I'm headed to Guadalupe Mountains National Park this weekend for a whirlwind trip - long hours driving and 2 nights in the park. We'll "bag" the Texas high point and probably do 1 or two other hikes as well. I think the guys I'm going with want to bushwhack out to El Capitan at the very least. We're leaving Thursday night and taking turns driving so we can hopefully be early enough to get backcountry passes on Friday.

I'm very excited, but it's going to be tough. I live at just over 400 feet sea level, and the peak is at 8750 feet, a 3000 foot elevation gain over 4 1/4 miles. Furthermore, the primitive camp site, if we get our passes, looks to be about 8140 feet. And, I haven't been hiking this summer, as usual, due to the heat and humidity.

I do walk to work every day, so that helps some. I'll be drinking lots of water this week in preparation, trying to stay well hydrated and healthy ahead of time. I'm also trying to eliminate every spare gram from my gear, leaving out every luxury (my inflatable pad doesn't count - that's a necessity to get a good nights sleep and thus to stay clear headed and safer), modifying gear, and even making 1 or 2 new pieces of gear from scratch. If I have time before the trip, I'll post about my gear list and prep to show off what I've been up to.