Work had me in El Paso this week which got me thinking about staying over an extra day to hike up Guadalupe Peak as it is only 2 hours out of town. Two of my collogues presently down there were also interested so we had a plan. Guadalupe Peak is located in Guadalupe Mountains National Park and at 8749 ft is the Texas State high point. A rocky trail leads to the top where you will find an interesting monument erected by American Airlines in the 1950’s.
3000 vertical ft and 8 miles round trip.
This was my 38th state high point.
On the way back we stopped along HW 62 to check out a forgotten artifact which was once part of the U.S. Airmail Beacon System. I’ve read about these old concrete aviation arrows but never have come across one until today.
A few pictures follow.
El Capitan and Guadalupe Peak
El Capitan
Rocky trail
Trail bridge
Home stretch
Richard and AJ at Guadalupe Peak summit
Fossil on Guadalupe summit
Monument plaque
Flora
Flora 2
Flora 3
Flora 4
Flora 5
Flora 6
Flora 7
Concrete arrow at old site of Hudspeth Intermediate Field along HW62
Nice pics. I hiked Guadalupe last April on a hot day...found it to be an interesting trail with interesting diversity as elevation was gained. And then the monument on top: WOW!
Just an FYI: we continued on to Big Bend National Park. Highly recommend it for spring hiking.
There used to be a beacon on top of Mount Margaret by Snoqualmie Pass. At one time there were artifacts laying about. Insulator wire and parts of the wood burning stove are what I can remember. I think it was a radio beacon though that operated in a similar manner to avalanche beacons. If you were heading for the beacon dead on straight the tone in the beeping signal from the beacon would be a higher pitch than if you were off a few degrees.
Eric...I climbed Margaret 20+ yrs ago but my recollection is that the artifacts were found near to the actual summit. If you climb it without snow then you will likely see them. The stove portion was the top plate that would hold the burners. I lifted it up and it had hundreds of ant eggs and ants beneath it.
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