Photos for last Guadalupe Mts post

As I said I wasn't able to post any pics in my last post due to poor connectivity, so I thought I would post them today. I made it back to The Ranch on Sunday after stopping to do a major grocery shopping to prepare for the 14 day NM stay at home order. NM Covid cases are exploding. I'm staying home and settling in at The Ranch. Its pretty easy to isolate here. Anyway enjoy the photos.

View from the Foothills Trail looking back at Guadalupe Peak

                                                                      Frijoli Ranch House

Outbound on the Smith Spring 

 (You would never know you were in Texas)

                                                                          Smith Spring

Hiking Beyond The Devil's Hall

                                                            My buddy the big Rock Alien

 

Guadalupe Mountains N.P. Continued

I woke up on Wednesday, November 11, to clear skies, fairly warm temps and shortly after that, my old campsite was vacated and I was able to quickly drive into it. FWC does such a great job building these campers, that there is no hesitation to drive a short distance with the top up, I just made sure there was nothing that could spill and quickly settled into my old spot. It felt like home.

Later that morning I went for a short 3 mile round trip hike to the base of Bear Canyon and back. I was shocked to find that I had de-acclimated after spending almost 10 days at sea level. My legs were strong, but I was sucking wind on the uphill like a COPD patient. Damn. I drank a bunch of water back at camp and went for a number of short strolls before dark.

Thursday, I decided to not do anything too strenuous, plus it was windy, so I headed out on the foothills trail which is a flat, valley hike, 2 miles one way hike to the Frijole Ranch Museum. The Ranch House is stone with a wooden bunkhouse/school room and an enclosed spring house. The spring flows at 6 gallons a minute. This must have been a great spot to live back in the day, hell I’d love to live there now. I felt much stronger and more acclimated, so I decided to do the  2 mile loop up to Smith Spring. It was well worth the distance and elevation gain. As I arrived at the spring, a couple was just leaving, so I had the whole place to myself, to enjoy lunch and quiet solitude for the next half hour. As I walked out a woman was just arriving. I had the option of returning the way I came or ascending to the base of Bear Canyon via the Frijole Trail, which would be the opposite approach compared to the day before and a new to me trail. During the elevation gain I was sucking a little air but much better than the day before. By the time I got back to camp I had done a little over 8 miles.

Friday, was completely void of wind, which is rare this time of year in the Guadalupes. I had planned a rest day but it was too nice not to hike. So, back up to Devil’s Hall, but this time I continued well past the designated stopping point and was rewarded with a spectacular canyon and a giant rock alien face. I had the place all to myself, I don’t think many people go the extra half mile. By the time I got back to camp, I had logged 5 miles. It was still warm, sunny and no wind, so I setup my outdoor shower and got clean.

This morning, Saturday, around 4 am, I thought someone was shaking me and woke up to 47 mph winds with gusts up to 62 mph, according to my weather app, but clear, sunny, skies. Enzo is rocking and rolling so much that I have to stop typing cuz the keyboard moves. When I went out earlier, there were a few people getting ready to hike to the summit. I think they’re idiots and hope they are smart enough to at least crawl across the narrow cliffside spots in the trail, or better yet turn around. The camp hosts said the summit gusts are forecast to be 100 mph.

I went out after breakfast, walked around and chatted with a few people standing 6-8 feet apart and yelling over the wind. Needless to say, if it wasn’t for Covid, I would have invited them in to Enzo for coffee, but there isn’t anyway to social distance in Enzo. I was basically windbound all day, but at least I had a great view of the mountains from my windows.

Friday, the NM Governor, passed a very strict “stay at home” order, so that triggered a change in plans for me and I’ll head back to the Ranch tomorrow when the wind abates, just to be sure I get home before the Covid restrictions get any tighter. But I’m not driving in this wind.

I tried to post pics with this but my cell signal is too weak. Next time

Tight lines and safe travels

BACK TO GUADALUPE MTS NAT. PARK

 Sunday, I enjoyed a couple of cups of coffee watching the waves on the Gulf, took a long walk on the beach, relaxed some and then packed up and headed to Houston around 2pm. I took advantage of being in an urban area and purchased a new pair of light weight hiking boots at Bass Pro Shop. I arrived at South Main RV park just before 4pm, set up, turned the A/C to max and then visited with Elysse and Steward. 

Monday was my last appointment at 9:50am. At 9am I received a phone call informing me that my doc had “called in” and I’d have to reschedule. I was fortunate that they squeezed me in with the Physician Assistant at 10:10 am and all was good.

