Mountains in Texas? I was surprised too. My experience with Texas was centered around the summers I spent in the Panhandle on my grandparents' 250-acre farm some 90 miles north of Amarillo. This was flat country. Fields of corn, sorghum, and wheat alternated with rangeland for cattle and stretched as far as the eye could see. The only vertical relief was the occasional bluff, which was very occasional. So, when a friend who was living in Texas called me up and proceeded to tell me about the wonders of Texas's Guadalupe Mountains, I knew I had to visit.
The Guadalupe Mountains are unique as far as mountains go due to their complex geologic history. The Guadalupes are located in the Permian Basin: more specifically, the Delaware Basin, one of the three arms of the Permian Basin. During the Permian Period (298.9 to 252.2 million years ago -- between the Carboniferous period and the Triassic Period), the Permian Basin was connected to the ocean by a narrow channel called the Hovey Channel. This channel supplied the area with water and the Basin was covered by a warm, shallow sea. During the middle of the Permian Period, the 350-mile Capitan Reef developed on the edges of the Delaware Sea and thrived for several million years. This reef was composed primarily of calcareous sponges, encrusting algae, and lime-rich mud from the ocean. At some point, evaporation began to exceed water input through the Hovey Channel and sediments filled the Basin and eventually buried the Reef.
Ancient fossils in Bear Canyon
Beginning around 80 mya, two tectonic plates slid under the North American plate, causing the Laramide Orogeny, a period of mountain building from Canada to northern Mexico that lasted from approximately 80 mya to 35 mya. The rugged landscapes of the West, including the present day Rocky Mountains were formed during this geologic event. The Guadalupe Mountains also uplifted. After the Laramide Orogeny, steep faults began to form along the western side of the Delaware Basin and this caused a portion of the Capitan Reef to uplift several thousand feet. Subsequent wind and rain eroded the softer sediment, exposing the fossiliferous reef and forming the Guadalupe Mountains (NPS - Guadalupe Mountains and Wikipedia). "Today the reef towers above the desert floor as it once loomed over the floor of the Delaware Sea 260 to 265 million years ago" (NPS Guadalupe Mountains National Park). In other words, when you hike the Guadalupe Mountains, you are hiking along an ancient reef, which happens to be the most extensive Permian fossil reef in the entire world! Fascinating stuff. You'd think everyone would make a beeline to Guadalupe N.P. to experience this geologic wonder.
The Chihuahan Desert and the reef in the background
Actually this small national park, which comprises approximately 86,000 acres of land, is pretty quiet. When I Googled Guadalupe Mountains, "Waiting to be Explored!" were the first words I saw when I landed on the National Park Service homepage. Considering the amount of people we encountered while we were there, Guadalupe is a gem still waiting to be discovered. Even though the Park is small (compare to Big Bend N.P. at 801,163 acres), there is much to explore thanks to over 80 miles of hiking trails that wander through diverse ecosystems and showcase an impressive amount of flora and fauna, in addition to the unique geology. I could have easily spent a week at Guadalupe, but I only had 24 hours, so I made every minute count.
We arrived early Thursday evening (May 3rd) and set up camp in a charming campground situated between the mountains, which offered expansive views of the Chihuahuan Desert. After a delicious dinner of haystacks (recipe here: http://jaquo.com/haystacks-taco-salad/), we went for a short evening stroll to Manzanita Springs, a spring-fed pond surrounded by cattails, which is reportedly a good place to see wildlife. The trailhead began at the historic Frijole homestead where we spent some time admiring birds including a pink Cassin's finch, a turquoise lazuli bunting, two acorn woodpeckers, several black-headed grosbeaks, and a scarlet-colored hepatic tanager that darted from tree to tree. A gray fox slunk across the yard before disappearing into a nearby arroyo. We continued down the trail and right before reaching the Springs we ran into four javelinas. They were browsing shrubs and doing what javelinas do in the evening.
Three javelinas mostly obscured by shrubs, cacti, and grasses.
Manzanita Springs. If we had had more time, we would have continued to Smith Springs, a shady, lush oasis that is the watering hole for many animals including elk, mule deer, javelinas, and birds.
Back at our campground, we enjoyed a desert sunset.
I didn't sleep much between the above photo and the sunrise photo below, thanks to loud snoring coming from the adjacent campsite. The snoring went on for several hours and I wanted to throw something at the offender's tent. Eventually, he stopped and I fell asleep, only to be awoken by a female great-horned owl hooting next to my tent: Hoo-hoo, hoo, hoo. She was calling to a male great-horned owl on the other side of my tent and this went on for some time.
Because of the nearly sleepless night, we were slow to get going in the morning; We sipped some instant coffee and savored our lumpy oatmeal as we broke camp. The day before, I had inquired at the visitor center about which hike would be the most appropriate for someone who loves plants. The Ranger recommended McKittrick Canyon, which I had already done on my 2015 trip to Guadalupe. McKittrick Canyon is very good for plant life and I was tempted to do it again, but decided to go with the ranger's second recommendation: The Bowl, an 8.5-mile loop that showcases several ecosystems including a well-developed pine forest with Pinus strobiformis.
