Day 27 - Arriving to Big Bend

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So on to today: Ten hours was the time it would take me to drive to Big Bend National Park in the far southwest corner of Texas. I had wanted badly to visit Big Bend but since it was six hours out of the way, I had left it off the original itinerary, instead sticking near El Paso for White Sands, Guadalupe Mountains, and Carslbad Caverns. But since my detour to Chiricahua was so successful and the weather ideal in Big Bend, I decided to go for it.

Good decision. I arrived to Big Bend by 6pm and sped down a winding 30-mile scenic road (pic 1) to Cottonwood campground near the Rio Grande River. Finding a campsite is priority number one when I arrive to a park and since most are first-come-first-serve arriving late is not good. But I called ahead and new that Cottonwood would have availability.

After a while I saw towering cliffs in front of me and was bewildered. They were huge in the distance and seemed almost unnatural and out of place. I assumed the road was winding east west or north as I knew the river was south and thought the mountains couldn't be by the river. But then I remembered some pictures of Big Bend and hey! that's the Rio Grande. The Wall-Game of Thrones style between the U.S. and Mexico. As you got closer the wall dominated the skyline. It was a site to behold. See pic.

After securing my campsite, I drove six more miles to one of the park highlights: the Santa Elena canyon-- 1500 foot and narrow canyon walls from the south entering from Mexico. This is an infamous white water rafting river section because there is an impossible rocks section. The park has a mile hike into the canyon and I arrived at dusk and crossed the river into the canyon just as the darkness was setting in. Then I hiked out at night with my headlamp and drove back and slept-- happy to have made it this far south.

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Day 171 - JMT Guitar Lake

Wow, was it cold this morning. After waking up and eating breakfast, we packed up quickly and found this scenic sunspot to warm our bones. We had a short eight mile hike to Guitar Lake today, the last viable campsite before the five mile hike to the 14,505 foot-high Mount Whitney summit. We stopped at this lovely meadow and looked for bears. We only saw deer but were able to enjoy the incredible peace of the far mountain range. Steady hiker traffic, the most of the entire trip, including one group of twelve elder hikers, passed us as we rested, and jumped! Views of Mount Whitney finally came into view at Timberline Lake, a quaint lake where camping was unfortunately forbidden. We passed a group of twenty Taiwanese hikers. The summit of Mount Whitney looked heavily defended when viewed from below. We were going to wake up tomorrow at 230am and hike up to the summit for sunrise-on-the-top-of-the-world*. The thought of this dark task was a bit foreboding. We made it to Guitar Lake by

Day 172 - JMT Mount Whitney

Our day began in silence, at 315am in pursuit of the summit. We walked carefully, looking for slick, sandy rocks and icy sections--not wanting to fall. Hiking along a cliff edge in total darkness was thrilling, vividly black and white. By 5am, we had reached the three mile marker and the turnoff up to Whitney summit. We removed the heavy items from our bags and set off towards the summit sunrise. The trail was spectacular, a special creation of this nation, winding from one side of the mountain to the other, going down and around one side before coming up to another, creating anticipation with each turn. Looking back, the sloping ridges caught the early sunset delicately. As we hiked along the two mile upper trail, the views east would open up for the narrowest of moments. This opening was my favorite. 14,000 foot cathedrals of nature thrusted towards the heavens at each turn. The summit was almost in sight, the highest peak in the lower 48 states nearly attained, the end of our 2

Day 170 - JMT Forrester Pass

The mountains had a surreal glow this morning as we climbed up towards the 13,200 foot high Forrester Pass. One of the wonderful things about the mountains is that they change appearance as the sun changes height, creating a movie-like experience as you walk. I felt so free and happy this morning--just in love with this light. After sixty minutes of walking, we stopped in the first sunny spot we could find to thaw out and rest. Another hiker came bustling up the trail behind us and stopped at the sunspot to shed a layer of clothing. Sly was a Canadian hiker, just turned 40, who seemed happy to see us. We struck up a conversation about travels and when we pushed off Sly asked if he could join us. We said yes of course. We hiked quickly up the trail, reaching a high plateau with epic alpine views. Selfie time! We skirted around a high alpine lake and then went up a ridge line ever further higher. We were at 12,000+ feet now and the world began to look small yet vast.

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