Big Bend, Part 2

See also: Part 1

The next morning we got up and cooked breakfast tacos. We prepared for our hike, not really sure what to expect. It had never rained that night, and it was now a beautiful, sunny morning. The temperature was somewhere in the mid-60s, and it was just gorgeous. We got on the trail around 10:00, and it was starting to warm up as the sun rose over the tops of the Chisos Mountains and shone down into the Basin.



Almost immediately, the trail was difficult. I'm not sure whether it was because of the elevation (the Basin sits at about 5400 feet) or because I'm out of shape, but I was sucking wind right off the bat. The trail was uphill most of the way, which meant frequent stops for water and rest. Luckily, the trail was well maintained and was even stair-stepped in many places, which didn't make it any easier, but did make it more level for getting a good footing.







I was amazed at how un-desert-like the hike was. There were pine and other trees all along the trail that gave plenty of shade. Flowers were everywhere and there was green grass all around. There was a lot of wildlife, too. We saw a lot of smaller animals such as squirrels, birds, lizards and even a rabbit. Then we came upon an open meadow that was simply stunning. I would have stopped and settled there had I been a pioneer headed west.



The variety of plants along the way up the mountain were intriguing. There was an interesting mix of desert plants and mountain plants with deciduous plants (such as some amazing-looking maple trees) mixed in for good measure. I bet it's stunning in the fall. One day I'd love to go back and see. All along the path were "century plants," which is a form of agave (but unfortunately not the making-tequila-out-of kind). Many were in bloom or getting ready to bloom.



While we were walking, we were still generally talking and joking around. In fact, Johnny made a comment that had all of us laughing for minutes, literally. Something about standing outside the cabin in the dark in a cat suit... My sides were hurting, I was laughing so hard. Spirits were high, and we were having a great time.









As we walked up the mountain, suddenly the Basin hotel and cabins came into view through a break in the trees. We could see the huge water tank that we passed as we set out. And we were well above the huge "Disney hill". It was quite satisfying to see how high we had climbed. Unfortunately, we had no idea how much we had left to do. We were probably only halfway to the Emory Peak trailhead, where we would break for lunch.







We broke for lunch at the Emory Peak trailhead. I had dried sausage and some mixed nuts. Mark had brought some sausage and cheese. Harris shared my sausage and ate some kind of bar, I think. Johnny, on the other hand, (I'm pretty sure) took off into the woods, hunted and killed an antelope and ate the whole thing raw. That's my recollection, at least.

As we were eating, we heard someone coming up the trail behind us. Imagine our surprise when around the corner of some trees came Creepy Guy - the guy we had met in the car the night before. Unfortunately, he was just as creepy in the daytime as at night, and he was traveling alone (as all serial killers do). He stopped, awkwardly, to talk for a minute and then headed up the Emory Peak trail. We waited a few minutes, stashed our packs in the bear boxes available and then followed him up to Emory Peak. Cue the scary music.

Along the way, we walked next to "Boot Canyon," so-named because of a rock formation on the south side that looks like an upside-down boot.





The walk up to Emory Peak was actually very nice and was very well maintained. There were some rough patches, however, where the rock was uneven and loose. It was on one of those places about two-thirds of the way up to the peak that Harris turned an ankle. He decided that he wasn't going to continue to the top, so Mark elected to stay with him and start heading back down toward the trailhead. Johnny and I continued up the trail to the peak. We were about 50 yards from the end of the trail when Creepy Guy came out of nowhere back down the mountain. He said he hadn't made it to the top because he didn't have the proper rock climbing skills, but that he had eaten a nice lunch - of liver, fava beans and chianti, I suspect - near the top. He continued on his way and we continued on ours, hoping that his evil plan wasn't working and that Harris's ankle injury wasn't the opportunity he was looking for to divide the group and slaughter us all.

Johnny and I soon found out what Creepy Guy meant. To get to the top of Emory Peak, one has to do a bit of rock climbing. It was a 15 or 20 yard climb up to the top up some fairly easy rocks. As we got toward the top, we noticed lots and lots of ladybugs. They were everywhere! It was kind of surreal, actually. Here's a shot of two of them, um, playing...



