Visting Guadalupe Peak and Carlsbad Caverns

Continuing the journey to visit every state, next on our list is New Mexico. New Mexico is the 20th state on the list

Here is the list so far:

New York

New Jersey

Massachusetts

Connecticut

Rhode Island

Vermont

New Hampshire

Maine

Ohio

Washington

Oregon

California

Texas

Tennesee

Florida

North Carolina

South Carolina

Virginia

Pennsylvania

Moving to Texas opened a new world of opportunities to visit some of the further states. That being in mind I decided New Mexico was our next state.

Carlsbad has been on my travel list for some time now so I was eager to cross it off. This trip was like a two for one deal. About 30 minutes from the Caverns of Carlsbad is Guadalupe Peak. My little hiker girl's heart was ecstatic to get to climb this mountain.

Guadalupe is the highest peak in Texas, standing 8,751 feet above sea level. This was the highest peak I've hiked. Now, I'm not going to lie here, I was nervous. The 4,000 footers of New Hampshire were intimidating enough and some of those I couldn't handle. How on earth was I going to climb 8,000 ft! Not to mention the wind speed! Guadalupe peak has pretty much a consistent wind speed of about 50mph. That paired with being so high up, I was shaking in my boots. Despite the fear, I got up at 4am and traveled the hour from Carlsbad to the park. When I arrived the wind speed at the bottom was about 15 mph, not bad but you could feel it.

There was something special about being one of the first hikers on the trail. The sun hadn't come up yet, the lack of light pollution allowed me to see the stars that were perfectly placed above the mountains. I was able to capture the big dipper perfectly shining above the peaks. Within the first hour of the hike the sun started to rise. This moment was one of the highlights for me. Anyone who knows me knows I absolutely LOVE the sky. Sunrises, sunsets, starry nights, and even the moon. I don't care what's in the sky, I have to look at it. This sunrise is ingrained in my memory. The blue sky turning pink then purple and into a deep shade of orange was incredible. Making it even more special, there was no one else on the trail. I got to sit there listening to the sound of the wind and trees while the sun rose high above the peaks.

When I started the hike I was nervous because the google machine told me it would take about 8 hours total. Once I started the trek I started to think the google machine was wrong. Being from New England and hiking the white mountains I was expecting a straight hike up. That is not at all what I experienced on this hike. The elevation was slow, it didn't feel like I was hiking straight up a mountain cliff like in New Hampshire. This hike was peaceful, long trails that wrapped around the mountain. This allowed me to see almost 360 around the whole park. As I got higher in elevation the wind started to pick up as well. About 2 hours into the hike and probably about halfway up the mountain the wind speed was about 30mph.

About ¾ the way up things started to get tricky. Wind speed was about 50 mph. The wind was so strong it started to pull me off the trail and closer and closer to the edge. Here is my advice to avoid this, BRING TREKKING POLES! Now I get it, poles aren’t a very attractive accessory but hear me out. When you're hiking with your trekking poles instead of having two points of contact you now have four. Trust me, I was against them too but once I used them on the Appalachian trail, they became a necessity in my gear. The wind speeds will drag you around the trail and those poles are your safety net. If you lose your footing or just need an extra grip those poles will save you, trust me!

Needless to say the views once you reach the top are breathtaking. You can see all the way around the park for miles and the desert looks incredible. As someone who's never seen the desert this sight amazed me. I sat there eating my granola bar with such a sense of peace. The whole hike took me about 6 hours, given that I stopped for over an hour to watch the sunrise and stayed at the top for about 20 minutes. It was about 4 and a half hours of hiking. BUT like I said, it really didn't feel like a very long hike. It was a very therapeutic hike.

What’s great about this location, there are two parks within basically sitting next to each other. The Carlsbad Cavern is just down the road from this park. You get the best 2 for 1 deal. I decided to split the parks in two days. Carlsbad was up next and saying that I was excited to see the caves is the biggest understatement.

Okay this section is important, I'm about to spill some secrets to visiting this awesome park so pay close attention and save this for later!

The caverns require tickets but unfortunately when I went to purchase my tickets the tickets were sold out for weeks. So, the first piece of advice is once you've decided to visit the park BOOK YOUR TICKETS! Make sure you pay attention to the times and dates and try to book as soon as possible. Now, what if you've already planned the trip and the tickets are sold out? Well, that was me so this is what I did.

I went to the park one day before I wanted to visit. I went to the information center and talked to the park rangers. First, I wanted to see if I could purchase in person tickets for the next day. That was a no go BUT the park ranger told me that if I show up early there are very limited walk-in tickets. If you call and ask about this they WILL NOT tell you about it, They reserve this information only for those who come in person and ask. So, this was the plan. The park opens at 8am and tickets for the first tour at 8:30 sell out first. Due to some time restrictions and unfortunately Ritz could not join me in the caves so I NEEDED the first tour. I showed up to the park at 7:30 to wait in line. About 30 other people had the same idea as me and were already in line when I got there. I kept positive and ended up getting the tickets for the first tour!

I have never seen anything as interesting as these caves. Honestly, the pictures speak for themselves but from the moment you enter the cave you are taken into a deep and dark world of rocks. What could be more amazing than that??

The caves have been evolving for thousands of years, these massive fixtures have been untouched and preserved since their discovery. The journey through these caves takes about 2 hours and gives you a deep look into the world below our feet. My best advice for visiting this park is to take your time. Stop at every rock, take LOTS of pictures and really enjoy yourself. This is a self guided tour so you can really take your time in there and see everything you want.

Travel is like therapy for me. Getting to step away from my life and my routine is an essential part of my mental health. I’m one of those people that has constant thoughts. That constant noise in my head can be very overwhelming. Even if I'm happy and having happy thoughts the overstimulation can just become too much and I need to release that energy. Hiking is one of those activities that actively quiets my head. When I'm hiking the only thoughts I can have are how good the view is and putting one foot in front of the other. This allows my brain to take a much needed break. It's really important to find that thing for you, maybe it's hiking, maybe it's reading, maybe it's doing some different activity but whatever it is for you do it!