01/30/01 Hiking Window Trail:
While driving west on I 10 from Junction to Fort Stockton I encountered heavy headwinds and crosswinds. Things were so bad I couldn't get the truck up over 60mph in 5th gear. I had to drop down to 4th gear to maintain any kind of speed. And of course that sucked up the gas.
From Fort Stockton it was 130+ miles straight down TX 385 to Big Bend National Park. The first 60 miles to Marathon was through nothing but wide open spaces. Off in the distance I could see small mountains (Sierra Madres) or very large hills. I dubbed them mountainettes. It was like driving in a big pie plate. A big flat corridor with these mountainettes rising up on all sides. And this was 100+ miles from Big Bend and they didn't stop.
Marathon is a one gas station town with another 70 miles to go to Big Bend. The country side was more of the same except the mountainettes got closer and became more well defined. Once past the park entrance it was still another 25 miles to the Visitor Center and then another 10 miles to the first campground. The mountianettes turned into mountains, some of them rising to 6,000-7,000+ feet. Although I was already at 5,000+ foot elevation, the peaks still rose another 1,000-2000+ feet. Great stuff.
After driving most of the day I just wanted the closest campground which was Chisos Basin in the Chisos Mountains. The way in was the most exciting scenery I've ever experienced. Big red walls rising up everywhere. Standing in the Chisos Basin Campground I could turn in every direction and there was a tall bluff, wall, mountain peak or something towering above me. Pretty heady stuff for a guy from the east.
The second thing I noticed in the campground was each site had a metal container. The camp host happened to be walking by and I said I presumed they were food containers and that there was a bear problem in the area. His response was, yup! Black bear are making a comeback from extinction in the park. Two dozen mountain lions make their homes here too. To see one of them would really be something. An exhibit in a visitor center says if you hike any distance at all, you will probably be seen by a mountain lion. Hmmmm! Javelinas (pig like things) are also around and can be a problem.
01-30-01:
Something went bump in the night and sent chills all over my poor old bod. Somewhere after midnight I head a loud scraping and scratching. I couldn't tell if it was coming from the truck or from one of the metal food containers or a nearby dumpster. While having breakfast this morning the birds proved to be very annoying. They had no fear and have obviously been feed quite a bit. They were hopping around on my table, in the back of the truck, everywhere. Some were these little fat suckers, others looked a little like a woodpecker, a couple were like a skinny bluebird (Mexican Blue Jay) and a couple of morning doves walked around like they owned the place.
I didn't plan on doing anything much today except maybe drive around and acclimate myself to the area. After breakfast I drove up to the Chisos Visitor Center. The views I had from the campground were even better up here. And since I was here I walked the 100 yards or so to the Window overlook.
Chisos Basin sits in the Chisos Mountains like a big scoop taken out of a carton of ice cream with mountain peaks rising on all sides. The Window is a V shaped gap in the mountains through which you can see a valley floor and other mountain ranges behind it. Well, since I was here and the Window view was so great, I changed into my hiking boots, grabbed the day pack and walking stick and started off.
100 yards down the trail I just stopped and gazed about in wonder. How could it get any better than this? But it did. The Window Trail is the best hike I've ever been on and has to serve as the bench\mark by which future hikes will be measured. All other views for that matter.
After ten minutes of gawking I followed the switchbacks down. As the trail wove back and forth along the mountain side the views also alternated, depending on the direction I was facing. And as I moved lower into the valley, I got different perspectives of those views so I was always looking at something new. The trail descended most of the 800 feet its supposed to drop in the first half mile of the 5.2 round trip. I could have missed much of that descent by starting a half mile farther down at the campground but what did I know.
A ten knot wind fought with a bright sun to keep the temperatures in the lower 50's, great weather for hiking. Of course I started thinking about mountain lions and bears. Come lunch time, I hoped it would be me doing the munching and not them (on me).
Down on the valley floor I was staggering all over the place as I looked up at the towering canyon walls and pinnacles hundreds of feet above me. 1.5 hours into the hike I came to a sign saying: "Stay back, Slick rocks, Steep cliff". Sure enough, the rocks were very slippery and the last step on the Window Trail is a doozey. It just drops off several hundred feet. If you came through there on a dark night you'd be flapping your arms like crazy trying to gain altitude. I felt comfortable going within ten feet of the edge but no farther. Two other couples showed up while I had lunch and they kept the same distance.
On the way back I paused at the Oak Springs Trail fork. It didn't show on my topo map so I skipped it. I wasn't going to go wandering up some trail not knowing where it went or how long it was. A couple I met later said it goes back up to the top and has a great view. That looked and sounded pretty steep. Another couple who had been on it said there's lots of switch backs and the trail continues on to a parking lot so if you have a shuttle... The campground host later said the last .10 miles is really bad.