Standing at the top of Emory Peak, the third highest peak in Texas at 7,825 feet, is amazing. The top consists of large boulder-like rocks that form a base about fifteen feet square. On top, there are communications towers and a solar array, which seemed to be fairly new. Our Recovery Dollars at work, I suppose. At this point, everything in the park seemed to be below us. A mountain a couple of miles away seemed to be roughly the same size, but it was most probably an optical illusion. On all sides were sheer cliffs, and on three sides the cliff dropped for hundreds of feet to the hills below. Even though the day had gotten quite warm, the temperature at the top seemed like it was in the lower 70s and a breeze made it feel very, very comfortable. Johnny and I got right to taking pictures. We spent about twenty minutes in all at the top of Emory Peak before noticing the time - it was almost four 'o-clock. So we climbed back down the way we came and booked it back down the mountain to meet up with Harris and Mark at the trailhead. We didn't know if, when we got there, we would be able to continue on our hike to the rim or if we would have to carry Harris down the mountain.









When we got back down to the trailhead, we found this:


Harris was sitting in the bear box. He and Mark had gotten back about thirty minutes before us, which had given Harris time to get a lot of ibuprofen in him. His ankle was starting to feel a lot better, so we took a quick rest and hit the trail. We had a lot of ground to cover before we reached our campsite. We were less than halfway there, actually, but the good news was that we wouldn't - or shouldn't- have nearly the kind of climbs that we had experienced that morning.

We followed a very well maintained trail that was simply amazingly beautiful in places. The Boot Canyon trail wove through and around the canyons and hills and along creek beds. For most of the trail, the canopy of trees kept us well-shaded by huge cedars and maple trees. This was my favorite piece of the trail, by far. It was almost park-like in places. Just as we reached the turnoff for the Northwest Rim trail, we encountered the only other people we would see along the trail. Four guys, probably in their twenties, were hiking the other way. In a way, it was really odd to be surprised to see other people out in the wilderness. I'm not sure why, but after being basically alone all day, seeing other hikers was somewhat unwelcome.



The Northwest Trail headed up again, gradually rising as it wound around the hills. We were all getting pretty tired by now (except for Johnny, who probably could have sprinted the rest of the way without breaking a sweat.) We finally reached the top of the hill and the trail maintained a fairly level course for awhile.



The sun was getting low in the sky and the light was absolutely beautiful, shimmering through the grass on either side of the trail. We reached the first of the Northwest Rim campsites and knew that we were finally getting close. We stopped for a small water break, then continued on. Spirits were at once much higher. Suddenly, we rounded a bend and found ourselves at the bottom of a little hill. The trail extended upward in a gentle incline. As we reached the top of the little hill, a huge panorama unfolded in front of us. It was the Northwest Rim. There in front of us was a line of trees and brush along a cliff, beyond which lay a mountain ridge in the distance. The sun was shining sideways and orange on the mountain in front of us. It was amazing.



We stopped for a moment to take in the vista and continued on toward the Southeast Rim, where we would be camping. All along the way, the trail followed the rim of a huge cliff that looked out onto the Chihuahuan desert below, and as we walked, the large mountains fell at first to our left and then behind us. After a short hike, we finally reached SE-3, our campsite for the night. We had chosen this campsite because it was the only one that could accommodate more than two tents. So we got lucky in that it turned out to be the best campsite on the Southeast Rim.

Facing the campsite trail was a cliff that dropped almost straight down for about 2,000 feet. It was absolutely humbling being up there on that cliff. Below, in front of us we could see a hilly desert floor and clouds. The clouds were actually below us! The photos don't do it justice, but the huge scale was incredible. It was almost 6:30 in the evening, and the shadows were starting to at the top of the mountain where we were, but not yet on the hills below. The light was a yellowish orange and a light haze hung in the air below over the desert. This was the reason we came, and it was totally worth it.



















We set up our tents quietly and got our things ready for the night. Mark cooked a dinner of rice, canned chicken, peas and corn, and we ate it up gratefully. As we ate, some curious deer - that weren't shy at all - came within a few yards of our campsite to see what was going on. The sun set as we sat and ate. I was tired and not in a very sociable mood, so after dinner I went to my tent. It was actually pretty warm, and it took me awhile to go to sleep. Soon, the sound of the other guys moving around slowed, then stopped, and I drifted off to sleep. It was pitch black up on the Southeast Rim and even darker inside my tent. If a bear was going to come to eat me during the night, he'd have needed a flashlight or some night vision goggles.

