0:00

Not to be overly dramatic or anything, but Guadal

0:02

of Queen Mountains National Park tried to kill me.

0:05

It did not try to kill you, come on, yes

0:08

it did. And after seeing my life flash

0:10

before my eyes on that El Capitan trail,

0:12

I have no doubt that this park wants to end

0:15

me. I felt deceived, I felt

0:17

attacked, and I felt used. Of

0:20

all the trails I've done at Guada Queen Mountains, and I've

0:22

done a bunch at this point, in fact, I

0:24

think this is the park that I've done

0:26

more hiking and more trails than any

0:29

other park over the course of my two visits

0:31

here. I will say that the El Capitan

0:33

trail was the least assuming

0:35

I thought it was going to be easy.

0:38

Honestly, it's marked as moderate in every

0:40

guide book and every visitor guide, and

0:42

even the trailhead categorizes it as moderate

0:45

since it's allegedly and mostly flat trail

0:47

that goes out on the base of this giant

0:49

mountain looking rock face known as Al Kabitan,

0:52

just like the one in Usebity. Kind of um,

0:56

but I'm going to need to have a serious discussion

0:58

with someone about this, because five

1:01

thousand feet of elevation game several

1:04

unending miles, seemingly and hurricane

1:06

force winds are not my idea of moderate

1:09

by any means. That was a really windy day

1:11

though, I mean, the RV was getting

1:13

pretty high gust of winds throughout it, like

1:15

the whole evening, I mean, and into the morning.

1:18

They continue to wake us up multiple times.

1:20

I'm just glad I didn't do this trail. But I'm

1:23

Brad and I'm Matt, and

1:26

we sold our loft in Chicago and gave up our study

1:28

dwelling existence to live in an RV in travel

1:31

the country full time, just dozen our dog

1:33

Finn. And today we're

1:35

talking about Guadalupe Mountains National Park

1:37

in Texas. Thanks for listening. Trails.

1:51

Yeah, So this trail starts by

1:53

the main visitors center. They're a bunch of trailheads

1:56

there, and it goes out pretty

1:58

far into the desert, seemingly

2:00

like it's going to be flat and pretty

2:02

level, But then it starts

2:05

to steadily rise and dip in elevation as

2:07

that passes in and out of these little canyon pockets,

2:09

and it's inching like increasingly closer

2:12

to Al Capitan, which initially

2:14

when you're starting it it's kind of way off in the distance, and

2:16

then the miles progress

2:18

and it gets closer and closer and larger and larger,

2:21

which is great and beautiful and would all

2:23

be well and good if it wasn't

2:25

such a miserably windy day today,

2:28

I remember was particularly intense, and

2:31

earlier that morning though I had done the Premian

2:33

Reef trail, which is marked as strenuous, and that seemed

2:36

like it was pretty fine to me, so I

2:38

didn't really think anything of doing this. I thought

2:40

it would be easy in

2:42

comparison, but I

2:44

guess I was dead

2:48

wrong. But being

2:50

I think the fact that it's kind of such open

2:52

desert terrain with no tree cover mountain

2:54

sides to shield me or deflect

2:56

the wind, I was getting pelted really hard,

2:59

like head on and see like it seemed like no

3:01

matter what direction I was going, the wind was hitting me

3:03

dead on and going against me, which

3:06

was so frustrating and just sucked

3:08

the energy out of me. And it reached a point

3:10

where I was starting to like scream into the wind

3:12

as loud as like it because no one else was around.

3:14

The wind was so loud that it was stifling. As

3:16

I've told everyone before, I married a psycho,

3:19

but at least your my cyco. Yeah, I

3:22

would definitely have a like having a psychotic

3:24

moment out there in the desert, um

3:27

swearing into the wind as if that would help

3:31

um. But don't don't get

3:33

me wrong with the views were spectacular,

3:35

especially as the trail winds along the base of

3:37

this gigantic rock face. This

3:40

thing looms so large, jutting

3:43

directly up out of the desert floor like a massive sheer

3:45

cliff. The train is mostly

3:47

dry sand and rocks, but it's all dotted with small

3:50

greenery like little cacti and shrubs

3:52

and these spiky looking mescal plans.

