Guadalupe Peak...at Sunrise!

Psalms 37:5-6 "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this; He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,..."

I have seen the rays of the sun at dawn...I've seen them from the highest point in Texas...and let me tell ya, there is not one sunrise in Texas better than the one here...The colors are more brilliant...the sky more clear...and you can see all the way to the horizon in a 360 degree view. There is nothing more clear!

Trusting God, and committing your ways to him will lead to a life of righteousness. Or another way to think of it...Trusting in God will lead to a more brilliant life...one that is clear in direction...one that is clear in purpose. If you have a panoramic view of what God wants for your life...and you trust in that view...you will shine like the dawn! Because God promises he will make your righteousness like the Guadalupe Peak sunrise!

Who: Brad Hardin (Brother in Law) and me.
Pine Springs TH elevation: 5734 ft
Guadalupe Peak: 8,749 FT
Elevation Gain: 3015 ft
Mileage: Round Trip 8.4 miles

(El Capitan in the forefront and Guadalupe Peak behind it)

Guadalupe Peak (11/23/10)

We left Big Bend on 11/22/10 at 10:30 a.m. after completing a 17.8-mile trip into the back-country. Brad (brother in law) and I jumped in the Prius and headed out of the Park and started our way to the Guadalupe Mountain National Park. We went through the towns of Marathon, Marfa, and Alpine.

We came up from the South so we had a 20-minute view of El Capitan. We finally arrived before sunset and parked the Prius in front of El Cap on the highway. We also visited the Salt Basins, which lie West of the park. After the sunset we headed into the park.

We parked at the Pine Springs TH parking area and set up for the night. We set up our sleeping bags in the Prius, cooked dinner, and got ready for bed. We were both out in minutes. Must have been the Big Bend trip? We were planning on getting up at sunset to start our way up the highest point in Texas.

( I was this night's entertainment...)
We both woke up at 1: 30 a.m. to use the restroom and lay back down. I looked over to Brad and asked, "Do you want to head out now and see the sunrise on the peak?' Brad said, "Let's do it." I said, "**** yeah!"
We were ready and on the trail at 2:20 a.m. Now, this is my second ascent of this peak…but the first time, the Northface of this route was completely covered in snow which made it really difficult. Also…supposedly it takes 6-8 hours to complete the trail. So we took all of this into consideration. We made it up to the peak in 2 ½ hours the dark. Which was great, but there was another 1.5 hours before sunrise. It was 34 degrees with 30 mph sustained winds up top. We hunkered down and waited for the sun.

When the sun came out, it was all worth it. We took tons of great pics and enjoyed the top of Texas. We were down in 1.5 hours!

Little Bonus Picture:

These are the mountains we backpacked the month before...you can read about it in a previous trip report...Pine Top is to the right and Bush Mountain on the left...from the Peak, it gives you a good idea of the butt whoopin we took the month before!