I headed west out of Houston at noon. I really didn’t feel like going home. Except for the Houston traffic and crazy ass Houston drivers, I was having a great time. I wanted to go to Big Bend N.P. but it was only doing camping reservations and no first come first serve sites. Everything was booked except a single nite at a back country site. I really didn’t want to drive all that way for one night. I decided I would drive as far as Kerrville, TX, camp at Kerrville Schriener Park and re-group. I went to bed still not know what I would do.

This morning, Tuesday, I decided to drive to Guadalupe Mts. N.P. and take a chance that I could make it there before sunset and get a site. I drove out 438 miles, got there before sunset, but all the “campsites” were taken. I grabbed a normal parking spot, paid the camping fee and figured I would take my chances that I wouldn’t get another visit from law enforcement. By the time it was dark a number of rigs had pulled in and parked in the non camping spots, so I think I’m okay. 

It’s quite cool here tonight, currently 49 degrees at 7:30pm, hard to believe I was swimming in the gulf on Saturday, running the A/C on Sunday and running the furnace tonight. I have not decided how long I will stay. I have enough food and clean clothes for at least a week, so I’ll play it by ear. Forecast in for high 60s by day and high 40s at night, so great hiking weather.

I’ll do a couple of the hikes I didn’t do on my last visit and break in the new boots. 

Happy Veterans Day and a big thank you to all the vets. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday.

Tight lines and safe travels

THE SHERIFF COMES KNOCKING

 

Saturday night I climbed into bed to read around 9:15 or so, I didn’t last long and turned out the lights. I was sound asleep, when there was a very loud banging on the side of the camper and a voice announced “ Sheriff’s department, I need to speak with you”. Well, needless to say I was rather startled, so I asked him to repeat himself, same message. Then said I had been sound asleep and said to give me a couple of minutes, I could see bright lights outside, I got up, turned on the lights, got dressed opened the door and stepped out. There were 4 officers spread out. The sheriff introduced himself, asked if I was alone and if I had a gun. He questioned me as to whether I had been involved in an argument with someone and whether or not I had fired a warning shot. I told him again that I didn’t have a gun, had been asleep and didn’t hear anything, nor had I had any argument with anyone. I told him that in the two days I had been here, that except for saying hello, I had only spoken with a couple of people and hadn’t argued with anyone.

He asked for my ID, and then explained that someone had called in a report of an argument and shots fired. He thanked me for my cooperation, I thanked them for being on the job, said goodnight and they all drove away. I climbed back into bed and went back to sleep.

This morning, after a cup a coffee, it occurred to me how well I was treated. I was not yelled at, I was not made to feel afraid. I wasn’t thrown to the ground, or touched at all. I also realized that I was not even concerned about stepping out of the camper and facing law enforcement, I hadn’t done anything wrong, so why would I be. BUT I’M A SMALL, WHITE GUY, and then I wondered if it would have been any different had I been a person of color. I don’t know the answer to that and never will. Just food for thought.

22 years living on the road and this is the first time I’ve been “visited” by law enforcement in the middle of the night. I hope it’s another 22 years before it happens again.

Tight lines and  Safe Travels 

 I've been busy since my last post. Voting was easy, albeit social distancing and mask wearing could have been better. By 7:30am I was done. I did observe that SKPs have changed quite a bit. I was actually camped in the same dry camp area where Nancy & I began our early road life. It was in dry camp C where we met a number of our friends back in 1999, and 2000. Back in the day, there were times when we couldn't get a dry camp or "boondock" site and were forced to take a hookup site. But this time the park was full, with the exception of a couple of boondocks sites. Oddly, there were a number of "off grid " capable rigs in FHU sites, I even saw a couple of very expensive overland style 4WD vans with huge solar arrays in FHU sites. The nights were cool, I slept under a blanket, so it wasn't like you needed air conditioning. Anyway, it was quite different from when SKPs would brag that they had not been plugged in for X number of days and would squeeze into a tight dry camp site rather than take a FHU site. 

Wednesday. I was off to Houston, for a dental cleaning, then a Wednesday night at Brazos Bend State Park. Did a nice flat land hike, saw two good sized alligators, took a shower and then headed to South Main RV Park for Thursday night to be close to Baylor College of Medicine facilities for labs and my oncologist. It was incredibly noisy. I slept with ear plugs. I'm sure it was a combination of, having been away from Houston  and in some very quiet places for six months and very little sound proofing in Enzo, compared to the Moho. The ear plugs really helped. I also visited with friends Stuart and Elysse, who introduced me to some very nice Bourbon, Larceny, and fed me. Had a great time visiting with them.