3:55

I love me some scale same that

3:57

that made things worse because while I was

3:59

out, they're suffering. It just made

4:01

me thirsty for Mescow cocktails,

4:04

which were hard to find when like

4:06

the mes coloring people were there, like

4:08

yeah, the Native Americans, Like, I don't

4:10

get it. Yeah, the visitor center should serve Mescow

4:13

cocktails. That would really help

4:15

me out. I needed a drink after this trail, let

4:17

me tell you. But

4:21

the like all beautiful, all

4:24

stunning. Unfortunately, the

4:26

beauty was mostly lost in me since

4:28

the wind was hitting me so hard that it was basically

4:30

punching the glasses right off my face and

4:32

pulling tears out of my eyes. Like I wasn't pulling

4:35

tears

4:37

crying, but tears were like

4:41

flying out of my eyes. What is this metal

4:44

in your magneto? I don't get it. Yeah,

4:47

it was an experience, and so that's

4:49

happening as the trail is getting rockier

4:51

and rockier and more jagged and sharp,

4:54

and I literally just kept getting knocked to the ground

4:56

and against the side like a rag doll being thrashed

4:59

in a storm. It was crazy. I was waiting

5:01

out of my almon a little rack down. This

5:06

is not even the worst of it. The worst was when the trail

5:08

reaches a pinnacle at this overlook um

5:12

like cliff edge. There were like sand

5:14

dunes of the distance. So it's on a nice day

5:16

when the wind is docile, I'm sure it's beautiful

5:18

and peaceful, but it was so horrifyingly

5:21

windy here at this point that I

5:23

had to pretty much get into a sprint in

5:25

order to even inch myself forward. It was so

5:27

strong, and I was beyond exhausted

5:30

at this point. As I'm like looping around

5:32

this trail curves back towards El

5:34

Capitan, and it's

5:37

getting narrower to make things worse,

5:41

and I had to like crawl

5:44

or duck down and like inched my

5:46

way along the trail because I was too scared if I was standing

5:48

up, I was afraid I was going to get

5:50

knocked into the canyon below, like

5:53

off the cliff. I just really wish I was there, because if

5:55

I was there, I feel like it would be a

5:57

different story. I feel like matizing

5:59

this, like, yeah, it

6:03

was. It got so bad. I was just

6:05

screaming and

6:08

crying against my will, and

6:11

I was It got to the point where,

6:13

like I was, El Capitan personified

6:16

my problems and I would blame

6:18

it for what was happening to me in the

6:20

wind and feeling like I was being

6:24

destroyed, and I really

6:26

felt betrayed by El Capitan. I

6:28

thought it was trying to It

6:30

didn't want me hiking this trail. You're just

6:32

mad that El Capitan made you. It's

6:37

yeah, it definitely put me in my place,

6:39

which apparently is pretty low.

6:42

But eventually, I, after

6:45

what seemed like forever, I rounded the

6:48

kind of narrow, nightmare portion of the trail and

6:51

things started to calm down and like a

6:53

little bit now that I have several cuts

6:55

and wounds from being thrown against the rocks.

6:57

You really did? I actually, I'm like prove it,

6:59

and he did, Like there was legit

7:02

scrape scraps, and yeah, some of

7:04

my clothes were cut, Like I

7:07

got hit. I hit the rocks enough for my clothes

7:09

to get torn. It's crazy. Yeah,

7:12

So the wind kind of persisted

7:14

for the rest of my hig back to the trailhood, because of course

7:16

it did, but it wasn't nearly as bad

7:18

as like this horrible, terrifying

7:21

moment. And when I finally finished

7:24

this safely shut away in our

7:26

rental car, my legs were jiggling like jello

7:29

and my heart was pumping, and

7:31

I kind of felt like my whole body had

7:33

been like just thoroughly electricated

7:35

or something. Yeah.

