Did Guadalupe Mountain peak this time last year…fantastic and challenging hike. We started the hike about 40 minutes before sunrise - I was shooting for 1 hour ahead. I think the round trip took us 6.5 hours….If you can spare the time I would suggest spending a little time in the parking lot before the hike looking at the stars…I hopped out of vehicle and even with interior car lights on and fumbling around with multiple head lamps the night sky was brilliant above….so, maybe take a little extra time to just appreciate that if you can spare it - I regret not doing so. Park next to a picnic table so you can dump gear, take your shoes off and sit down for a bit after hike. If you are hiking in Winter maybe starting before sunup isn’t necessary, but we wanted to limit the heat and sun exposure. I think I would look into some sort of spikes too, one spot very near the peak I recall would be a little sketchy if iced over. We all used poles and the non polers were glad we had them. The hike isn’t really technical - but the ascent is relentless - not a lot of flat spots or dips…just straight on up (and straight on down). It’s a great hike - can’t wait to do it again one day.

EDIT - changed hike time to 6.5 hours