Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Once we got back from Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, I got ready for my backpacking/photo expedition to Guadalupe Mountains National Park - another solo backpacking trip for me. I got up stupid early to shoot some photos of the Milky Way, but since I didn't have my tracker, nothing turned out good - but it was still amazing to see the Milky Way in detail with the naked eye.

I moved on from the Salt Basin area to El Capitan, and shot photos from just off the highway of the Big Dipper circling overhead while waiting for the sun to illuminate El Capitan.

Once the sun came up, I drove to the Visitor Center/Ranger Station and waited for that to open at 8. I got my backcountry permit and headed up the Tejas Trail on my way to Bush Mountain. It was a bit more than 2000 in elevation gain (to 7500 feet total) on a very rough trail. Once I made the top of the ridge, I decided to cut the hike short (it would have been a loooonng trip out) and stayed at Pine Top. That turns out to have been a fantastic decision, since I had the park to myself (7 sites to choose from, no one else there) - and I got to witness a gorgeous sunset.

I slept great, but set my alarm for 4:30 to get some photos of the Milky Way with the Guadalupe Mountains to help frame it. It didn't turn out like I thought it would (weekend of a new moon - it was DARK!), but the Milky Way turned out pretty good for a single exposure. It is amazing what lack of light pollution can do for you!

I went back to my campsite - about a 5 minute walk from here, ate breakfast and packed up the campsite, then went back to this spot to photograph sunrise.

This is about a 180* panorama from where I was photographing. From there, I took a more scenic route back to the car. The section called The Bowl was delightful, I walked on dirt with not a lot of elevation change through trees suitable to hang a hammock from while playing hide and seek with the sun and a nice breeze - just about perfect. Once I dropped over the edge of the ridge, it was back into the desert and rough trail.

Cheers,

Marc