7:37

But let's just yeah,

7:40

that was not moderate by any means. I can't.

7:42

I'm like appalled that any

7:44

guide booker trail head rates that as moderate

7:46

even without the wind. That's an insane amount of

7:48

like elevation gain and distance. It's

7:50

it's crazy. Yeah, Normally they're pretty

7:52

like overrating things, and this one was definitely

7:55

underrated. This was way off,

7:58

of course, I'll copa on a side.

8:00

Guadala Mountains National Park isn't all

8:02

nightmarish winds and near death experiences.

8:05

Fortunately, this West Texas

8:07

park is is mostly a paradise

8:09

for hikers and rock levers as in geology,

8:12

not like genre music. Rockers

8:15

can love it too. Yeah,

8:18

just bringing like your headphones,

8:20

I guess, um,

8:24

but because you're trying to mute up my Yeah

8:27

yeah sure, um

8:30

but yeah, but the thing that makes this so appealing

8:33

for hikers is Guada Mountains

8:35

has the tallest peaks in the state of Texas, it

8:38

has gypsum sand dunes, it

8:40

has tons of human history, and

8:42

also most fascinatingly, the

8:45

largest exposed premian reef in the

8:47

world. Yeah, so

8:49

that's something to chew on. Um.

8:52

There's a lot to do and see and learn

8:55

in Guadape Mountains. And as long as you don't

8:57

foolishly ventured into the into the park

8:59

and when the forecast looks like a scene from

9:01

the movie Twister, like I stupidly

9:04

did, we'll have a great time.

9:06

Yeah, I know. For us, like Guadala Bay Mountains

9:09

was actually like a two part of trip since we had the

9:11

RV park at the campsite nearest Carlsbad

9:13

Cavern, which is about forty minutes away.

9:16

But after a couple of days of exploring the caves,

9:19

we got to spend a lot of time in

9:21

Guadalupe National Park. There's just a whole

9:23

new set of activities to do, especially the hiking,

9:25

the part that has a lot of great hiking trails,

9:28

ranging from difficult and lengthy, too

9:30

easy half mile strolls by a Spring

9:33

to the hardcore eleven mile

9:35

trails of that vengevil Cap.

9:37

I'll cuple ten. I can't even talk

9:40

about that. I don't I don't want to see

9:42

a captan for the rest of my life. I can't

9:44

wait to go back now. But

9:47

like, yeah, like you said, like Guadaly Mountains is

9:50

so close to Carlled Pod Caverns. It's a great one to punch

9:52

and to do both parts. And they're about so different

9:55

for as close as they are, dear graphically,

9:57

their their world's apart. And

10:00

that's phenomenal, phenomenal and so cool.

10:03

When I first visited Galpe Mountains, it was by

10:05

myself. I was doing a little solo like

10:08

three day road trip down from

10:10

Albuquerque, which so

10:12

we were in Albuquerque, you were selling um

10:14

Britain's naple Wood Farm Maple Syrup at the

10:17

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

10:19

Yes, this is the time when you

10:22

decided to um freak

10:24

out on me because we had to curb those plans

10:27

to go to another event.

10:30

Um. You know, it

10:32

was stressful to plan this, but it

10:34

worked out and we became

10:37

a great team because of that. Yeah, it worked out

10:39

great. I was clearly

10:41

hankering for some hiking, so as

10:43

long as I had access to it, I was

10:46

very very happy. And so what we

10:48

decided to do was just me kind of go

10:50

off my own for a few days, rent a car,

10:53

drive down to Gutally Mountains, which is just a few

10:55

hours south of Albuquerque. We got this key

10:57

little airbnb in in Carl's Bad and

10:59

so drivable and close, and

11:01

then I was able to do some trails here, including

11:04

the park's crown jewel and

11:06

one of my favorites, Guadalupe Peak its

11:08

namesake. This is the highest peak in

11:11

the park and all of Texas. That's

11:14

a pretty big feat Texas, and yeah

11:16

Texas is big, um, And this

11:19

is the biggest mountain in Texas.