01/31/01: Hiking Emory Peak Trail
At a 5400 feet elevation it tends to have its share of nights in the 20's. Last night was another one. The temperature had risen to the low-40's as I got to the Chisos Visitor Center trail heads at 9:30am. Cloudy skies and a 10 knot wind pretty much guaranteed they'd stay in that range.
Today's goal was the Pinnacles but turned out to include Emory Peak, quite a feat for me. The Pinnacles Trail is a mostly five but (sometimes ten) degree incline with lots of switchbacks as it works its way up to the foot of Casa Grande and Toll Mountain. Unlike yesterday on the Window Trail when each direction provided a panoramic view the entire way, trees allowed only frequent views of Casa Grande and Toll Mountain. Most of the time a view of the rest of the Chisos Basin was available if you wanted to turn around. Wonderful views of the The Window popped up occasionally too.
Many primitive campsites are available throughout the mountains. Yesterday I saw a woman heading up this direction riding one mule and leading another with metal backpacks. Several signs along the trail provided frequent reminders of the bear threat.
As I got to the Pinnacles at 7000 feet elevation the temperature became noticeably colder and the gloves went back on. After the first half hour I made frequent 10-15 seconds stops. The altitude may have had an affect on me or it may have been my not doing much hiking recently or it may have been a physical problem I have (probably a combination of all three) but I could feel a dizziness coming on frequently. Rather than fight it I'd just stop, let my heart rate subside and then start again. And I kept my pace about as slow as I could go.
2 1/2 hours of stop and go brought me about even with the Pinnacles, probably a 3.25 mile hike. The Pinnacles are... several pinnacles sticking out of the side of the mountain. I've never been to 7000 feet before and never hiked above 5000 feet. I stopped for lunch and decided to turn back because of the dizziness. It didn't take long just sitting there to become pretty chilled. When I got up to leave my boots turned the wrong way. Emory Peak is another 1.25 miles and 800+ feet in elevation from here and I thought if I took my time I could do it without any problem.
Another one hour+ brought me to the 7825 foot summit. The last hundred feet or so are a scramble up over boulders and ledges with lots of emptiness around on three sides. Actually there's 3-4 pinnacles at the top. A young couple in their 20's had passed me as if I was heading downhill instead of up. They were up there and I just followed their voices. What views looking down on everything for miles and miles and miles and...
I was told later a teenage boy (probably) committed suicide on Emory Peak last year. Two counselors had taken 50 kids (2 for 50?) up the trail and this boy was suffering from some sort of depression. When they got to the bottom they couldn't find him. Back at the top, they found his day pack but not him. He was later found at the bottom of the peak.
02/01/00:
It's been pretty cool in the Chisos Mountains the last few days. As such I've been bundled up fairly well and haven't been able to smell myself. I haven't been able to bathe because of the cold and I'm afraid when I start taking clothes off skin and other crusty things might start peeling away in big chunks. So I headed 30+ miles to Rio Grande Village, still in Big Bend, where they have showers. Since I have to pick mail up at the Panther Junction Post Office on Monday I signed on for four days at the campground. A mistake. There doesn't seem to be that much hiking in the area.
The views on the way to Rio Grande Village are different from Chisos Basin but still great. The road led through the Chihuahuan Desert which extends 300 miles down into Mexico. Here on the U.S. side, the desert stretches 10-20 miles between the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental mountain ranges on either side. Several exhibits and a nature trail along the park road provide information on the desert.
I stopped off at Hot Springs on the way to Rio Grande Village. A small trail led to several small Indian pictographs on the canyon walls next to the Rio Grande. To me they appeared to be just a bunch of lines and squiggles but they obviously meant something to the artist however many hundreds of years ago. Unfortunately the graffiti bozos have been at work scratching their names right over top of some of the pictographs.
A little farther on I saw what looked like the outline of a tiny house right at the edge of the Rio Grande. This turned out to be the hot spring. A solid stone wall forced the river out and away from the spring. The water felt over 100 degrees to my untrained finger.
The Rio Grande flows into the 25 mile long Boquillas Canyon, just upstream from Bosquillas, Mexico. A 1.4 mile round trip trail leads down to the river with great views of 150-200 foot canyon walls. A number of prehistoric mortar holes several inches wide and a couple deep have been pounded into the limestone as the ancient Indians ground seeds, roots and beans. A john boat will take you across the Rio Grande to Bosquillas for lunch or you can rent a burro to go up a steep trail along the Rio Grande.
Scattered throughout the Rio Grande Village campground are metal food contains. Javelinas (pig like animals) are a big problem at this campground.
02/02/01:
While taking a morning walk I saw my first Javelina (peccary) standing in the middle of a dirt road staring at me. I stopped and stared back and after a minute or so it continued on its way. It may have been the point man (pig) because over the next 2-3 minutes 10-15 more Javelinas appeared out of the bush. Javelinas are short, under two feet, three feet long, weigh 40-50 pounds and look like a cross between a pig and a rodent, a not very attractive animal.
