Mountains? In Texas?

We spent today at Guadalupe Mountains National Park, in West Texas. It's about two hours east of El Paso, just south of the New Mexico border. Our campground is about 30 minutes away, and we can see the mountains on the horizon.

Signs at the visitor center warn about the hikes, similar to the Grand Canyon:

• It's a desert - bring plenty of water
• Don't try to hike to the top unless you have time, gear and experience

So we decided to take an easier hike: the McKittrick Canyon trail to Pratt Cabin. Although the hike was not particularly difficult, it started at 5000-feet. The combination of the elevation, the desert, and the relative warmth tired us out more than we expected. Good choice that we didn't try a more challenging hike.

Afterwards, we drove to Frijole Ranch and walked around. We thought about doing the short nature walk, but there was a javelina grazing along the trail. That was enough of an excuse to skip the walk and return to our campground for some rest.