11:21

I guess it's eight thousand, seven hundred

11:23

forty nine feet tall. So it's not huge

11:26

compared to like a

11:28

lot of Western mountains, especially in states like Colorado

11:31

and California, but still very

11:33

impressive and quite

11:35

strenuous to do, especially since the trail is really

11:37

steep and it's about nine miles round trip.

11:40

But even that being said, this was a piece

11:42

of cake compared to a Capitan, which

11:44

all never let go um

11:48

Guada peak. The trail starts from

11:50

like the same trail hud areas al Capitan,

11:53

and it starts out pretty

11:55

steep. In the first couple of miles especially, there

11:57

are some serious switch

11:59

back x that account

12:01

for a majority of the elevation

12:04

gain on this trail. Switch back just like

12:07

ruin me because they're kind of defeating, yeah,

12:10

because it's like I could just go straight up like

12:13

like a mountain goat. Yeah, like a mountain goat.

12:15

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So

12:17

these switchbacks kind of zig and zag off

12:19

the mountainside and it's definitely rough,

12:21

but the views of the valley below are

12:24

amazing, and there are a

12:26

bunch of points where you can see this sweeping

12:28

panorama up the

12:30

desert, the whole like Chwoman desert

12:32

out there, and a lot of it's kind of

12:34

flat once you're out of the national park, so you can see

12:36

for quite a ways and it

12:39

makes for a great view and it's also kind of a

12:41

motivating factor to like, oh, I can

12:43

do this. It's it's great, it's beautiful.

12:45

I love it. And then the

12:48

tail kind of rounds them into

12:50

the park around the mountain into a

12:53

tranquil forests setting, which was surprising

12:55

and also very welcome reprieve

12:58

and a break to get into the shape aid

13:00

and cool off for a bit, also

13:03

get off those awful switch backs. And

13:06

then you reach the section that

13:08

feels like you're almost at the top or like

13:11

you're about to get to the end, and

13:13

then just kidding, no, you still have a long

13:15

way to go, and it's very yeah, it's very

13:17

deceiving. Yeah,

13:19

it turns out. I think that area is just like there's a

13:22

backcountry campground up there, and as

13:25

you're getting towards the campground, it feels like you're getting to

13:27

the top, and then it sucks you out

13:29

and you have to go around the mountain face

13:31

again and there's a whole another section which

13:33

isn't too bad because it's

13:36

it's not as steep as the initial parts,

13:38

So as long as you can get over the first I would say two

13:40

miles. Then you're mostly in the

13:42

clear as long as you have like the stamina in time and

13:45

water. Of course, it's the

13:47

last stretch of Gladoue Peak that

13:49

gets pretty hands on. There's

13:52

some scrambling, there's some rocks. Mountain,

13:54

Yeah, like a mountain goat exactly

13:58

and well worth the effort because you get

14:00

to the top and there's this triangle

14:02

shaped marker signaling the highest

14:05

point in Texas. And it's

14:07

a very it's a very rewarding

14:09

experience if you feel like, oh, I really

14:11

made it, I actually did this, and it's

14:14

it's great. I feel like I can relax

14:16

now and sit down and rest my legs and have my little

14:19

tuna salve bunch kit at this point

14:21

of eating tuna salve in the weirdest

14:23

places, to be honest, yeah, I

14:26

think you have. I love those things. We're going to

14:28

hear more about other trails after the short

14:30

break. Hi,

14:47

I'm Brad and I'm Matt, and you're listening

14:49

to park Landia today. We're talking about Guadalupe

14:52

Mountains National Park and we're gonna go

14:54

on our next trail, which is a little less

14:56

insane than Matt's over dramatic

14:58

story of al Capatan and then some others

15:01

that was completely accurate my description. No

15:03

it was not. Okay,

15:05

maybe it was. I wasn't there. But we're gonna

15:08

talk about McKittrick Canyon Trail.

