Video - TX - Guadalupe Mountains National Park - Dog Canyon

**wrangler88** · 04-06-2016, 19:20

https://youtu.be/YD3m-YI3WYM

Just got back from GUMO. Here is a video of the trip.

Day 1 - Dog Canyon -> Bush Mountain Trail -> Blue Ridge Trail -> Bush Mountain -> Bush Mountain Campsite

Day 2 - Bush Mountain Campsite -> Pine Top -> Tejas Trail -> Marcus Trail -> Marcus Campsite

Day 3 - Marcus Campsite -> Bush Mountain Trail -> Dog Canyon

Hope you enjoy.

**wrangler88** · 04-06-2016, 19:22

For anyone curious,
Soundtrack is:
The Who - Baba O'Riley
Head and the Heart - Rivers and Roads
Head and the Heart - Lost in My Mind

**Kilo3** · 04-06-2016, 21:34

Wow some great views.

**wrangler88** · 04-07-2016, 10:36

Trip Report:

Day 1 (April 3)

Woke up at 2:30a.m. and left my house south of Ft. Worth. I met up with a buddy in Weatherford and we headed for Dog Canyon. We arrived at the park around 10:30 mountain time. We got lucky in that the ranger station is only staffed intermittently and the volunteer just happened to drive us right behind us. (I was told next time to call Pine Springs before I arrive and they'd have someone at Dog Canyon when you get there if you tell them a time.)
I soon figured out that I had left my hiking poles in the driveway in Weatherford during the car swap. I was very upset about not having the poles because, 1. I have always used poles when hiking and 2. my hiking poles are also my spreader bars for my bridge hammock. Luckily I brought my actual spreader bars to leave in the truck as backup. So I grabbed those and put on my pack with 2 gallons of water. With food and water I was probably carrying just under 30lbs.
We took the Bush Mountain Trail over the ridge and down to the Marcus Campsite for lunch. This was a 1000 foot ascent and descent to end up at our original elevation, only 4 miles away. We stopped for lunch and then continued on the Bush Mountain Trail between the Marcus Campsite and the Blue Ridge Trail. We passed the old cabin and Cox tank along the way. Pretty neat to see. This is not a well traveled section of trail at all. I never got off trail but it is pretty overgrown. If you pay attention you should be fine. It is a very open section of trail.
At the top, my friend Ben decided to head straight toward Bush Mountain and I hiked the Blue Ridge Trail. I hiked 1.7 miles to the junction with the Marcus trail and stashed a liter of water to pick up the next day. Then I reversed my course and hiked back the 1.7 miles back to the Bush Mountain Trail. I was running low on daylight and energy when i got back on the Bush Mountain Trail. I finally made it up to the top of Bush Mountain about a half hour before sunset. The sun was blinding. Not a cloud in the sky. I headed down from the mountain and to Bush Mountain Campsite as the sun was going down. Set up my hammock for the night, cooked a Mountain House meal and went straight to sleep, completely worn out.
13.1 miles total for the day. Several thousand feet of elevation gained and lost and gained.

Day 2 (April 4)

My quads were pretty sore when I woke up. I laid in my hammock from about 6:45 until I finally got up around 7:30. Ate a cold breakfast and packed up. We hiked the Bush Mountain Trail toward Pine Top. This was probably the most scenic section of trial to me. Great views into Pine Springs Canyon and of Hunter, Guadalupe, Shumard, and Bartlett, as well as the desert floor in the distance. We turned on the Tejas trail and headed down toward Tejas Campsite for lunch. We met a 75 year old man that was out "dayhiking all the trails in the park". I am also trying to hike all of the trails in the park so it was cool to talk with him. He also had the same lackluster opinions of some of the rangers as I have. We talked about the water tanks and pipes running from the high country down to the desert floor and the rangers lack of knowledge about them or care to talk with you about them or many other topics in the park.
We made it to Tejas Campsites and stopped for lunch. I didn't eat much as I was beat down from the hike so far. My legs were really hurting. After 30 minutes, we continued on the Tejas trail until we hoped on the Blue Ridge Trail for a half mile and finally came to the Marcus Trial. I picked up the liter of water I had stashed the day before. I was very excited for the extra water. We hiked down the Marcus Trail back out of the mountains. This trail is mainly exposed and almost all down hill. It had great views but was pretty hot. Not having the poles really hurt going down hill for so long.
We finally made it to the intersection with the Bush Mountain Trail and turned back West for a quarter mile to get to the Marcus Campsite where we were staying for the night. We arrived at 3:30 and spent the afternoon laying around and resting in the shade. We cooked dinner that night, ate, and laid down around sunset. It was another very clear night and it was great to lay in my hammock with no tarp and stare at the stars.

Day 3 (April 5)

We woke up at 6a.m. and packed up. Didn't even eat breakfast. We had 4 miles and a 1000 foot ascent and descent to get back to Dog Canyon. We both had slightly under a liter of water left, were fairly sun baked, and were trying to beat the sun best we could. Hiking into the ridge we stayed in the shade for most of the hike. It was great to see the sun come up and hit those grassy mountains. Looked very cool. We made it back to Dog Canyon in 2 hours. Both of us happy to be back. We both changed and talked to Curt, the campground host. I had met him a couple years before at Pine Springs. He's very nice, loves GUMO, and loves to talk about it. After talking with him, we loaded up and headed toward Carlsbad for a big breakfast.
It was a hard trip but pretty rewarding. Looking forward to making it back out to GUMO as soon as I can again.

**wrangler88** · 04-07-2016, 10:37

Originally Posted by Kilo3

Wow some great views.

Thanks! A lot of work put in for those view!

**blackbalsam6214** · 04-07-2016, 22:16

Thank You for sharing your trip. Always love to see other Hammock Forums members trip videos and pics.

**bartlax4** · 04-07-2016, 22:49

That my friend was one heck of a video. What a killer place to spend a few days. Sunset that first night looked amazing. Really nice TR, thanks for sharing.

**sidneyhornblower** · 04-08-2016, 04:21

That is one inspiring video! Thanks for the trip report and some gorgeous photos, too.

Typos from my Moto E using Tapatalk

**ofuros** · 04-08-2016, 12:51

Big wide views, very easy on the eyes...enjoyed.

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**wrangler88** · 04-08-2016, 18:09

Originally Posted by blackbalsam6214

Thank You for sharing your trip. Always love to see other Hammock Forums members trip videos and pics.

Thanks for taking time to watch. It was a great time.

Originally Posted by bartlax4

That my friend was one heck of a video. What a killer place to spend a few days. Sunset that first night looked amazing. Really nice TR, thanks for sharing.

GUMO is an amazing place. Never anyone there. I have never had to share a campsite in the 4 times I've been there. A lot of room to enjoy the view!