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 "Guadalupe Mountain Hiking" 2008-02-11
By Azelie Z. Shelby
This book was a great resource for a recent hiking trip. It was accurate and informative. The pictures were helpful, but most importantly, it was good hiking information. I would highly recommend this book.


 ""new" edition not necessarily an improvement" 2005-10-03
By bukhtan (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
I used the first edition (1996) of Bill Schneider's book on hiking in the Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks with as close to 100% satisfaction as I ever get from this sort of thing. This new edition includes a scarcely modified version of Mr. Schneider's original text, which was direct, accurate and detailed. No problem there. No need for a new edition, but I know how the publishing industry works and am aware, also, of the sense that some readers have that everything needs to be "updated" every year or two. Well, the Guadalupe Reef and the caves under it have not changed very much since the mid-90's. Nor have the trails. So the author's text stands at five star level. Here are the changes you will see in the "current" book, leading me to give it four stars rather than the five I gave the 1996 edition:
1) The 1996 edition had legible photocopies of the appropriate sections of the detailed Trails Illustrated topographic maps for each hike. The new edition has only very rough "contour" maps, with each contour corresponding to about a thousand feet. I don't know for sure because they're not labelled. They look sort of like those old wooden plate relief maps Scouts made for merit badges, sometimes seen in museums in visitor centers. The new maps also lack the trail mileages the T.I. maps had.
2) The graphs that charted elevation change on the hike, mile by mile, have been eliminated.
3) Also, the summary of elevation change over the course of the hike at the beginning of each hike description have been eliminated as well.
These are the substantive changes. Mr. Schneider's original text, pretty much intact, mentions elevation change at various points so information relating to that aspect is not missing altogether. But I now have to recommend that users of this book ALSO buy the Trails Illustrated maps of these parks.
Other changes don't matter so much. The first edition carried a two page piece called "the Grand Creation", about the formation of the caves in the Guadalupe Reef. This was an extract from "Silent Chambers, Timeless Beauty". Now's its gone. But it was just extra weight on the trail, anyway. But you know, I think the NEW edition is heavier!
Finally, not that it matters, and I'm sure that the mistake is not Bill Schneider's, rather that of the person doing graphics for Globe Pequot Press, the photograph on the cover was NOT taken in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, but in Big Bend National Park, I think from the Lost Mine Trail. At least they got the state right.
You're better off with the old edition, but this one will do if you can't get it.
By the way, here's a tip not in the book: Mr. Schneider makes reference to the particular beauty of the Guadalupe Ridge Trail in the early morning; this trail starts on the Scenic Loop Drive in Carlsbad Caverns NP. Keep in mind that the Scenic Loop Drive is GATED, and is not opened till some time between 7 and 8 o'clock. At least when I visited in late 2004. So if you want to get out there early, inquire with the National Park Service ahead of time.


Read more Hiking Carlsbad Caverns & Guadalupe Mountains National Parks, 2nd (Regional Hiking Series)

Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX - Trails Illustrated Map # 203 (National Geographic Maps: Trails Illustrated)
Hiking Big Bend National Park, 2nd (Regional Hiking Series)
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM Trails Illustrated Map #247 (National Geographic Maps: Trails Illustrated)
Big Bend National Park, TX - Trails Illustrated Map #225 (National Geographic Maps: Trails Illustrated)
The Big Bend Guide