15:10

We did this one together, and it's a much more

15:13

level trail, you know, something

15:15

that you can actually like probably run up if you

15:17

wanted to. But I loved

15:19

how it just went along the mountain

15:22

side and there's this beautiful

15:24

stream in the park. We even had to tiptoe

15:27

across some rocks a few times to cross

15:29

the stream. The trail was

15:31

really lovely and peaceful, especially

15:33

when you get out of the direct sunlight into the shade

15:35

of the canyons. Maple trees, these ones

15:38

you're not able to tap, you know, that's only grown

15:40

and like pretty much

15:42

the northeast, But if

15:45

I could, I would because that's

15:47

how beautiful these trees were. I mean, there was just so full

15:49

of foliage and altogether I

15:51

guess this was only about five

15:53

miles round trip, and it takes

15:55

you to this historic Pratt Lodge Um

15:57

named after Walter Pratt when who

16:00

was a geologist with the heart of gold. Yes,

16:03

when an angel. Yes, we all lost

16:05

for Mr Pratt Um he and

16:07

his family owned about six thousand acres of land

16:09

here in the canyon, and because they loved

16:11

it so much as a suburb destination,

16:14

they even built a cabin there which

16:16

you are able to go and see to this day.

16:19

Um, you can't go inside of it, but

16:21

it is a beautiful place for a nitiaded

16:23

picnic. Yeah, great spot for tuna

16:26

stala my family. Yeah, come

16:28

on every spot. You're just obsessed

16:31

again, You're obsessive and

16:33

I love that about you. Yeah. Well,

16:36

anyway, this guy, Walter Pratt, he eventually

16:38

donated this private land

16:40

to the government, allowing

16:42

it to form Guadalupe Mountains National

16:44

Park, and today mckitcher Canyon

16:47

is one of the most popular destinations here. Thanks

16:49

Walter. I know, seriously, but

16:52

this guy, he wasn't the first person to discover

16:54

the mountains by any means. No, no,

16:56

no, definitely not. I mean, there's evidence

16:58

of humans that lived here for over ten thousand

17:01

years. Um, there were definitely

17:03

ancient hunter gatherers who left behind

17:05

things like rock art and pottery

17:08

creations. The area's main occupation

17:10

was by the Mescalero Apache people.

17:13

They eventually end up retreating

17:15

into the mountains because of the settlers

17:17

who were expanding. UM. Sadly,

17:20

we've all learned that this kind of invasion

17:22

before has happened over and over and

17:24

over again and UM.

17:26

After a series of conflicts between the APACHE

17:29

and the soldiers, most Native Americans were

17:31

forced on the reservations. Yeah, really

17:34

awful. UM. Settlers

17:36

attempted to ranch here too at

17:39

some point, but the rain is

17:41

just too rugged and difficult and unforgiving.

17:44

UM. One thing that they did managed to accomplish was

17:46

build uh structure

17:49

called free Hole a ranch. They did this

17:51

in eighteen seventy six. It's

17:53

served as a residence and eventually

17:55

as a community center and even a post office

17:58

today. That's just as all museum

18:01

with ranching history, and it serves as

18:03

the entry point to a couple of the park's easiest

18:05

trails, which go to Smith Spring and

18:07

Mansonita Spring. Both are lovely.

18:10

Yeah. I'd actually love to talk some more about the diverse

18:12

terrain and trails opportunities here. There was

18:15

the Salt Basin Dunes. Yeah,

18:17

I know this. It's definitely

18:19

a part of the park that is very unvisited

18:21

undiscovered, probably because it's really out

18:23

on its own and it

18:25

takes a while to get there, but it's

18:28

what It's totally worth the drive. This place looks like a whole

18:30

other planet entirely looks more like Death Valley

18:32

honestly than Broadway Mountains. Yeah, you

18:34

have to really drive a long way to get there

18:36

though. I mean you have to drive outside the park

18:39

and then around the southern edge and then back

18:41

into the park from the west side. Um,

18:43

and then there's this like super long dirt

18:46

road with you know, occasual

18:48

homes and trailers and little farms with

18:50

goats that look like demons from that movie you

18:52

know, the which. Yeah, I know, I remember

18:54

seeing like scary looking

18:56

goats that I assume we're possessed

18:58

by Satan. And

19:00

it's good to keep driving, just

19:03

keep on driving. The section is so

19:05

far out of the way, and we

19:07

were the only ones there were the only

19:09

car in the little parking lot, which

19:12

was good. It was great, and

19:14

it was fun to do that and have it all to ourselves.

