James and I are back from west Texas -- me slightly worse for the wear (now sporting a good case of bronchitis). James, the hearty young buck, seems to have survived the chill wind quite well.
Our decision to delay our assault on Texas' highest point proved wise. If we'd ventured forth on Monday night, we'd have been camped at 8000 feet in the middle of a blizzard. But by Tuesday afternoon the weather was beautiful, clear with a high near sixty. Only the occasional patch of slushy snow on the trail testified of the previous night's inclemency. The only mitigation to our fair weather was west Texas' pervasive springtime wind (and consequent dust) which increased as the evening progressed. On Wednesday morning we were folding our tent in a 50-mph gale. The main problem with wind in the mountains was that it seemed to be from every direction at once. Now for some, an instantaneous shift from a 30-mph tailwind to a 50-mph headwind might not prove such an insurmountable problem, but for me (one from among the prostate challenged) abruptly recalibrating the windage setting on the old gun really spiced up the morning ritual.
Anyway, enough with the chitchat. Here are a couple of photos of James. This first shot is a view from behind El Capitan (the 1000-foot sheer cliff I featured in the previous post).
Our decision to delay our assault on Texas' highest point proved wise. If we'd ventured forth on Monday night, we'd have been camped at 8000 feet in the middle of a blizzard. But by Tuesday afternoon the weather was beautiful, clear with a high near sixty. Only the occasional patch of slushy snow on the trail testified of the previous night's inclemency. The only mitigation to our fair weather was west Texas' pervasive springtime wind (and consequent dust) which increased as the evening progressed. On Wednesday morning we were folding our tent in a 50-mph gale. The main problem with wind in the mountains was that it seemed to be from every direction at once. Now for some, an instantaneous shift from a 30-mph tailwind to a 50-mph headwind might not prove such an insurmountable problem, but for me (one from among the prostate challenged) abruptly recalibrating the windage setting on the old gun really spiced up the morning ritual.
Anyway, enough with the chitchat. Here are a couple of photos of James. This first shot is a view from behind El Capitan (the 1000-foot sheer cliff I featured in the previous post).
This second picture is of James at the summit of Guadalupe Peak.
1 comment:
oooh, i am jealous.
very nice pics. looks fun!
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