Remembering a Cherished Volunteer

Iris Stagner, of Mineral Wells

Our test riders leave Van Horn, Iris is riding at the right
in the light blue jacket

An organization like ours relies on volunteers, many of them don't live in Far West Texas but LOVE what our region offers, and they work hard to help Texas Mountain Trail deliver important service to the region's visitors and residents.

One such person was Iris Stagner, a Bike Texas board member, participant in the Texas Forts Trail's Forts Tour, and incredible cyclist, cycling advocate and friend.



Vintage postcard for the Hotel El Capitan
The fully restored hotel was the starting
point for the El Capitan to El Capitan
Heritage Bike Route

1910 View of Ranchland along the route
The view remains very much the same today

She helped us out in March 2010 by traveling all the way from Mineral Wells with her husband, Butch, to be a test rider for us on our first Texas Mountain Trail Heritage Bike Route, the "El Capitan to El Capitan Heritage Bike Ride" from Van Horn to the base of Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  She then wrote about the ride for The Racing Post.  (Here's the link to the bike route information, which will be up for only a few days in this form, as we update our organization's website.)

The road from Queen, New Mexico to Dog Canyon,
Guadalupe Mountains Nationanl Park, one of Iris' favorite rides
in our region

Iris and Butch were frequent visitors to our region.  She came to ride the Scenic Loop in Fort Davis, and lately enjoyed Guadalupe Mountains National Park, especially the northernmost entry through Dog Canyon.  Butch would take her bike out of the truck, and she'd ride downhill all the way from Queen, NM to the Dog Canyon ranger station.

Tragically, this tireless advocate for cycling safety was killed riding her bike home from work on Monday night.  We will remember her as a dear friend (so upbeat, positive, willing to give, and willing to laugh!), a wife, mother, grandmother, a true fan of Far West Texas and our Texas Mountain Trail, and a great all-around person.  Her family has asked that memorials be sent to a special fund for cycling education and safety, the Iris Stagner Memorial Fund at Bike Texas.  You can read more about Iris on their website, here.

 

Hummer Watching Season

Click on the images to get a closer view!

Now's a GREAT time to watch hummingbirds who vie for space at feeders...where are some good places to view them?  Try Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center, and Mountain Trails Lodge in Fort Davis, Dog Canyon Visitor Center in Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  All are sites on the Far West Texas Wildlife Trail, a project of Texas Mountain Trail, TPWD, and Texas Pecos Trail!

Tejas Trail from Dog Canyon in Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Yesterday, we headed up to Guadalupe Mountains National Park since it had been too long since we'd been to Dog Canyon in the northernmost reaches of the park.  We stopped at the ranger station before checking in at the trailhead, and we were very glad we did.  It was in the upper 90s and the ranger told us the Tejas trail had the most shade, and he was right.  We were able to hike longer in the heat because most of the trail had the blessing of shade cover. 

This is a trail backpackers take through the park, ending up at Pine Springs or the McKittrick Canyon trailhead, and there's the Tejas backcountry campsites,  6.2 miles from Dog Canyon.  Backpackers need to take all their water with them, because the trail is rich in views and wildlife and adventure, but not water!
Here's a link to the park's map.

You can also bring your horse to this part of the park, as there's a corral at the trailhead in Dog Canyon.  Read more here.

Because Dog Canyon is high country forest, there are different birding opportunities here.  The park's website says the area is a great place to view acorn woodpeckers and the magnificent hummingbird.  The ranger station at Dog Canyon had several hummingbird feeders, providing a great show early and late in the day, especially!

Approach to Guadalupe Mountains' Dog Canyon

There's a section of Guadalupe Mountains National Park that gets visited less often because, to get there you have to drive into New Mexico (just a little bit) and then head south again into Texas to approach the park from the north.  But this is the view you see as you get near the park..you're seeing the Lincoln National Forest.

Dog Canyon is one of our favorite sections of the park.  The campground is lovely and there's lots of space between the campsites.  The trails are even less traveled than the rest of the park.  Plenty of private wilderness for us visitors! 

Read more about it here!

Hummingbirds are out in force!!

Click on the photo for a closer view!