19:16

Really. It was a scorching

19:18

hot day. The sun was blazing. We had

19:21

to spray a whole bunch of sunscreen, bring

19:23

water, and then take the trail

19:25

into the dunes. Yeah, I mean it really

19:27

wasn't much of a trail really, it was like three

19:30

course of a mile through the desert until reach the

19:32

sand, which is bright white color, you

19:34

know, super smooth and fine. It kind of felt like

19:36

sugar. But these dunes aren't

19:38

really as nassive as um the one's

19:41

and like the great sand dunes you know, but

19:43

they're shimmering and especially beautiful at the mountain

19:46

backdrop there. It's just a little different than

19:48

what I expected. Um.

19:52

Yeah, very It's still diverse and you

19:54

can definitely see there's a lot of wildlife

19:56

and creatures. Yeah, the views

19:58

were extraordinary and very

20:01

unique compared to especially compared

20:03

to anything else in the park. So that was

20:05

that was fun. And we got to see jack

20:08

rabbits, runners, road

20:10

runners, very exciting. Yeah, some

20:13

serious cartoon like wildlife out there in the

20:15

sand dunes. History.

20:22

We should talk about the highest peak in Texas

20:24

some more, because there's a lot of human

20:27

history here. Um, it's fascinating

20:30

to mention the fact that most

20:32

of the park is actually a gigantic

20:34

fossilized reef. Yeah, it's

20:36

actually the largest permian what's called a permian

20:39

reef in the world. It's like the biggest

20:41

and on Earth. Actually, it's kind

20:44

of hard to imagine that what's now a does for environment

20:47

being a tropical reef

20:49

millions and millions of years ago. But

20:52

this part of Texas used to be part of a shallow

20:54

sea and the

20:57

heart of it was this enormous reef filled with

20:59

shells and spun is and all that coral

21:01

goodness. But now

21:03

that the world has changed and continents have moved

21:05

around and things have dried up, all

21:08

of this reef, all this ancient reef is now exposed

21:10

in this desert climate, and a lot

21:12

of trails you can see the how

21:15

the rock walls look dried up with the coral

21:17

reef, and how some of the rocks you're stepping

21:19

on are actually crushed remnants of the

21:21

same reef. Yeah, I know, it's it's crazy,

21:24

and it's especially noticeable on trails

21:27

like the Premian Reef which I mentioned earlier.

21:29

You can also pick up an

21:31

audio guide from the visitor center for free,

21:33

and as you're walking along the trail, it will point

21:35

out specific things on the route,

21:37

telling you more about what the environment was like way

21:40

back when when it was underwater, and

21:42

highlighting the different reef

21:45

portions with to the

21:47

untrained I or if you're just kind of glancing over it, you would

21:49

never you would not necessarily know it. You would think

21:51

it's just a rock face. Or

21:54

it's definitely good to like look at all those before

21:56

going on your hikes. Yeah, I totally

21:59

agree. And you can also another

22:01

opportunity, you can get a real good reef

22:03

you vibe at the grotto section at

22:05

the end of the McKittrick Canyon trail.

22:08

It's an additional couple of miles past the prow Lodge

22:10

where we were, But I would say you should

22:13

definitely do it, especially if you want to immerse

22:15

yourself more in this like reef environment.

