We arrived at the turnoff for FR 201 around 7:00. we were in thick fog and low visibility as we put the truck into low range for the crawl to our trailhead. The road was rocky and tested my nerves and patience as I gently guided the truck through numerous obstacles. About an hour into the drive we found a flat place to set up the tent and crash for the evening. We set up camp and built a small fire as snow flurries drifted down onto us.
Morning brought a temperature of 21 degrees and the smallest dusting of snow. I realized that though I brought the now full stove fuel bottle, I had neglected to grab the burner. I built a small "stove" with rocks and built a fire to heat water for oatmeal. We finished breakfast, packed up and got back onto the road.
We continued to grind our way along the rarely used Jeep track, eventually arriving at our destination. The morning was beautiful. As the fog slowly burned off it left a coating of rime on the trees, giving the landscape a hint of winter. We unloaded our gear and set out.
Our path followed an old road that extended out on the appropriately named Lonesome Ridge. The difficult drive, absence of tire tracks and fog gave us a profound felling of isolation and remoteness. As we passed vegetation we would pull off sheets of ice to eat. Wyatt and Colter ran ahead while Zane road on my shoulders. We felt as though we were the only ones left in the world.
The road eventually transitioned to a narrow trail that followed the ridge, winding amongst the mixture of forest and desert vegetation. We felt a sense of exposure as we looked down beneath our path into a void of fog.
About a mile into our walk we stopped to pitch the tent on a small plateau. We played around camp for awhile before setting off to hike further down the ridge. The boys ran like little mountain goats along the narrow trail. We were treated to spectacular views of Big Canyon to our south and Black Canyon to our north.
Finally hunger won out over the joy of explorationa and we headed back to camp. We built another cooking fire and enjoyed one of the calmest, most pleasant days I have ever spent in the Guadalupe high country. We climbed into the tent as the stars began to spread out over the sky.
Sunday dawned to dramatic winds. I was up and out of the tent multiple times to resecure tent stakes that would repeatedly rip out of the ground. Many times the tent would flatten down on us in the winds. The boys laughed and pretended we were in a tornado, but Zane contented himself to snuggle up close to me for comfort. The winds made it impossible to cook breakfast so we split the remaining granola bars for food. As the sun rose the winds did calm some and we started out in the balmy 35 degree air. We enjoyed the views that we had missed on our walk in as we now had unlimited visibility.
We arrived at the truck around 11:30 and began the arduous drive back out. Zane inexplicably fell asleep as we bumped, swayed and ground our way over the road. We stopped in Dark Canyon for a picnic before making the long trek back to Dimmitt. We enjoyed our trip and the solitude of the Guads. We saw not a soul and were treated to the many moods of the mountains. The boys were upset that we couldn't spend another night in the desert splendor.
We arrived at the truck around 11:30 and began the arduous drive back out. Zane inexplicably fell asleep as we bumped, swayed and ground our way over the road. We stopped in Dark Canyon for a picnic before making the long trek back to Dimmitt. We enjoyed our trip and the solitude of the Guads. We saw not a soul and were treated to the many moods of the mountains. The boys were upset that we couldn't spend another night in the desert splendor.
