Monday May 27 2024

Monday May 27

Heading to our final campsite in the state of Texas, Pine Spring Campground in Guadalupe National Park which straddles the Texas – New Mexico border. To breakup the drive we decided to stop at Balmorhea State Park, 30 miles north of Fort Davis. Balmorhea’s claim to fame is their fabulous multi-acre swimming pool which is spring fed. The pool capacity is 3.5 million gallons and the spring feeds 15 million gallons of fresh water through the pool each day! The water is crystal clear and is home to little fish and turtles. The pool is 25 feet deep in the middle and in that area has a natural bottom to allow the spring water to enter. Of course we went for a swim and it was so refreshing, like being in heaven!

Unfortunately, we had to drag ourselves away and get back on the road to our campground at Pine Springs. The drive was through desert but there were mountains and a few towns along the way. We stopped at one to pickup groceries and then drove the final leg to the park. The Guadalupe Mountains are the tallest in Texas at over 8,000 feet. The campground is at the base of the mountains and is the trailhead for many spectacular hikes.

We checked in at the visitor center and found our campsite. A note on Pine Springs Campground, it is a National park and they are notorious for having no hookups for RVs. We thought we would be able to fill our trailer’s freshwater tank but no, there is only water available for camp water. Luckily we have a 5 gallon collapsible jug which we filled (probably weren’t supposed to) and poured that into our fresh water tank. We did that each day and we had the luxury of water from the tap. As there are no electrical hookups we were on solar power with our battery which worked perfectly in the extremely sunny conditions.

We got setup, and chatted extensively with our neighbour Charles, who lives in Dallas and was camping solo in his trailer, very nice guy.

A note on our campsite, we on the outside edge of the RV area, which was just a big parking lot. We were able to angle the Alto so that it provided shade for us in the afternoon and we faced a scenic overview of the mountains and lowlands in the distance – beautiful. Its thanks to our caravan movers on the trailer that allowed us to taxi the trailer into a perfect position to take advantage of our lovely surroundings.

After dinner walk in the shadow of the Guadalupe Mtns

Sun sets behind the Guadalupe Mtns

Looking north east out across the Chihuahuan desert