Other than that, it was a blur of interstate cuisine and the dun-and-dunner landscape of the Chihuahuan Desert until, quite suddenly, the mountain appears, white as heat, seemingly just around the next bend, with its spectacular rounded fortress wall of El Capitan hiding the summit behind its stunning escarpment. 

Before you enter see Guadalupe you pass through a pan of salt flats to the west. I considered stopping, but Karl was asleep and I was concerned about securing a campsite, with good reason. The campground was full, but we sweet-talked the caretaker into letting us squat at one of the group sites that wouldn't be filled until the following evening.

After dinner, we did a quick recon walk up the lower part of the summit trail and found a lively little tarantula who scuttled by Karl’s boot before stepping aside into the yucca.

The next morning, to beat the heat, we got up before sunrise and headed up, making decent progress up the lower steep sections before the sun turned the crumbling, creamy pink cliffs an astonishing rosy gold. Bubbles and indentations of fossilized ocean life could be seen on all sides of the trail: remnants from when the Guadalupe Mountains were part of an enormous Permian coral reef.

The terrain and the colors of the trail changed once we hit the short bridge over the gorge. From there you begin to sense the switchbacks just ahead and the dramatic summit area up above: one of the most spectacular views of any highpoint I’d done to date, and unquestionably one of my favorite. The flora and fauna are also unlike any other state highpoint, most notably the clusters of ladybugs that at first I thought were berries.

The summit marker, a great silver pyramid splitting the Texas sky, is uniquely odd among highpoints and grossly incongruous amid the dull earthtones and quiet greens of the scrub pine.

Within the little movie of the climb is a quick portion of the road trip footage, because the drive to and from Guadalupe National Park and the splendid isolation of this spectular peak are part of its charm.