10/18-25/03 Guadalupe Mountains National Park Trip Report

October 18-25, 2003
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX - by Bill Kemp and Derly Rivera
On October 18, Trail Tamers returned to Guadalupe Mountains National Park for the ninth year. We met at the Ship on the Desert (a former Exxon executive’s vacation home) late in the afternoon and settled in while Derly prepared his specialty stew. Sunday morning we got up early so that the backcountry crew would have plenty of time to drive to Dog Canyon and then hike up to the Mescalaro campground, which needed significant maintenance. The members of the backcountry crew were Derly Rivera (leader), Jack Graham, Del Grosenheider, Bob Saegert, Louise Stahl, and Chris Zielinski.
Although the crew at the Ship had intended to make Sunday a day of leisure, Tony Armijo, the Park’s trail supervisor, asked us to work that day because of the damage done to the trails by a 5 inch rain the week before we arrived. The Park personnel assisting us were Jack Kincaid and Javier Godinez. The Ship crew (Bill Kemp - leader, Randall Bosarge, Margaret Hill, Marianna Hobbs, Jim Reed, Jim Robinson, Jack Smith, and Mary Zeitler) spent the first part of the week rebuilding the Frijole trail through numerous washes. We moved monster rocks into position on both sides of the former trail and then filled the middle with rocks and soil. Unfortunately, we did not have our rock carrying chains with us. Carrying large rocks is dangerous work, but we only had one minor injury. During the latter part of the week we replaced the soil that the storm had washed from the trail tread. This involved finding soil away from the trail and carrying it in buckets to the trail. Finding large quantities of soil was a challenge. We also installed water bars using cedar that the Park had purchased. We commented that in the Hill Country we don’t BUY cedar.

We saw lots of wildlife during the week, including mule deer, coyotes, javalina, jack rabbits and quail. After taking a nap, Bill looked up into the tree above him and saw a strange object, which turned out to be a large porcupine. Several birders in our crew reported seeing many different species.

Bill handled the meals at the Ship while Derly organized meals in the backcountry. The Ship crew enjoyed shrimp scampi, beef brisket, grilled chicken, lasagna and Texas chili. Allan Weber, you should have been on this trip!

The traditional Friday evening party was moved to Thursday evening after we learned that Friday was a day off for the Park employees. Tony Armijo, Jack Kincaid and Javier Godinez represented the Park. The Park personnel presented a cake honoring CTTT for nine years at Guadalupe Mountains. We also received t-shirts and patches. We stayed up rather late trying to outdo each other telling stories.

On Friday, our day off, Tony arranged for Ranger Frostie Bennett and Carol, a volunteer with 30 years caving experience, to take us on a guided tour of Slaughter Canyon Cave. We used flashlights to wander through the cave, which has many delightful formations. Two strips of plastic tape on the bat guano floor marked the trail. We saw large stalactites “growing” on a bat guano floor. Bats have been in the cave for 10’s of thousands of years

During the week some of us met the biologist and the geologist for the Park. We showed some rock samples to geologist Gordon Bell, who told us what they were and explained in broader terms the geology of the Guadalupe Mountains. He offered to make a presentation to our whole crew on our next trip.

After leaving the Ship on Saturday morning, we had breakfast at the Nickel Creek Café, owned by Jack and Jo Kincaid. Earlier in the week, we had met Jack’s wife, Jo, when we stopped by for a couple beers at the café. Also having breakfast were several members of the Sierra Club crew that would be working the next week. In fact, one of our members, Jack Graham, was also going to be taking part in the Sierra Club service week. We kidded him about the fact that he would have two weeks of trail work, good food, and great company except that the first week would cost $90 while the second week would cost $395.

Mescalero Campground Report - By Derly Rivera
On Sunday, October 19, after a five-mile hike from the Dog Canyon trailhead, the CTTT six- member crew pitched camp at the Mescalero Campground in preparation for the week’s work. Water and a camp stove were brought in by Jack Kincaid and his mule train. Roger Muniz, the campground ranger, was assigned to work with us for the week. A central kitchen served two hot meals daily, with hot desserts being a special treat at the end of the day!

Adjusting quickly to the 6400 foot elevation, we began clearing trails to the campground and removing rocks from the designated tent sites. At one site, a rock estimated at close to 1000 pounds was unearthed and removed. This task alone took about four hours to complete. The major work was finished Wednesday afternoon with minor cleanup done on Thursday morning.

The crew hiked out Thursday afternoon, with five people taking the McKittrick Trail out. The crew welcomed Jack’s offer to take our backpacks out on his mules.
At the “Ship”, hot showers and bunk beds ended the day for a tired crew. Thank you, Chris, Jack, Bob, Louise, Del, Roger, and Jack.