Stretching Our Hiking Muscles in Guadalupe Mountains

Stretching Our Hiking Muscles in Guadalupe Mountains
4 post-hike stretches you’ll need at this trail-heavy park in Texas.
By: James & Stef Adinaro

When James and I pointed Parky, our loaner Limited Edition National Park Foundation Travato, towards Texas, we honed in on two parks we wanted to visit: Guadalupe Mountains and Big Bend. Since our route had us going by Guadalupe Mountains first, we began there.

Intro to Guadalupe Mountains National Park

In my initial research of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, I learned three things:

1. The highest point in Texas is in the park.

2. Most people visit to hike to that highest point.

3. It is something of a hidden gem – crowds are definitely not an issue here.

In the big scheme of the world, the highest point in Texas isn’t all that high. Guadalupe Peak stands at 8,700 feet. Mt. Everest is more than 29,000 feet and, in the U.S., Denali is more than 20,000 feet. Still, just try not to be impressed as you drive across the Chihuahuan Desert and witness the beauty of the Guadalupe Mountains dramatically rising across the otherwise flat and barren desert floor. 

As we drove in, soaking up the lovely scenery and the lack of other souls, we couldn’t help but wonder why more people don’t make the trek to Guadalupe. Perhaps it’s the DIY nature of the park. No lodges, no gas, no restaurants, and not even any scenic drives. This park, in all its remote glory, is pretty much just about hiking.

Which is fine by us!  We’re active by nature, and prefer to plan all our trips around what we’ll be doing. Guadalupe Mountains, with its variety of lovely hiking options and more than 80 miles of trails, made that easy for us.

Camping in Guadalupe Mountains National Park

We overnighted at the convenient campground that’s right at the visitor’s center. Any size rig would fit, but be warned: there are no hookups or showers, and the generator hours are very limited. No problem for us, since we don’t have a generator and can run our coach off our lithium batteries. But for others dependent on generators and hookups, it does get very hot here so do keep it in mind.  

Our 4 Favorite Post-Hike Stretches

And since we were doing so much hiking, we were also getting a ton of stretching in, too! That’s what inspired us to make the video below. We wanted to share with you some of our favorite post-hike stretches.

Since your muscles are already warm and loose after a hike, it’s the perfect time to stretch and work to improve your flexibility.

So, if you go visit Guadalupe Mountains yourselves, and we hope you will, make sure you come fully stocked, gassed up, and prepared for lots of hiking. And lots of stretching, too!

Happy parks visiting!

xo,

Stef (and James)