I missed you guys. I really did. Every time I saw something great I kept making mental notes of telling you all about it. The Big Bend is something everyone has to experience to believe. The vast stretches of mammoth mountains, dry desserts, wild cacti tell the story of how small man is. No amount of technology or human intelligence can take over nature. Like I said you have to see it to believe it.
We started out on Friday night on our 10 hour journey to the Big bend. I did not know what to expect. The photos and all the material I read online did no justice to the beauty and strength of what I was about to experience. A little after a town called Ft. Stockton you'll catch the first sight of the mountains. I was SO excited I could not stop saying wow and stopped the car several times trying to take pictures. It totally skipped my mind that I was gonna go sit on those mountains in a few hours ! After several hundred of those wows and OMG's we finally reached the park.Never ending empty roads
Roads inside Big Bend National Park
After a quick info gathering session with the rangers we set off to the camp grounds to pick a spot and a quick wash. After the wash we slathered ourselves in sunscreen and drove down to Boquillas Canyon. A small trek leads to some more mountain and Rio Grande river (now muddy) views. It is amazing to know that just behind these mountains is Mexico ! It is a heavily monitored area with Border Patrol everywhere. Apparently the Big bend NP also used to be a drug route (I love mafia /drug lord stories ). After Boquillas we made our way to the Hot Springs. The road to this place was narrow and muddy and a little scary. Once you reach the parking spot you walk around a few historic buildings and make your way to the hot springs. It was hot and the hot springs are at a temperature 105 F so no way I was gonna soak in it.
Lots more views and lots more ooh's and aah's later we drove back to our camp site and set up the tent. By then few more people had come to the site and had their tents up. We bought a lot of camping food so we could cook em over the coal and I got working on it. I love camping. I love camp food. I love eating out in the wild. I love I love I love. So we ate lots of kebabs ( well we did what best we could) canned chili, potatoes. Yumm fest - just plain food with salt cooked over fire. I could eat like that everyday. After learning that this 800,000 acres of land was home to several bears and mountain lions I'd been having nightmares of being attacked. But trust me its safe. The camping grounds are maintained very well and though not as many people visit Big Bend, the few you see there, will make you feel better. The days are long and hot with sun setting at around 8:30. The nights are so very pleasant and cool.
So after food we got to out tents and decided to do a early morning (5 AM) trek along Lost Mine trail or The Window trail. That was the plan of course. But our tents were so cozy and the weather so good that we woke up only at about 8:30 AM. So much for early morning. By then everybody had left. Only about two other tents were still up. Hilarious. After a quick wash and a bread & cheese breakfast we drove down to Chisos Basin Lodge , had some coffee and set out to climb along the Lost Mine Trail. Young and old get on this trail. Some do the one mile hike, some go all the way. We went all the way along the 5 mile hike (1100 ft) . It took us about 3 1/2 hours up and down. The trail is of moderate difficulty but is pretty steep. My glutes were killing me towards the end but making small stops in between helps recuperate. Don't forget to take lots of water and gatorade to avoid dehydration. The sun is brutal so don't forget sunscreen and face mist. I also took an umbrella and almost every climber would stop and make a cute comment asking me if it was raining. Some others who found the sun too strong thought it was a great idea. I personally would have died without my umbrella. With it I felt like I was walking in the shade through out the trek . Of course its narrow so I had to keep closing it when people had to walk by but that's no biggie at all.The temperature gets remarkably cooler as you make your way up the mountain. You will hear the winds howling through the mountain ranges. AMAZING , I tell ya . We made several stops just to stand and take the view in. Every angle makes for something beautiful. Its a photographers paradise. From the lost mine trail you have a great view of Casa Grande Mountain (7325 ft) , several other peaks of the Chisos Mountain range and many canyons. Once on top of the trail you get an exhilarating feeling looking at all the enchanting beauty that surrounds you. By now you'd have seen so much that you are out of words to describe them. You just stand still and look at it. Take in as much as you can. Tell you brain to click a mental picture of it and make it your default screensaver. There were a bunch of brats on top who kept yelling and spoiling the silence. But to each his own. I was happy I completed the trail and got to see all this.
We got down pretty fast but its so steep I needed all the concentration in the world to avoid slipping on the rocks. Plus there was a fear of running into a bear. Unfortunately I dint see any :(After the trail, we did another round of slathering sunscreen all over and left for the most beautiful Santa Elena Canyon. You drive along the Ross Maxwell scenic drive ( 30 miles) to reach it. Along the drive you get a great view of the Chihuahuan Desert. Santa Elena is majestic. Its beyond beautiful. Except I had a severe headache and could not concentrate much on what I was seeing. But if you do go to Big Bend make it a point to see this. The long drive is SO worth it.
After seeing Santa Elena Canyon, we made our way back to visitors center, took a quick shower at the Rio Grande Village Complex and started on our way back to the city. It was sad leaving all this behind. The raw, undisturbed, nature here is like nothing I have experienced before. I feel terrible that in my early 20's I thought I wasn't a nature person. I take it back - I AM A NATURE PERSON.
On our way back, we had to keep to a speed of 40miles/hr because the roads were full of deers and rabbits. You never know when one of them would want to cross the road and land right in front of your car ! So to avoid any accidents we moved slowly and saw several several deers and rabbits. And yes, at Fort Stockton you'll see a heavily advertised IHOP that says its open 24 hours but closes at 12 midnight on weekends. We ate there on our way to Big Bend and thought of stopping there for dinner on our return trip. But then at 1 AM on that hungry night, we got to to know that the 24 hour claim was wrong. So, instead we went to a small Mexican joint. Bad food, but food nonetheless. Got back on the road and got back home.
Reflecting back on the trip I think I'd say I've seen a life time's worth of :
Mountains
Desert
Cacti
Roadrunner birds
Roads
Texas Ranches
Oil wells
Deers
Rabbits
The ranches are huge. There are SO MANY of them ! Makes me wanna buy one too. Buy a huge piece of land, call it "Moneymaker Ranch" and hope to find oil and rare minerals in it. Then I'll become a oil millionaire and life will be settled. I will not have to think twice about buying another Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge or for that matter anything. I will sit in my ranch surrounded by natural beauty, have loads of horses and blog all day long....
Few more pictures from the trip for y'all !
Roadrunner bird : It can fly very well, but chooses to walk /run most of the time !
Notice how small the houses and the trailers are in front of these gigantic mountains
Wind Farms
Love,
Indian Girl
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