Big Bend 2016

After Christmas this year, we were able to road trip out to West Texas and spend a few days at Big Bend National Park. It was my first time going and I had a lot of fun. I think I keep impressing Jonathan with my ability to eat saltines and pepperoni without complaining and go four days without a shower. Don't worry, I smelled wonderful and am healthy as ever. :)

Hubby planned the entire trip though since camping is his forte. I just willingly went along for the ride. I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Day One:

We woke up at 5 am and left the campsite at 5:45 am to drive all the way across the park to the other side to catch the sunrise at Santa Elena Canyon. We got there just after 7:30. I think we were close.

Santa Elena Canyon

Balanced Rock

Day Two:

The second day was our most heavily packed day. We set out for a 12 mile hike that hubby had planned. We woke up at 5 or 5:30, drove to the Basin, and then set out for our hike around 7:30 am. We reached the top around 10:50 am and got ready for lunch.

What a scenic view for lunch

After eating lunch and enjoying the view for a good hour or so, we started to go down. We realized we hiked up faster than anticipated so we thought we might add a 3 mile detour into our route and turn it into a 15 mile hike. After all, I had received hiking boots for Christmas as a gift from Jonathan, so why not put them to good use right?

Jonathan: "This jacket isn't very good for pictures."
Cathy: Well it's not the star. My shoes are. *cue pose*
Jonathan: You're awkward.
*2 minutes later*
Jonathan: Oh, that didn't turn out that bad.

Well, we got overly excited, started pushing forward, and then before we knew it, we were scrambling over giant boulders and walking next to a shallow creek of residual water. There was no trail in sight and I was pretty sure we weren't on the trail anymore. After blindly attempting to maneuver ourselves out of the now valley we got ourselves stuck in, we decided to turn around and go back the way we came to relocate the correct trail.

This took about a 10-15 minute detour for us having gotten lost, and I was not a super happy camper at this point. Secretly inside I was pretty set on just hiking the rest of the way down and not adding the extra 3 miles. Well, once we found the actual trail and were set back on it, we shortly came across a fork that connected to the longer trail on the other side of the rim. And walking down it was a young gentleman we had met at lunch named Jeff. So Jeff joined us for our hike the rest of the day. And yes, we did the extra 3 miles to hike to the highest point in the entire park, Emory Peak.

We made it! Not pictured: the steep stairs we had to climb up AND the tower of rocks we had to scramble over to get here.

If we hadn't run into Jeff on the way down, I don't think we would have done the extra 3 miles to this point, nor would we have met a pretty cool guy. We talked for about a good 3-4 hours for the rest of the afternoon hike and got to know each other pretty well for having just met as complete strangers. Actually, he probably knows us better than some of our friends we haven't talked to in 2-3 years or more.


Day Three:

The wind was horrible this day. We had a relaxing day planned and we couldn't even sit outside and relax on a bench because the wind was blowing and dirt/sand was being kicked up. We managed to get in one short hike but then drove home after, leaving a day earlier than anticipated.

People from Mexico row over in canoes and try to sell their wares. This happened all the time back in the day but since 2002 after 9/11, they are trying to limit the illegal crossings. They set them up in little places on hikes near borders in hopes that someone will leave some money and perhaps buy something. They are never physically at the site. 

The wind blew these bamboo to a 45 degree angle. Yes, bamboo is quite plentiful at Big Bend along the Rio Grande!

Across the river is Mexico!

There's a tiny colorful city in the back called Boquillas that you can actually cross over and visit. Had we prepared better, we would have probably remembered to bring our passports. ¡Estudió el español en la escuela secondaria para cuatros años! Pero, mi español is muy mal :( 

After that we headed home shortly, but not before taking a picture with the sign!



I also captured some pictures of desert flora! So unique.


On the car ride back, we exchanged stories about grade school. I think I remember as much in one grade as he remembered in all 12. I definitely remember my sixth grade history teacher who wouldn't let us use the restroom during class, ever, my eighth grade science teacher who swiped my agenda out of my hand one day in class to read what I had written without my permission, and the eleventh grade history teacher who played with my hair one day in class. I'm sure looking back these were not their brightest teacher moments, but I definitely have not forgotten.

This was a really great way to end the year. I can't imagine camping with anyone else or hiking 15 miles in one day with anyone else. Here's to more memories and explorations to come in the future :)

Happy New Year!