Skip to main content

Day 28 - Big Bend part 2

I must have a thing for Jurassic Park-looking places, because Big Bend has Jurassic Park in spades!  Big Bend has three sections: 1 Santa Elena Canyon in southwest, 2 Chisos Mountains in middle and 3 Bouquillas Canyon to southeast. I would cover all three today. 

I awoke in the morning, hopped in the van and drove from the Santa Elena section to the Chisos Mountain section in the middle, in order to secure a campsite at this central and grand location. On the drive up I passed the Mule Ears Mountains and surreal morning views. 

While the river 1 and 3 sections are at 1800 foot elevation, the Chisos Mountains are at 6000 feet. I drove up and over the crazy beautiful mountain range and down steep curves into the Chisos Basin, where the campgrounds and Lodge and only-in-park restaurant are located. The mountains surround you when you are in the basin making you feel protected and special--like you are a welcome guest to the wonder. I believe this is the best campground ever. The panoramas don't capture the site so you'll have to take the next few high mountain shots and imagine sleeping with them surrounding you. 

Itching for a hike but still having a minor left ankle over-use strain, I took on the famous Lost Mine Trail, a 5 mile round trip hike built nicely by the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corp in the 40s. The hike climbs up gently, opening up to spectacular craggy peak views before peaking to a high mountain clearing between huge mountains. Pics to set the scene. 



My left ankle pain went away on the way up this trail but I got a shin splint--another over-use injury from hiking 10 miles a day this month up from 3-4 in March. Undeterred, I drove an hour east to the Bouquillas Canyon section with another towering Rio Grande site in front of me (pic). 

This canyon was less amazing than the Santa Elena but it did have Mexicans on horseback selling drugs--no gracias amigo. A quick off roadish journey to a hot springs and then a drive back to Chisos basin for dinner at the restaurant. 

I downed a bacon cheeseburger, fries and two local beers and set out to the "window" - the lower outlet of the Chisos basin for a 3.5 mile round trip just in time to catch sunset there. About 30 minutes in a combination of shin pain and just-ate-huge-dinner-then-hiked pain stopped me. I felt sick, quite sick, so I stopped mid-trail, and rested on a rock for fifteen minutes. Feeling a bit better but still bad, I decided to turn around and return to the bed in the van. I made it back and felt much better after another hour and a nights rest. On the way back up, I took this pic of the "window".  Nice!










Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Day 51 - Canyonlands Needles Pt 3

A deep connection to the nature surrounding you comes from the solitude of solo travel, but sometimes it is nice to have a companion!  I ran into David, a retired telecom exec from Canada a few days ago on the Syncline Loop trail at Canyonlands Island in the Sky. Then I ran into him again halfway through my Chesler Park hike two days ago, then again later in the hike, finishing the last two miles together.  David hiked his favorite trail, the Peekaboo trail yesterday, and said I could join him, but my heart was set on confluence trail, so we hiked separately. We did share a campsite though and exchanged travel stories. David was 55 and had retired at 50 from a high-level international job with Nortel and was now traveling full-time. We instantly bonded over our solo travel style. He outclassed me by leagues. He had trekked one month in Nepal, then another month in India, then some months in Asia. He had hiked and skied and adventured all over the western U.S.  and Canada....

Day 40 Escalante Hole-in-the-Rock Road

I woke up late following a lovely slumber in a REAL bed-- such a luxury. I stayed in bed reading my maps and guidebooks, trying to put a plan together for the next months travels. I decided I would spend two more weeks in Utah and add on two weeks in western Colorado instead of spending all four weeks in Utah-- I was starting to tire of the desert and Colorado seemed like a good mix of backcountry beauty and civilization proper.  The last must do in Escalante was Coyote Gulch, so I read and reread the route description in my guidebook and went to the visitor center to get my permit. I was going to do a loop down Hurricane Wash to Coyote Gulch to the Escalante River and then up Crack-in-the-Wall overland back to my car. Permit in hand, I lingered by the Outfitters wifi emailing and blogging and then drove out Hole-in-the-rock road forty miles to my trailhead. The road was dirt but well graded in most parts. A high-clearance vehicle was recommended for the last five miles but my Dodg...

Days 89 and 90 - Waterton

I started my journey north to Canada today. My plan was to head to Waterton Lakes, just north of Glacier, then to Calgary, then the Canadian Rockies parks of Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Glacier and a few others, then to Vancouver and finally to Seattle, all over the next several weeks. But first I needed the Internet!  I drove south out of Many Glacier to a place I remembered having cell reception.  I did some emailing and calling back home, did some research for my Canada trip and watched the final three episodes of Game of Thrones--wow, the final two episodes were sensational. This rainy, dreary day was perfect for such activities. I then drove into Canada late in the evening and to a campground set in the cloudy mountains at Waterton.  The weather cleared a bit the next day and I was able to do some hiking around this scenic alpine lakes district.  Waterton Lakes district from a high hill called Bear's Hump: The chipmunks at Bear's Bump were very interested in the conten...