Friday, after my appointment, I went to Galveston to visit my good friends Hugh and Dianne for a few hours, then it was off to the free county beach near Surfside. I settled in to a nice spot, but around 8pm I noticed the waves were getting a little close and my buddy Kevan had mentioned a hurricane off the Mexico coast. So I decided to pack up and move about a quarter mile up the beach to higher ground and re-settle. High tide is predicted for 4am, so even if my tires get a little wet, I'll be dry for breakfast. I'm packed on pretty soft sand, which usually indicates that the water doesn't reach it very often, so I should be good now. The only thing I left out was my small rubber mat, which is pretty easy to clean, so I should be okay. Weather appears to be excellent, and I'm here for two nights. I'm looking forward to a long walk on the beach tomorrow, sitting and reading a book and then watching sunset over the dunes. I do like the Texas coast, if only it wasn't part of Texas. LOL

Sunday late afternoon, I'll head back to South main RV Park in Houston, for what may be my last visit to the Bayou city or as it is sometimes called Space City. I'll remember it as cancer city.

The recommended social distancing rule from these guys is 30 feet. No Problem 

                                      Shortly before sunset on the beach............... before I moved.

Tight lines and safe travels

 Sunday, 11/1/20, was a travel day. 386 miles to Junction,TX as well as grocery restocking day. I left GMNP, shortly after sunrise. Don’t ask what time it was. Between the ending of daylight savings time and the time zone confusion because GMNP is so close to the time zone border, I think it was 7am, but then within 10 miles I crossed into central time zone, so I think it was 8am. Anyway, I was happy with my departure time, whatever it was.

55 miles of driving on the “Texas Mountain Trail”, a really nice 2 lane road thru the desert, but with mountains on both sides, I arrived in Van Horn for a much needed fuel stop at $2.04 a gallon for unleaded. I could have driven a more diagonal route, but I had never been on this road and wanted to check it out. It was worth the extra few miles. I then jumped on I-10 east into a massive headwind.

Next stop was Fort Stockton, for fuel and groceries. I passed by a Walmart super center and hoped to find another grocery store, which I did. I have a personal distaste for Walmart Corporation, so I try to avoid them, at least for groceries. A few miles down the road I found another grocery store, it wasn’t crowded and they had mandatory mask wearing and very helpful staff. Topped off the tank at $1.99, ate some lunch in the truck and headed east.

At 4pm, I arrived in Junction, TX. Fueled at $1.86, found a self serve car wash, gave Enzo a much needed bath, and finally pulled into the city park for a free night of camping along the Llano River. It turned out to be the night the local Lyons Club was lighting the Christmas Lights in the park, Christmas music included. It was awesome. I even met Hoyt, the park manager, who told me he would be on duty at 7:30am, and if I needed anything, just hunt him down. How cool is that.

The day I hiked Guadalupe Peak, a number of hikers and I discussed how good ice cream would be at the end of the hike. Of course, the nearest ice cream to GMNP is 33 miles away, so that didn’t happen. Today I bought a pint of Haggen-daz coffee ice cream and had it for dessert after dinner. I think I deserved it, plus the pint size container is only 14 oz. Damn, I should have bought two. It was a pretty unique experience, eating ice cream, camping free in a city park, trees all aglow with Christmas lights, a day shy of a full moon and 70 degrees. WOW!!!!

Monday, was another travel day, 336 miles or so. This would not be as easy as the day before. I was headed to Rainbow’s End RV Park in Livingston, TX, my domicile and SKP HQ. That wasn’t the problem. Central and east TX have become a travelers nightmare. Traffic, highway construction and just everything I hate. I breezed through Texas wine country but as I got closer to the Hill Country and Austin, traffic increased and it was no longer a relaxing drive. I fueled just outside of Bastrop at Buckee’s, for $1.66 a gallon. By 2pm, I arrived at Rainbow’s End, settled into my site at boondock C for $7.50 a night, grabbed a much needed shower, did a load of laundry and finally relaxed with a glass of wine, then cooked dinner, with vegetables this time.

Tuesday is election day. The polls open at 7am at the park’s clubhouse. I’m camped about 150 yards from the clubhouse, so I plan to be there by 6:55 am. I have a couple of errands to do in Livingston, then I'll leave Wednesday morning,  head to Houston for a dentist appointment and then camp at Brazos Bend State Park. Brazos Bend was one of the places Nancy and I often escaped to during her MD Anderson treatments, both for day hikes and overnight camping, so it has some good memories for me. I'll get some flatlander hiking done while I'm there.

               Below are pictures of my campsite at the Junction city park, it was awesome!

 

Tight lines and safe travels