Today was a do nothing day. I managed to stretch a 45 minutes interpretive trail hike into almost two hours. Birds are fairly aggressive, or rather fearless down here too. Road runners, red cardinals, gray cardinals, morning doves, woodpeckers and others all come mooching.
While munching on a bagel, I watched a gray cardinal land on my closed Coleman stove. It has a slick surface and the little guy was slipping and sliding all over the place. A little later I had my feet propped up on a bench when one landed on the tip of my shoe. I had just taken a picture of three red cardinals and still had the camera in my hand so was able to get a shot of him and my shoe. A little later yet, I had on a nylon windbreaker and one came over and tried to sit on my shoulder. It couldn't get a purchase with its claws and slid off onto a book and then slid off of that too. He finally gave up and flew away.
02/03/01: Hiking Hot Springs Trail:
This morning while walking to the Hot Springs Trail Head several Javelinas crossed my path. When I tried to get a few steps closer they all turned tail and ran. Oh well.
The Hot Springs Trail is supposed to be 2.8 miles but seemed a little longer to me. .8 miles of a five degree incline along switchbacks brings you to a nice overlook of the Rio Grande emerging from a canyon. The trail then curves away from the Rio Grande and goes up and down over limestone hills and bluffs. Great views of the bluffs on the Mexican side and also the Chisos Mountains keep things interesting.
I turned right at the trail sign indicating the hot springs were to the left and the High Trail was to the right. The High Trail passes above the hot springs and continues on to the hot springs parking lot. I was hoping to find some bare naked ladies at the hot springs but saw nothing but old(er than me) people so elected to return via the High Trail also.
The best views I've seen of the Mexican bluffs across the Rio Grande were from the High Trail. From this angle the bluffs stood above a mountain range which was fronted by a peak with a box like peak. This in turn was fronted by a canyon and depending on the angle another craggy bluff or a hill. This will be a great spot for a picture at sunset. (I went back later and got a couple of good shots).
02/04/01: Hiking Marufu Vega Trail:
Another crisp night in the lower 30's but with a star filled sky. It warms up pretty fast around here once the sun's up and was in the 50's by the time I got to the trail head for Strawhouse, Ore Terminal and Marufu Vega Trails on Boquillas Canyon Road. The trail started out on a gravely dried up river bed. This was a little difficult to work on. I could soon feel a strain on the hamstrings as my feet squooshed around in the gravel.
A short side trail took me off to the ruins of part of the tramway that used to run through this area. They used to mine zinc and some other stuff but had no way to get the stuff out over the rough terrain so they built a tramway many miles long and got it out above the terrain.
This is an area with limestone hills several hundred feet high rolling off into the distance on the left. On the right I could see what I took to be the Mexican side of the Boquillas Canyon walls rising up 100+ feet. I couldn't see any evidence of the Rio Grande or the American side of the Boquillas Canyon. Just a few rolling hills between me and the big wall.
I came to a trail sign a couple hundred feet beyond the tramway ruins as the Ore Terminal Trail branched off to the left. Great lumpy canyon walls rose up in front of me adding to the great views in this area. Some of the Spanish Dagger Cactus had big blooms on them, some white, some pink. Some tiny white flowers and some small, yellow, Daisy type flowers covered sections of the ground. Looks like spring is on the way. An old tramway trestle stood off on a distant hill all by itself.
As the trail wound a little higher I could see why I couldn't see any sign of the Rio Grande. Instead of the big wall on the right being the Mexican side of the Boquillas Canyon wall, it now appeared to be the back of the American side. Lots of large slabs of quartz lined the bottom of the trail. I didn't see any evidence of flint but probably wouldn't recognize it if sparks came shooting off the rocks.
The trail grew steeper as the trail went up and over a canyon wall with rugged peaks looking down on me from 50 feet above. After 50 minutes on the trail it again forked with Strawhouse continuing straight and Murufu Vega veering off to the right up a steep peak. Now I could see the truck back at the trail head way off in the distance. Actually all I saw was the sun reflecting off the windshield.
The trail was now pushing 15 degrees and I was pretty happy when I got to the top after 20 minutes before starting down the back side. I could now see many steep, rocky slopes falling into valley floors and walls rising up 150 feet. I could also now see Pico del Carmen on the Mexican wall on the other side of the Rio Grande. I was no where near the river. Another steep wall across another steep valley had to be crossed to get to it. The Marufu Vega was turning out to be a little more than I bargained for.
I could see the trail wandering ahead over rolling hills and it seemed to be moving away from the Rio Grande. From that I deduced I'd somehow come up the back side of the loop trail. Confused, I continued on. Another trail junction with Strawhouse really confused me. When I finally figured out where I was, I was dismayed to find it was several miles from where I thought. While looking at the topo map I had neglected one little thing. I hadn't verified the map scale which was much smaller (larger?) than I thought. There was no way I was going to get to the Rio Grande on this day. Because I wasn't 100% sure of my reasoning I turned back so I'd have plenty of time if I was wrong again.