Peter and Jim decided to do a short trip to checkoff the Texas highpoint.  The peak is in the Guadalupe National Park, which straddles the Texas/New Mexico border about 110 miles due east of El Paso, Texas.  We flew into El Paso, rented a car, and drove to Carlsbad, NM, the closest town at 54 miles away.  We started hiking at 7:30 a.m. and summited in about two hours.  While on the summit, we decided to tackle El Capitan (shown above).  This actually turned out to be the highlight of the trip, because there is no trail.  It was a bushwhacking experience not soon forgotten.  While we had to ascend 3000' vertical feet over 4.5 miles to summit Guadalupe Peak, El Capitan was a hike down about 900 and then up approximately 300'. It was pretty rough going, with cactus, pointy yucca plants, scrub brush and boulders in your way the whole time. But it was certainly rewarding because it felt like you were standing at the edge of the world. The drop offs to the west were about 1500' vertical.  This area is desert and very remote and beautiful.