping by the visitor center.
We drove back through Pecos to Fort Stockton. This gave us less time on I-10 and more time on highways with high speed limits. Some of these highways were a bit rough though, and required passing trucks on two-lane roads. I'm not very experienced at passing on two-lane roads, so doing so at high-speeds on unfamiliar roads was a bit stressful for me. But I think I did great. We stopped at a truck stop in Pecos for lunch, and then pushed to Ozona for gas. I finally stopped driving in Fredericksburg, and chilled in Emily's car for the rest of the trip.
Once we got back to the Outdoor Center, we hung the tents and sleeping bags and turned as much gear as possible. We looked over the participant evaluation sheets, but did not debrief the trip since Ashley and Manuel were hanging around and I think Emily was tired. I think the trip went very well, and the participant evaluations were pretty positive, but I feel a bit nervous about how Emily perceived my guiding abilities. I think my leadership as a guide is growing nicely, and coming along as it should. I'm slowly gaining more confidence and finding my voice. And I feel like my soft-skills as a guide are developing - I'm getting better at interacting with participants and perceiving when they are unhappy or not feeling well. And I know my trip planning abilities are strong. However, I feel like I failed on this trip at being physically capable. I know I'm probably my worst critic, and you do not always have to be at the top of your game (and that recognizing that is valuable), but I do think I was physically suffering more than a guide should be.
Random notes:
Emily was amazed by how few hikers we saw on trails besides the Guadalupe Peak trail. It is true that the park really is not visited and hiked nearly as much as it should be - and most people that do visit stick to the Guadalupe Peak trail. It was really neat to hike other high-country trails and get to see other parts of the park. The Saturday hike in the high-country was very scenic!
After seeing Emily's bandana on the Lake Georgetown trip, guessing what it was for, and then googling, I tried out a pee bandana this trip. I can see why some people would think it is gross, but I think it is better than (1) using and carrying out toilet paper or (2) trying to drip dry. It worked well, and will become a staple on my future outdoor trips.
It is important to bring lots of personal ibuprofen. I figured that since I'd be carrying the first-aid kit, that I didn't need to bring my own supply. But the first-aid kit ran out, and I had to get ibuprofen from various participants throughout the trip each time my knee grew unbearably painful.
I found it strange and difficult to guide a trip with JT as a participant. Emily had warned me that it might hard to balance/handle, and it really was at points. JT really struggled on the trip, and did not seem to enjoy himself, which made it more stressful for me to juggle making him happy and taking care of the group like I needed to as a guide. Perhaps on a less strenuous trip it might work better.
Overall, it was a great trip. I certainly think it could be run against next year. And I think the itinerary was just about perfect. I just need to figure out (1) how to keep my right knee happy and (2) how to get into better backpacking shape.
El Capitan and Guadalupe Peak from US 62/180
On Guadalupe Peak with El Capitan in the background
On Guadalupe Peak
Our group on Guadalupe Peak
Preparing to hike down on Sunday
Sunday morning from near Pine Top camp
From the Tejas trail on Sunday
Part way down the Tejas trail on Sunday
