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!

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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...

Day 106 - Seattle

My July 4th started with a drive from Vancover to Seattle, arriving at the Museum of Flight by 11. The museum tour began with a display of the 27 U.S. Flags, made interesting by announcing the history of the states entry into the union. This B-17 is similar to the bomber my grandfather flew in WW2. A former Air Force One plane that Kennedy road on was another highlight. I stayed all day at the museum enjoying the history of aviation exhibits and finally space! I drove into downtown Seattle to checkout the city parks reserved for fireworks watching. These neighborhoods were crawling with people and would make horrible stealth street camping sites. I called several hostels and all were full... but then I found one with one bed left. I reserved the spot and drove to the hostel to find it in walking distance to the fireworks. I joined a group waking down to see the fireworks. We were joined by a few others. Two skydivers with fire flaming behind their path were followed by...

Day 93 - Calgary to Banff

After a very pleasant morning at Dave's house spent photocopying trail and scramble guide routes, enjoying a great breakfast and coffee, meeting some of Dave's extremely kind family members and chatting more about adventures, I set out for downtown Calgary. I thought a walk around a museum would be a nice change of pace, so I toured the Glenbow Museum. Two highlights were a Blackfoot Indian describing the meaning of their Tipi decorations and the Gun Scupture. The history of Alberta section was also quite interesting: fur trappers then cowboys then railroad builders then oil drillers. I then walked down to a nearby waterfront park, along a pedestrian only shopping street where a Christian pride rally was taking place, and then down quiet side streets to the park. Seeing people out jogging and playing on this Sunday afternoon reminded me of the real life I must one day return to. But not yet! Hungry and ready for mountains, I walked back to my van and left Calgary heading wes...

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