We've got a feeder up and the hummers are ACTIVE!  Lots of places to see hummingbirds around the region, consult the Far West Texas Wildlife Trail Map!   This photo was taken in Dog Canyon at the visitor center at the north end of Guadalupe Mountains National Park; another great place to see hummingbirds (they have a special garden to attract them) is the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center in Fort Davis.

We'll have public launch parties for the map, details to follow soon!  In the meantime, put these dates on your calendar:

June 2, Davis Mountains State Park
June 3, Monahans Sandhills State Park
June 4, Keystone Heritge Park, El Paso

All party locations are also wildlife and bird viewing sites on the map, too!

Views of Dog Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains National Park

One of the hidden gems of Texas's Guadalupe Mountains National Park (we say hidden because you need to backpack to it from the southern end of the park, or access it by car through New Mexico!) is Dog Canyon.  The National Park Services website says this:  "Dog Canyon lies in a secluded, forested canyon on the north end of the park at an elevation of 6,300 feet. Remote and far removed from civilization; it stands at the edge of the wilderness boundary, and offers an ideal location for quiet camping, birding, hiking, and solitude." 

The camping is wonderful too.  In fact, the campground has been rated among the best in the country for beautiful, relatively private sites.

This area experienced a forest fire last year, caused by a lightning strike.  However, the effects of fire are often misunderstood.  The area has bounced back, is still beautiful and has been ready for visitors for months.

For more regional hiking information, visit: www.texasmountaintrail.com/hike
This area is a wildlife viewing site on the new Far West Texas Wildlife Trail map.  For more information, click here.

More Dog Canyon photos

Dog Canyon in Guadalupe Mountains National Park is recovering (nicely!) from a June fire.  See our entries the past two days for more information!

More photos from Dog Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Take a look at yesterday's entry about Dog Canyon's recovery from a fire back in June...looks like there's plenty of beauty for the hiker, even as the area recovers and gets greener and greener from the summer rains..  These lovely shots, also from the Dog Canyon area in Guadalupe Mountains National Park come to us from Don Baumgardt.  See his comments on yesterday's post!

Report from Dog Canyon

Earlier this year, a fire ripped through one of the best campgrounds in the country, Dog Canyon in Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  One of our friends, Don Baumgardt of the El Paso Visitors Guide (http://www.pinatapublishing.com/) went to the park recently and sent this report: 

"I've been wanting to go to Dog Canyon for years and finally found a few days to spare. It was beautiful and remote as I had hoped.  The fire that swept thru the area in June left a mark but it was incredible to see how quickly the area starts to heal. The fire seemed to stay mostly on the ground. Many of the trees that are burned are only burned on the bottom few feet. Recent rains have really added lots of green on the ground. Wildlife was abundant. We saw lots of mule deer, birds, lizards, tarantulas. We even heard coyotes the second morning. It's a great campground. Little traffic, friendly hosts and super clean. Go now and keep going back to see how the forest rebounds from the fire."

We'll be featuring Don's photos of the area all weekend. Come back to see more of the Canyon area!
For more information on Dog Canyon, click here.
To visit our regional hiking page, visit: www.texasmountaintrail.com/hike

Fire at Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Last week, lightning started a fire in the remote north end of Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  The fire affected small portions of the Dog Canyon area near the trailhead and the small portions of the upper McKittrick Canyon trail, though thankfully Pratt Cabin and the Grotto area were untouched.  Even those areas affected by fire are now open to visitors.  Park staff tells us the Dog Canyon trailhead area (seen here before and after) will green up quickly with the expected summer rains.

Indian Paintbrush from Dog Canyon

This beauty was found along the trail near Dog Canyon in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. See yesterday's entry for more information about this lovely place!

The Road to Dog Canyon

One of our favorite places in the region is one of the most remote--Dog Canyon in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. To get there, you need to backpack through the park south to north, or drive north into New Mexico, and then head south through the Lincoln National Forest on Hwy 137.

Not only a favorite of hikers and backpackers, the Dog Canyon campground was recently given an honorable mention as one of the top campgrounds in the country. And if you want to bring your own horse for riding the trails, Dog Canyon also has stock corrals.

For other hiking opportunities in the region, visit our hiking page, www.texasmountaintrail.com/hike

For a listing of trail descriptions for Guadalupe Mountains National Park, including Dog Canyon, click here.