22:18

This reef setting extra. Yeah,

22:20

it definitely is. It's not that hard either. It's flat

22:23

and a lot of it's shaded. And

22:26

the grotto, this section, it gets its name

22:28

not only from just how many of

22:30

these lash shady trees there are, but

22:33

also the this cave like

22:35

reef wall that covers a lot of it. It's really

22:37

tranquil, really unique, and it has these

22:40

hillar like reef structures that dangle

22:42

from the roof like stalactites. They're huge, they're

22:44

kind of spiky and a little

22:46

sharp, so don't like slam

22:48

yourself against it, I guess, but why would you do that?

22:51

And yeah, the grotto is

22:53

a really lovely place to sit down, relax

22:56

and have a have a nice

22:58

little picnic with my favorite

23:00

food, tuna salad. You

23:02

really like tuna salad. But before

23:05

we go to my favorite segment of

23:07

the day, we are going to take a quick

23:09

break. Hi,

23:22

I'm Bred and I'm Matt. You're listening

23:24

to park Landia. It's that time again where

23:26

we get to do one of our favorite segments of the podcast.

23:30

My favorite, Matt,

23:32

what was your favorite thing to do at Guadalupe

23:35

Mountains National Park in West Texas.

23:37

Well, you could probably guess what my least favorite

23:39

part was, and that's the damn

23:42

Yeah, that's for sure not my

23:44

favorite. Um, I would say that

23:46

my favorite was the

23:48

time that I summited Guadalupe Peak and my first

23:50

time here. It was super

23:52

strenuous. Well it was strenuous,

23:55

hiresome, but I

23:57

also just felt such a sense of accomplishment

23:59

doing that. This was at the time,

24:01

one of the hardest and longest trails I had done.

24:04

This was when I was really getting into more hardcore

24:06

hiking and pushing myself and challenging myself,

24:09

and I just felt really accomplished

24:12

and really strong when

24:14

I was able to finish that. And

24:16

also the views were just fantastic and

24:19

it was neat to be able to say that I've done to the

24:21

top of Texas. So thoroughly

24:23

loved that. That is actually a really cool

24:26

feat to have. I mean, yeah, mine

24:28

though, was probably definitely probably

24:31

definitely okay with that, probably

24:33

definitely Pratt Lodge,

24:37

I just loved it. I mean, you could just sit

24:39

under those trees as that are like swishing back

24:41

and forth, and if I had my hammock, I

24:43

would literally have been in

24:46

heaven. And I guess that would be my

24:48

first thing is hammock

24:50

and a full picnic lunch

24:52

for Pratt Lodge. Um, you

24:54

know, I think that this was great. And

24:57

here we go with the reacquirming thing of water because

25:00

it's just Texas. It's dry

25:03

and there's a lot of sun. There's

25:05

not a lot of shade, so you definitely need water.

25:08

And then I would definitely bring sunglasses because

25:11

there's there's a reflection from the water as

25:13

you're walking through. And then the sun

25:16

of course, yeah, right, that's

25:18

important for me. I think that three

25:20

things I would bring would be a

25:22

windbreaker probably, I mean

25:25

concerning what I endured, I think that what makes sense.

25:27

Preferably a windbreaker that could also

25:30

shield me when I'm being heaved

25:32

against jagged rock would be

25:35

ideal and really helpful. I

25:37

would also bring I'm a queen.

25:40

Yeah, no spot on um.

25:43

I would also bring prescription sunglasses.

