Arrival at Big Bend after spending 11 hours driving straight thru from Phoenix to our 23rd National Park. Not much to see for 750 miles but a bunch of arid landscape devoid of anything resembling beauty!
The only saving grace to this gawd awful landscape happened to be hiding amongst the Chisos Mountains. For Terry and I, this represented landscape worthy of being designated as a National Park.
Unfortunately, the Window's Trail was closed due to the extreme fire danger. The entire area has not seen rain since September. Everything looks like kindling!
The Basin sits at 5400'. Emory Peak, the highest point in the Chisos Mountain Basin tops out at 7832'.
The large canyon walls are part of Mexico. The sandy beach - USA. Somewhere between Terry and the canyon walls trickles the Rio Grande!
Between the extended drought, thirsty farmlands, insensitive industry and everyday evaporation, the Rio Grande has had a challenging season! Kayakers can make it down the river. However, river rafting awaits rising waters. Where's the Mississippi when you need it?
These rock structures look more like bat ears than mule ears!
Our most favorite time spent in Big Bend was our trek up the Lost Mine Trail.
The more difficult hike we took in Big Bend was to the top of Emory Peak. Pictured is the last 25 feet of the climb. Here you must scamper up the sheer rock face if you are to stand atop the mountain. Terry opted to watch me imitate a mountain goat. From the top, the 360 degree view could have been spectacular...had it not been for the dense cloud of smoke from the recent Texas wildfires.
Casa Grande, the large rock mass in the background towers above the Chisos Basin Campground.
In case you haven't noticed...I'm a sucker for taking pictures of "snags". (The dead trees found along the trail.)
It's always a pleasure to stretch out the legs and walk amongst the trees.
The drought pretty much dried up any "spring color"...however, we did happen upon a few Prickly Pear blooms.
End of the Trail
The whole enchilada! Read on to cure your insomnia!
Chapter 23 – Big Bend
Day 1 – May 9th
Terry and I depart for NP #23 at a little after 6am. Ahead, a 754-mile drive eastbound that takes us through two time zones and some of the most unimpressive landscape on the planet! Sage, tumbleweeds and dirt are about all you see as you pass thru Tucson, Deming, Las Cruses, El Paso, and Van Horn. Not much changes once we headed south on Hwy 90 except we run into dozens of feisty “Texas Dust Devils” and a UFO!
At Marathon, TX (the only decent looking small town we’ve passed thru since entering Texas) we head due south on Hwy 385. You guessed it…more of the same! Except now we’re in wild fire territory. It seems as if western Texas has been ablaze now for weeks. It hasn’t rained in this area since last September and everything looks like kindling. We see large billows of smoke in many directions around Marathon and only hope we’re not headed toward one of the fires.
The fires are north and east of us and we reach the Persimmon Gap Park Entrance at 6:15pm (local time) only to find the same depressing landscape. Only twenty-six more miles thru Wasteland National Park and we’ll reach Panther Junction. There’s got to be something of visual interest here! Wrong!
Yet out in the distance, we can see the Chisos Mountains. Three miles west of Panther, the road leading to the Chisos Basin finally looks promising. As we wind our way up the steep grade, the landscape begins to transform into something that looks like a National Park! When we arrive at the Chisos Mountain Lodge, we find this secluded area to be the green oasis amidst a vast sea of desert! Seven hundred forty-eight miles of barren terrain and the last six finds us at 5400 feet above scrub brush level!
Knowing that we wouldn’t arrive at the Park until close to 8pm, we made reservations for a one night stay at the Chisos Mountain Lodge rather than fight for a camping spot as nighttime approached. Before checking in, however, we made a quick sweep of the Campground and much to our surprise, we found Site #19 vacant. The best looking available campsite. Since we were to spend the next three nights in the Chisos Basin, we decided to grab Site 19 now and proceeded to set up the Hob before checking into the Lodge!
After staking claim to our place of residency for the following two days, we proceeded to the Lodge for dinner and drink. Our room assignment A-7 – a modest hotel type accommodation with a decent view of the Chisos Basin. For those of you who ever wish to visit this remote Park, my recommendation is to reserve one of the Roosevelt Stone Cottages - #103 being the prime unit!
Day 2 – May 10th
First order of business – breakfast at the Lodge! (Yes, we’re easing our way into the camping routine!) Then, back down to Site 19 to complete setting up camp. Today, we explore the Rio Grande portion of the Park and head out on the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. I believe Mr. Maxwell must have had impaired vision as we did not find much “scenery” to look at along the 31 mile drive to the Santa Elena Canyon Overlook.
Last year, we encountered “Road Construction” at every Park we visited. Today, it is more of the same. In the middle of nowhere, we come to a portable stoplight and a sign off to the side saying “Wait for Pilot Car”. There’s not another car visible for miles in either direction. In fact, we haven’t seen ANY cars on the road this morning! So, what do we do? Wait for the Pilot Car? Being the good citizen, I decide we ought to wait. Ten minutes lapses. No Pilot Car. No cars, period. Fifteen minutes pass. The impatient Mr. Binkele possesses my body. I’m convinced this stop light has been placed here to screw with our minds. I fire up the car and we head on down the road. Five miles later, we discover that there actually IS road construction going on and meet head to head with two rather large yellow grading machines! Oops, put it in reverse and head on back to wait for the Pilot!
Sure enough, the Pilot Truck does arrive and now there are actually three other vehicles awaiting its arrival back at the Stop Light. I pass the patient patrons, make a hasty U-turn and fall in line.