Big Bend, Part 1

It's been a week now since I returned from Big Bend, and I still can't believe what a great trip it was. A lot of that was the company. I went with two of my best friends from work, Mark and Harris, and a guy that I've been wanting to get to know a lot better, my sister's boyfriend, Johnny. It didn't take long for the three of us to mesh and feel comfortable with each other. We never stopped joking around and having a great time, and I'd go camping with this same group of guys again anytime. But let me begin at the beginning...

We left Brenham at 6:30 on Friday morning. We were supposed to leave at 5:30, but Harris overslept (which he completely gets a pass on because the band in which he's the drummer had a gig the night before). I had to go back to the house because I realized that I had forgotten the camp stoves that we would be cooking on at the cabin. We were all a little groggy and had all had a fairly restless night's sleep the night before.

We got started and stopped about 30 minutes later in Giddings for breakfast burritos at "the little orange Mexican burrito place" there. None of us can remember its real name. Despite getting there at a great time when there was just a short line, it still took us 30 minutes to get our burritos - the place is really good, but it's not known for being very fast. A line built up as we were standing there waiting, and we were happy we weren't at the end of it. Somehow, though, I suspect that in Giddings "I was standing in line to get a breakfast burrito at the little orange Mexican burrito place" is an acceptable excuse for being late to work. The burritos are just that good. And they had Mexican Coke. The perfect start.

While we were in Giddings for breakfast, I got a text from Kristi with a photo attached. Kayci had lost her loose tooth, and was really excited about it. We talked on the phone and she was really giggly about it. I was sad that I had missed it and that I wouldn't be there the next morning after the tooth fairy had come.

We hit Austin just in time for morning rush hour traffic, which - compared to the traffic in Houston - is really nothing to speak of. It turned out that the majority of the buildup was caused by two wrecks. As we passed by one, there was a girl in a T-shirt and pajama pants with a Texas State sticker on the back of her car sobbing uncontrollably. I imagined she wasn't even supposed to be in Austin and was going to have to explain to her parents about her wreck and what, exactly, she had been doing there. Ah, college...

Somewhere around Dripping Springs I got a text from our friend Jolie. We had been talking about the trip the day before and she had decided that since neither Mark or Harris knew Johnny, that it was going to be like the Hangover and that Johnny would end up lost with the three of us trying desperately to find him. In her scenario, I was the Zach Galifianakis character and so it would be my job to drug all the guys. So when her text came through, it read "And we're the three best friends that anyone could have..." and it generated a lot of laughs for a long time.

So it turns out that my sister, Katie, had told Johnny to be on his best behavior. Apparently, he can be quite crude with his buddies when he wants to be and she was worried that her choirboy brother might be offended. But Katie, having never been a guy, didn't realize that when guys get together that sometimes the language and the subject matter just naturally gets downright raunchy. So Johnny was on his best behavior for the first few minutes of the trip, until the jokes started flying. And then the best behavior went out the window and he joined in. And I'm glad because that dude is funny. When we stopped in Fredericksburg at Wal-Mart, I called Kristi to say hi and told her to tell Katie that I was offended and taken aback by Johnny's foul mouth. Within seconds, he got a text from Katie that read, "What did you say!!???"

We stopped for lunch in Ozona and then stopped again a few hours down the road in Fort Stockton, after which we would lose cell service for the rest of the weekend. As we turned south from Fort Stockton, the road was long and straight. The mountains in the distance renewed our excitement for the upcoming weekend. We had been in the car for about 7 hours at this point, and we were ready to be there.



We stopped once again in Marathon, where we were suddenly astonished by the gas prices. There were only two gas stations in town, so we really had no choice. There's gas available inside the park, but it's typically a lot more expensive than anything you'll pay anywhere else. So we topped off the tank and headed towards the park. We didn't know it at the time, but we actually did well by buying gas in Marathon. Gas was $3.99 on the highway in Fort Stockton.









A long 45-minute drive found us at the entrance to the park. Naturally, we stopped to take some photos in front of the sign.