25:46

It gets super bright and I needed

25:48

to use I have transitional lenses, so I have there

25:50

are these gigantic, obnoxious sized

25:53

glasses that will dark

25:56

and intent when it's in the sun, so it's

25:58

just so much fun. They're really detective

26:00

and good, and I wore them a lot when

26:02

I was in Glope Mountains because you're in the desert

26:05

and everything is so exposed and it's not very

26:07

often that you have a sufficient tree

26:09

cover. And then the third thing

26:11

I would bring, which you could probably

26:13

guess, is my favorite lunch

26:15

item, and for some reason, I

26:17

I ate this everywhere in Glope Mountains

26:20

is my favorite little tuna

26:22

salad lunch packets. I've

26:24

eaten them all over at this point in this park. I've

26:26

eating them in the Grotto Peak

26:30

and I'm never allow It's

26:33

just too much. Yeah. And

26:35

also, speaking of snacky things that I love,

26:37

I wanted to give a special shout out to Taos

26:39

Mountain Bars, which we discovered at

26:41

the Pine Springs visitors Center. Here a glope

26:43

Mountains so good, such

26:45

a great surprise. They are literally

26:48

the best. Yeah, because the park doesn't have any

26:50

restaurants or cafe or anything, and we

26:52

were in there do I pick up um

26:55

probably a visitor guide look for

26:57

like items to buy souvenirs,

26:59

and the visitor center

27:01

had this little cool They're stocked with these amazing

27:04

locally made energy bars made just over the

27:07

New Mexico border, and

27:09

it's a small company. They use high

27:11

quality ingredients to make these delicious bars.

27:13

And the one I had was Amanda gave

27:15

I think and it

27:18

was a game changer for me as someone who thought of

27:20

energy bars and granola bars and stuff. I feel

27:22

pretty much ruined on

27:24

other energy bars I think can live up to

27:26

it. And ever since then, I've been like stalking up

27:29

on them at ari I stories because they're

27:31

so between. Yeah,

27:33

definitely, I mean, I think we

27:36

need to wrap this up with our dream vacation

27:39

and what it would be. Yeah.

27:42

Well, honestly, I'd be happy just

27:44

come here and emerge without being bruised

27:46

and bloody. That sounds like a dream to me. I'll

27:49

take that. Jerome a queen.

27:52

But really though, I mean, I think it'd be

27:54

amazing to come here in the fall to see all the foliage.

27:57

I know, I know, seriously, so bright, so

27:59

vivid. I think when most people think of foliage they

28:01

think of like New England settings, which

28:04

is great, but they were

28:06

actually really studying maple trees in colors

28:08

here, especially along all along like ke

28:11

Hitch your canyon area, and especially

28:13

in October when things really really

28:15

really brighten. Yeah, and the temperature

28:17

is definitely more comfortable at that time of the year

28:19

as well. Yeah, totally. And

28:22

I think it would also be really fun to stay inside

28:25

the park with o URV. There

28:27

are a bunch of r V sites at the Pine

28:29

Springs area by the visitor center, and

28:32

surprisingly this area had good WiFi

28:34

service. I remember like sitting in the parking lot and being like, oh,

28:37

I can actually access internet, so we

28:40

could do this. Yeah, that's actually right. That's

28:42

because that's a big struggle that we have, is the

28:45

internet service. I know, big struggle and

28:47

probably one of the reasons that we didn't even consider

28:49

camping here because we assumed it would be not

28:52

possible, but good to know for the future,

28:54

and also conveniently close to a

28:56

variety of trailheads and Taos

28:58

Mountain bars us of course,

29:00

of course, So in

29:03

addition to those things those

29:05

aspects, I think it would also be

29:07

fun to camp here because we could star

29:10

gaze at night. It's perfect

29:12

for that. We're far, far removed from

29:14

any city lights, so we could just gawka

29:17

the leaves by day and then by night to

29:19

stare at the stars. And how lovely does that

29:21

sound? It sounds really lovely. Yeah,

29:28

you've been listening to the Parklandia Podcast,

29:30

a show about national parks by Heart Radio,

29:33

created by Matt Caro Wac, Brad Caro

29:35

Wac and Christopher Hasiotas, produced

29:37

and edited by Mike John's executive produced

29:40

by Christopher Hasiotas. Special thanks

29:42

to Gabrielle Collins, Crystal Waters

29:44

and the rest of the Parklandia crew and Hey

29:46

listeners. If you're enjoying the show, leave us a review

29:49

on Apple podcast. It helps other

29:51

people like you find our show. You

29:53

can keep up with us on social media. Check

29:55

out photos from our travels on Instagram

29:57

at Parklandia Pod, and join in

29:59

the car conversation in our Facebook group partly

30:01

Indear Rangers. Thank you so much for listening.