My MO whenever we drive thru the Parks has always been to head straight away to the final destination checking out the “scenery” (if that’s what its called out here in Texas) as we go. In this case, the end of the road is Santa Elena Canyon Overlook Trail.
When we arrive at Santa Elena Canyon, the car thermometer informs us that it has now reached 100 degrees outside! A grand day for a Hike along the Rio Grande River! Actually, due to the severe drought Texas has experienced, this river could easily be renamed the Rio Poquito! The water level is very low for this time of year when the snow melts in the high country would typically be raging downstream. The southern Colorado mountains which feed the Rio Grande had a miserable winter in terms of snowfall. Thirty- percent of their normal precipitation. On top of the drought, farmers, industry and evaporation rob much of the water before it reaches the park!
Nevertheless, Terry and I took the 1.7-mile trail into the Santa Elena Canyon to view the Rio Poquito and the 1500-foot cliffs of the gorge. Half the canyon sits in Mexico, the other half in the USA. So far, we spy no drug smugglers or banditos. Nice warm up hike only I wish I’d worn my glasses as the gorge is very windy and the blowing sand has attacked my left contact lens!
After cleaning out my eyes, we began our journey back to camp. Eight miles from Santa Elena, we find the Cottonwood Campground and picnic area. Looks like a good place for lunch! What a great looking campground! Tall Cottonwood Trees providing ample shade. A grassy field on which to pitch the tent. And not a single other camper in any of the thirty campsites! If we’d not already set up camp up in the Chisos…we’d pitched our tent here!
After lunch, we made several stops along the “scenic drive”. First up, the microscopic town of Castolon, which serves as one of the Park’s Visitor Centers. Not much to look at here. Next stop – Tuff Canyon. Hmmm, after hiking the Grand Canyon, Tuff looks more like Cream Puff!
Then there is Mule Ears View Point. I believe blind Mr. Maxwell must have thought these two rock formations looked like mule ears. Heck, they look far more like Tasmanian Devil Horns than mule ears! Then there’s Homer Wilson’s Ranch, which we didn’t bother to hike to as we would have had to walk amongst the sage and sand in the 100+ degree heat only to find a broken down ranch house that we could see with our binoculars. We didn't believe it would be worth the sweat!
The real reason we had chosen to stay in the Chisos Mountain region rather than down by the River was the difference in temperature. One-hundred plus riverside. Mid-eighties in the Basin. We Phoenicians always seek the cooler climes whenever possible!
Our next stop is the parking lot at mile marker 5 along the Basin Road at the head of the Lost Mine Trail – a 4.8 mile round trip trek up into the Pinyon pines, Douglas firs, junipers and oak trees! Yes! Finally! Mountain country! This hike gains about 1300’ of elevation and would be considered moderately strenuous. We pick up a copy of the Trail Guide at the base of the trail and learn about the plants and animals that live in the area.
The Ranger we met earlier in the day informed us a Momma Bear and her two cubs have been frequently sited along this trail! Perhaps Terry will have the opportunity to view raw nature! Nope! Only a skinny Roadrunner. So far, the Lost Mine Trail is the highlight of Big Bend! Excellent views atop the 6850’ promontory overlooking Pine and Juniper Canyons. Good photo ops! Windy, and much cooler up here than down by the river.
Back to camp for a fine meal of Brats, Beer and Beans! No campfires are allowed due to the extremely dry conditions…so we must use the Coleman stove for all of our cooking. Even though it’s at least 15-20° cooler here in the Chisos Basin, it’s still warm enough in the evenings where a campfire is not necessary for warmth.
As we unzip the Hob to experience our first night of tent camping since last year, Terry lets out a screech! Horrors! Terry discovers she had left our pillows in the hotel room we slept in the night before! Our good pillows from home! No soft cushy pillows to lay our weary heads down! Hey CityBoy….they don’t call it roughin’ it for nothin’. Quit yer complainin’ and hit the sack!
Day 3 – May 11th
After a pillowless night’s sleep, we rise early in preparation for our trek to the top of Emory Peak. This 9-mile round trip trek takes you to the highest point within the Park’s bounds. But before we hike…Terry inquires at the Lodge about our pillows. Eureka! The Maid’s didn’t heist them after all! We recover our coveted headrests and proceed to the trailhead!
The Emory Peak Trail sports a 2400+ foot elevation gain and is rated as moderately strenuous. Like the Lost Mine, this trail is heavily shaded by a wide assortment of trees and shrubs. The last ½ mile of the trail is skree-filled and steep. The last 25 feet to the summit requires a technical climb up a sheer rock wall. Terry chooses to pass on the scramble. I work my way up to the windblown top only to find the 360° view of the region hampered by the dense haze created by the west Texas wild fires.
The photo ops are found on the return trip down the trail. We find a few nice specimen snags (dead trees with a ghostly appearance) along with some flowering Prickly Pear Cactus. Due to the dry conditions, much of the seasonal color has taken the season off!
Our overall impression of Big Bend – we now understand why this remote Park has limited visitation. It’s out in the middle of nowhere. It’s hot as Hades. The river is low. The wildflowers and wildlife scant. And the warning signs regarding drug smugglers and illegals entering the Park boundaries surly have put a damper on the spirits of many a would-be Park goer. We’ve experienced it. Checked it off our 40 Park Bucket List. Now it’s time to head north!
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