Day 33

July 11, 2017                                                                                                              Day 33

This morning was quite the interesting affair.  My alarm went off at 06:00; however,  I could tell there was no way it was 06:00 for it was too dark outside and not yet sunrise.  Apparently, my phone could not make up its' mind on which time zone it wanted to be in so though it said it was 06:00 it was actually 05:00.  At this point, I was pretty much awake so I laid in bed until the sun started to peak over the mountains. At which point I got my gear, changed into my hiking clothes, signed in on the trail registry and started the climb to Guadalupe Peak.

Immediately, the trail started to become steep and it wasn't long before I was gasping for air like an asthmatic.  To give a little background on the trail itself, and my physical fitness, it is 8.5 miles long and rises 8,751 feet and I have lived in South Carolina for the past three to four years where there is no elevation and any altitude gain is a big deal!  Soon my legs were burning and I had to stop at almost every switchback to stop my heart from pounding out of my chest and saying the hell with  you.  After awhile my body finally adjusted to the altitude and with the constant steps and boulders I had to climb over by the time this hike is over I should have legs of steel.  Throughout the hike, I had to keep forcing myself to slow down for I kept trying to go at the lightening speed I used to hike at and I hate to admit it but right now my body just cannot handle that.

During the climb, I caught glimpses of another hiker who had started just before me. Eventually, I caught up to him and found out his name was Travis and he is from Texas and on his way to Wyoming for work.  Turns out we had a lot of things in common (not just that we were both redheads) and enjoyed doing similar things.  We ended up hiking the rest of the way up the mountain together which in my opinion made the world of difference.  I found I was more focused on our conversation and less so on the agony my lungs and legs were going thru.  Finally, we made it to the summit! Standing up there we took pictures and looked at each other in silence and were like well now what?  It felt like we should have a flag or celebrate our victory in some way after all the work we did to get to the top and not just turn back around and head down.  HaHa. It was somewhat anti-climatic and hilarious all at the same time!

On the way down, we continued to talk about many things but most importantly we discussed how much we craved a cold crisp beer and either a nice juicy hamburger or a pizza. By the time we did reach the trail head our legs were shaking uncontrollably from the effort and a drink was a must!  After we both changed out of our hiking clothes he came over to look at my camper and discuss where we were to go get a drink.  While we were talking that fine looking park ranger from last night showed up again and came over to us.  We stood around talking for awhile and then he had to get back to work so we said our goodbyes and wished he was off work so that he could join us for a drink for he seemed like a great guy.

Leaving Guadalupe Mountains National Park I followed Travis into Carlsbad where we searched for a place to have a beer and possibly some food.  By 13:30 we walked into the Lucky Bull Grill and ordered an IPA each.  It was so easy to talk to him and I didn't feel like I had just met him but had known him for quite some time.  Eventually we ordered dirty nachos and split a hamburger and ordered another drink.  When the food came we were both overwhelmed by how much food it turned out to be but it was so good so we did our best at knocking it out.  By the time we had finished it was almost 16:00 and he had to get back on the road.  Back at our vehicles which we had parked in a Wells Fargo parking lot we said our goodbyes and I sat in my vehicle to find an auto shop to get my oil changed.  While sitting there, I received a text from Travis saying we forgot to take a selfie and he was turning around! I literally could not stop laughing it was the funniest thing ever as he pulled back up and we snapped a selfie! HA.

After that hilarious moment I took my car to get an oil change and have the trailer hubs looked at.  An hour later I was driving back towards Carlsbad Caverns National Park to see the bat program. Pulling into the park I went into the visitor center and bought a sticker and proceeded down to the amphitheater.  Now, I love bats and seeing wildlife is always amazing; however, the bat program wasn't what I thought it would be for there weren't that many bats and I probably could have gone without seeing it.  Leaving the bat program I drove to an Inn right outside the park and camped in their parking lot for the night.

The trail