The hike began on the Frijole Trail -- the trailhead which is located at the Pine Springs RV campground. After crossing a wash, we joined the Tejas Trail, which meanders through the Chihuahuan Desert for awhile before beginning an intense and long ascent of 2,500 feet. Here are some of the landscapes near the beginning of the hike:
Pinus ponderosa in the desert!
A hillside covered in Dasylirion sp. (sotol or desert spoon).
Along the trail, there were several very large limestone rocks that had dislodged from the reef high above. Theses rocks were colonized with plants such as Echinocereus (a coworker says the species is probably coccineus), Opuntia sp. prickly pear, and Petrophytum caespitosum rock spirea. The latter is pictured below.
Dalea formosa (featherplume) in bloom and growing along the trail:
The trail switchbacked up for several miles. As the elevation increased the views became more astounding. Unfortunately the lighting in the direction of the good views was harsh and the sky was a peaked blue. However, this washed-out photo with a crooked horizon line illustrates just how high above the desert the Permian reef is. That is Texas madrone in bloom in the lefthand corner. Also, one of the trails pictured below takes hikers to the top of Texas, Guadalupe Peak, elevation 8,751 feet. I considered doing that hike too, but the ranger said the pine forests were more well-developed on The Bowl hike and I'm more interested in the flora than conquering a mountain.
Eventually, the trail arrived on a ridge. Here, the desert flora intergraded with a forest dominated by pinyon pine, which succumbed to a ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir forest. Then various species of oak began to appear. We were on a "Sky Island," an isolated mountain, which towered over the Chihuahuan Desert.
At some point we turned right on The Bowl trail.
A gnarly-looking oak tree:
Pines meet oaks. Apparently the meadows and forest floors of The Bowl are covered in wildflowers during peak bloom.
The scaly bark of Juniperus deppeana (aligator juniper) and a Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir) twig.
The soft, feathery, blue-green needles of Pinus strobiformis (southwestern white pine)
A lovely coniferous forest
Agave sp.
Below is a photo of the yellow cone-like plant Conopholis alpina var. mexicana (squaw root) pushing its way up through humusy-topsoil and pine duff. Peak squaw root season must have been in full swing as the forest floor of The Bowl was covered with these strange-looking plants. Squaw root is an achlorophyllous root-parasite that grows in clumps in forests in AZ, NM, the Guadalupe Mountains of Texas and in Mexico. According to SEINET, this plant is believed to parasitize the roots of Quercus, Pinus, Juglans, and Cupressus. In case you are wondering what is going on with the leaf and flower morphology (I was), the leaves are reduced, appressed scales (not visible in photo) and the flower has a tubular, bilateral, and 2-lipped corolla.
In the Chihuahuan Desert, peak season for wildflowers occurs later in the year during the monsoon, but here are a few early-blooming species. Castilleja integra (whole-leaf Indian paintbrush) on the left and Corallorhiza wisteriana (spring coral root orchid) on the right.
Hedeoma sp. (false pennyroyal) left, and Townsendia sp. (Townsend daisy) right:
The trail left The Bowl and began to abruptly descend the jagged Bear Canyon. The trail was steep and rocky and I was very grateful for my hiking poles. Here are just some of the plants we saw along this section. Yucca sp. in bloom:
Arbutus xalapensis (Texas madrone)
Fendlera rupicola (cliff fendlerbush)
Acer grandidentum (bigtooth maple)
Heuchera rubescens (pink alumroot)
Polygala rimulicola var. rimulicola (rockcrevice milkwort). Thank you to my coworker Mike for helping me ID this plant. I was stumped.
An extremely tiny and cute aster growing on the vertical face of a limestone cliff.
Viola ×lovelliana [missouriensis × triloba] (Lovell's violet) growing in a shady nook of Bear Canyon
Salvia summa (great sage), which is found almost exclusively on partly shaded limestone cliffs from 5,000-7,000 ft. (http://nmrareplants.unm.edu/rarelist_single.php?SpeciesID=161)
Philadelphus sp. (mock-orange)
Berberis sp. growing at the base of the canyon.
I would be remiss if I did not include photos of some of the fossiliferous rocks we saw. Some are reef rocks and others are sedimentary. I wish I knew more about geology.
Once out of Bear Canyon, the trail joined up with the Tejas Trail again and eventually the Frijole Trail. The strenuous 9.1 mile hike had taken us 7 hours (the hike could have been completed much more quickly by less distracted hikers) and during this time we had only seen seven other people: a man weighted down by a 65 lb. backpack, two shirtless 30-something-year old dudes flexing their muscles on a rock outcropping, two dreadlocked hippies, and a retired couple who seemed high on life (apparently they are full-time hikers when not volunteering for national parks -- I would be high on life too with that lifestyle).
We made it down to the visitor center before it closed so that we could get our passports stamped and so that I could pick up the very impressive plant list that is available with a 75-cent donation.
I look forward to my next visit to the Park, because there is still much exploring for me to do there including a visit during the monsoon and another during peak autumn color. Until then, here's a prickly-pear that captures my sentiments for Guadalupe Mountains N.P.
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Sources:
1) https://www.nps.gov/gumo/learn/nature/geologicformations.htm
2) wikipedia