Big Bend National Park

 Day 1 - We hiked the Lost Mine Trail, 4.8 miles round trip.  We used our hiking poles for the first time (thank you Andrew & Krystal).  They made a difference on the rocky and steep terrain.  This is the story behind the name Lost Mine. 

The views along the way and up top were great.  We saw several birds and lots of plants.  This area was quite wooded compared to the desert section of the park.   Enjoy the scenery, we sure did.

We went to a ranger program the night we arrived, it was Big Bend Trivia.  We did see some of the plants that were referenced in the program.  This one plant in particular looks like it is dead, but has seed pods that are drying and will be a new generation of plants. 

After the hike we had a picnic lunch at Chicos Basin Visitor Center.  While we were eating we saw a roadrunner.  I had never seen one before, other than the one that tortured Wiley Coyote.  It was fun to watch it scurry about. 

When we were back in the campground we saw a group of Javelina’s (a Squadron) going through the campground.  They are interesting looking creatures.  Kinda look like a pig or a hog, but they are Javelinas.  Another day we saw some donkeys at the same part of the campground.  Must be some yummy stuff there.

We did also do the short nature hike that starts from the campground.  The interesting part is if you looked one way you saw the Rio Grande River, grasses and swamp plants.  The other side of the trail was desert.  How quickly the benefit of water disappears.

Day 2 - We hiked the Window Trail, 5.9 mile trail.  The hike went down, then back up.  At one point I stopped and did a 360 and there were just mountains all around.  Not something you can take a picture of.  As you went from the higher desert part to the lower parts, you saw the change in vegetation.  Once we got to the “window” you were looking between two massive rock formations to several ranges.  

One thing that I had mentioned in an earlier post is how large the cacti petals (for lack of a better term) are.  I had Dave spread his hand in front of one to try and give an idea of the size.  This was one that was accessible.  There were larger ones, but they were further in the bush and would be painful to do the hand thing.

There was several cacti on the trails that we walked that were this heart shape

This was another interesting cacti that was on the trails.  These actually flower in the spring

Personally there is nothing better than a long hike on a nice temperature day (whatever temperature that might be for you).

We went to a ranger talk in the evening.  It was about the various ecosystems within the park and how they are here to preserve them.  There was one particular story that stood out to me and it involved the packrat.  They said that the packrat makes their nest out of things within one mile radius of the nest.  The packrats then pee on the nest, which fossilizes the plants in the nest.  They have been able to learn what plants were here before by studying the fossilized plants of the packrats nest. 

Day 3 - Today is going to be a work, chill day.  Dave tweaked his knee yesterday, so are giving it a day of rest before our next adventure in the park.  

Day 4 - we went to the opposite end of the park than where we were staying, about an 1 1/2 drive.  This park is 800,000 acres, so driving to the different areas/trail heads takes a little bit, but it’s very pretty to look at. 

We stopped at Castolon, which at one time was a Native American area, a farming town, an army fort.  Here is the picture of the history.  When you are on the land now you can see where the floodplains made farming possible, but certainly life was never easy.  

Oldest building in the park

We then hiked down into Santa Elena Canyon.  The water is not very high, as they have not had rain of any significance in a long time.  We were able to walk across the dry creek bed to get to the trail.  There was a sign on the trail stating another significant reason the water is lower is due to how much is used upstream and dams.  It was a beautiful hike down, going lower and lower in the canyon and the walls just getting seemingly larger and larger.  When we got to the bottom I was able to find a rock a little ways in the water that I could get to.  Such a wonderful view.

Our final stop was to Lower Burro Mesa Pour Off.  We talked to a ranger on the trail who said that she has been here since November and they have had rain twice since she has been there, both were .0 something inches.  I asked her about the purple cactus and it is actually a separate type of prickly pear.  She said the more purple it is, the more it needs water.  Little did I know admiring these beautiful darker purple cacti, was admiring a desperate plant.  The orange and yellow layers in the rocks were volcanic ash.  We felt like we were walking in a pebbly river bed, but there was no water.  When we got to the end of the trail you could see the carved out area where water flows when it rains.  Even without the water, it was a site to see.

This formation made me think of a rock climbing wall

Water comes through the gray center when it rains

The last activity of the day was taking a short trail by our campground to a higher elevation to watch the sunset.  The pictures speak for themselves.

Day 5 - Today we decided to cross over to Mexico, as there is a “port” in the park.  We were so close, we chose to explore.  You could walk across in about 2-3 feet of water or take a rowboat that the Mexicans run.  We took the boat across to Bouquillos (bow-key-yes), Mexico, which the gentleman walked across the river in about a minute.  I hope you are sensing the lack of water in the area.  We then took donkeys to the town.  We thought it was one way and we would walk the town, have some lunch and then walk back.  Turns out it was both ways and a guide.  It was interesting and sad all at once.  It was a small, poor town that probably only survives because of the people who go over the crossing.  There were 2 restaurants and a whole lot of people selling their wares up and down the street.  Kids would run up to you selling bracelets.  We saw the school, church and homes.  It seemed that most of the people were selling the wares outside of their homes.  For lunch we had a variety platter, what else would you get.  We also had pineapple empanadas for dessert.  There were also dogs all around, but they were very docile, no barking, just wandering.  I don’t really know how else to explain the experience.  I am glad we went and saw how another small section of a culture lives.  

After we returned to the U.S. we went on a hike to Bouquillos Canyon.  It was a nice hike with some proof of Native American presence.  This canyon was not high walls on both side like  Santa Elena.  One side was very sandy, like a Jersey beach and the other side was rock.  

These are holes that Native Americans used to crush grains, seeds, etc for eating.

Our last night at Big Bend we sat outside for a little bit to let our eyes adjust to the dark, as it is a dark sky park.  Here is an attempt at a picture of all the stars with my iphone camera.

Saturday we travelled to Carlsbad, New Mexico.

A beautiful sunset welcomed us.

Til next time.