Date: November 5, 2008
Distance: 4.2 miles
Elevation change: 400'
Just because we left Yellowstone doesn't mean we've stopped hiking! Yesterday we drove the 50 miles or so to Guadalupe Mountains National Park (in Texas) in the hope of getting a glimpse of a tree or two that was not green or yellow. (The trees in town have changed color... they're all yellow. Not very exciting.) I've hiked this trail before, but it was 4 years ago so I was interested in seeing it again.
Most of the trail follows an extremely rocky wash. While there wasn't a significant elevation gain, there are a lot of boulders to scramble up and around.
We started out in the early afternoon, but we were on the wrong side of the mountain, which cast a big enough shadow that we were in the shade the entire time. It also was windy and colder than I expected. It is November, but so far it has yet to dip below 65.There were some brilliant trees (made more brilliant by my saturation manipulation.)
At the end of the trail is its namesake, the Devil's Hall. You climb up some natural rock stairs and walk through a neat rock hallway.
It was nice to get outside and see something other than desert and cacti, and get a little taste of fall.