The speed limit inside the park is 45 MPH, and it was about 40 miles to Panther Junction, the center of the park where the headquarters are. So it took us a looooooooong hour to get there. I had only been to Big Bend once before, in college. On that trip we both arrived and departed at night, so I never got to see the desert in the part of the park. It was beautiful and desolate in places, but amazingly teeming with life and plants. We saw small animals and birds everywhere. The little desert hills were inviting, and had I been on my own, I probably would have stopped to hike a few. In the Chisos mountains ahead of us, we could see that it was raining. We weren't quite sure what to expect or what that meant for our accommodations. When we finally reached the park headquarters at Panther Junction, we got out of the truck excitedly, but were met with something none of expected - dead calm. There were no birds chirping, no wind, so sounds of any kind. It was just completely silent, which was both eery and beautiful at the same time. The temperature was around 80 degrees and there was a hint of rain in the air. The park ranger checked us in and gave us some pointers for not being eaten by bears or mountain lions and we were on our way.

The drive up to the Basin in the Chisos Mountains was amazing. As we drove, the temperature dropped into the mid-70s and craggy brown rocks began pushing up more and more around us as the road twisted and turned.





We reached the Lost Mine Trail parking area and stopped to take pictures. Ahead of us was a mountain that was glistening with fresh rain. There was a mist in the air, which gave it a somewhat ethereal, almost painting-like look.



We got checked in to our cabin and headed down to the cooking area to make dinner. By now, it was about 6 'o-clock and we were getting hungry. Next to the Chisos Mountain lodge was a huge pile of boulders that somehow didn't look real. It was just too perfect. I think it must have been the inspiration for the Runaway Mine Train mountain at Walt Disney World because it looks as if it had been placed there just so. We cooked sausage wraps and Ranch Style beans for dinner, had a cold beer, and then headed back up to the cabin.



It was 7 'o clock and the sun was beginning to get low in the sky. We wanted to watch the sunset at "the window" - a place in which the sun sets directly between two rock formations. It was a 2.8 mile hike down to the window from our cabin, so we got moving. As we hiked, it was becoming more and more clear that we weren't going to make it in time for sunset. As we hiked, there were signs posted about bears active in the area, and we stopped briefly to talk to two hikers who had seen a bear up ahead just off the trail. As we descended into the canyon, we got the distinct feeling we were being tracked, but by either bear or mountain lion we didn't know. It's not a great feeling either way.











We got to the window well past sunset. In fact, it was more like civil twilight, and it was getting tough to see. We lingered for a few minutes, took a few photos and then began the hike back. It was a dark and stormy night. Seriously. There were some storm clouds approaching and some lightning off in the distance, which we were growing more and more concerned about, especially considering that we were basically hiking along a creek bed. And dark doesn't even begin to describe how dark it was. The stars were coming out, but the moon wouldn't rise above the mountains for a few hours still, which made everything pitch black. Luckily, we had brought some lights, which we used to see the trail in order to hike out. We hiked in silence, listening to the bugs around us and for movement anywhere off the trail. After an hour or so, we made it to a fork in the trail, which we decided to take to the Basin campground and a paved road to hike along, rather than the dark wilderness trail. It was a good decision for the most part, except that we had to hike up this huge hill at a very steep incline that was clearly meant for vehicles, and not hikers. It really took a lot out of us (well, most of us... it turns out that Johnny is in peak physical condition and wasn't really phased by the hills or the hike at all).



We came to a fork in the road and weren't sure which direction to go. We noticed a guy sitting in his car at a parking area, so we went over to ask directions. Many of you will no doubt note that many a horror movie starts this way, and with good reason. The guy sitting alone in his car wasn't all that helpful, was kinda weird and gave all of us the creeps. We dubbed him "creepy guy" and went on our way.

We finally made it back to the cabin, somewhat exhausted and ready for a nice, cold beer. Above the Basin is a large mountain that we though was called "El Capitan." It turns out that its name is actually "Casa Grande," but we wouldn't discover that until the next day. There was a glow coming from directly behind El Capitan, which was the almost full moon rising. Johnny and I set up our cameras and tripods hoping to catch the moonrise over El Capitan. We stayed outside for over an hour waiting for the moon to crest over the peak, but it never did. Finally, we got tired and went inside to sleep. It was a great end to a long first day.