They who go up must come down – our motto of the day.  We hiked less than 8 miles in nearly 5 hours, but we descended 500 feet, gained 1000 feet, and finished with a 2700 foot drop back to the Basin.  From Boot Springs, we caught the trail to Emory Peak – the highest point in the whole park at 7825 feet.  What a view!

Emory Peak

We had to cross slippery ice and rock scramble the last 25 yards to the peak before we could savor the panorama. With clear skies above, we sat silently meditating on God’s handiwork.  After numerous photographs and the presences of another hiker, we trekked back down the mountain and met the nicest couple from East Texas.  Texans are great!  We continued to meet all kinds of people including a group of previously lost t-sips.  Good laughs.

A West Texas sunset

We kept going down, down, down the mountain, but knees kept screaming ‘oww, oww, oww’.  Eventually, we found our great white stead, aka the Petticrew Suburban.  We ate, washed up, and drove to La Clocha #2, a drive up site along the Rio Grande.  There we kept joking the Mexicans were going to cross the border and raid our tents.  To finish the day, Jordan cooked up some hamburgers. What a great, great meal to finish an even better day.

Related posts:

1. Guadalupe Mountains
2. White Rock Mountain
3. Gila Wilderness
4. Hiking the North Shore
5. Never Hike Alone

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