28-January-2024. Guadalupe National Park Day 1

I left big BenBig Bend NP this morning at 9 AM and drove 4 hours north to Guadalupe National Park – which happens to be just over the time zone in mountain time so I gained an hour and arrived there shortly after noon.

I checked in with the park ranger to get a map and told her I was planning on hiking Devil's Hole trail today and the Guadalupe Mountain Peak Trail tomorrow. She warned me that there had been bad weather here on Friday resulting in lots of snow at the top of the mountain and that the upper half of the trail is covered in snow and ice and might not be passable tomorrow, and that past the halfway point you really can't go without spikes. Amazing that yesterday I was in a bikini in a hot spring and here it's winter!

Devils Hole Trail goes up the wash of a river where you have to scramble over lots of big white boulders – it's a challenging hike! I was about 3/4 of the way to the end when I saw and heard a small rock slide ahead of me. I looked up to see it's origin and couldn't believe my eyes: mountain goats!

When you encounter wildlife you just need to stop and watch and enjoy the show. I spent about 15 minutes watching the hosts navigate the perilous and steep mountainside and taking lots of pictures - it was like hiking in a postcard!

I got to a point where I didn't think I could go any further and thankfully there was a family there also trying to figure out a path. We knew we had 0.3 miles to go and had to get past this obstacle. Together we figured out how we could get around the large hole with steep terraced sides: we climbed up on the left side side and scooted across a narrow ridge until we could hop off on the backside of the hole. That was definitely scary and something I would not have attempted solo so I'm glad I encountered the other hikers.

The endpoint was a small slot canyon that paled in comparison to the white boulders littering the wash and the goat show I had seen. This was definitely a case where the journey was better than the destination!