Two Views, Two Extremes

It's amazing, for me at least, to see vast distances and have my brain attempt to judge them and process them. Since I live in the over-crowded, flat coastal plains of SE Texas, I rarely get to see views more than half a mile ahead. Trees, houses, billboards, buildings, etc. combine to obscure just about any view possible.

What's impressive to me are the distances and elevations between two extremes such as the Salt Flats near Guadalupe Mountains National Park and the mountains themselves.

View of the Guads from the Salt Flats
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The Salt Flats along Highway 62 are about +3640 feet elevation and 9 to 10 miles (straight-line) from Guadalupe Peak.

We stopped at a wide, open place along the highway and walked out onto the flats as we approached the park. I don't think our minds were able to appreciate or process that we would be standing on the very top of those mountians roughly 24 hours later.

View of the Salt Flats from Guad. Peak
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Guadalupe Peak is +8749 feet above sea level, just over 5110 feet difference from the Salt Flats.

As an aside, this set up is very reminiscent of Badwater in Death Valley. The salty flats of Badwater (at -282 feet) in Death Valley sit between two high mountain ranges, the Panamints and the Blacks. You can visit Badwater and then within a short time drive up to Dante's Viewpoint near Coffin Peak (in the Black Mtns) at an elevation of +5475 feet.

Death Valley from Dante's Peak
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Of course Death Valley is much more expansive than the Guadalupe Mountains region, but the distance and elevation differences are similar. Each place is equally impressive to me.