It’s Thursday, May 9th, I think, as I write this blog. My watch and phone batteries are dying
(more on that later), so it’s hard to keep track of the date. I do know it’s been several days since
we posted to our blog due to internet issues so we need to provide all of our faithful readers an
update.
We last left you in our tent as we drifted off to sleep on Monday night. On Tuesday morning, we
were up with the sunrise and headed out to hike the Nature Trail, a 1.25 mile loop behind our
campsite. The trail provides a beautiful view of the Boquillos Canyon, which straddles the US
and Mexican border, separated by the Rio Grande River. From an overlook, we were able to
see the green color of the river circling through the canyon. On both sides of the river there”s
vibrant vegetation lining the banks, and the mountains rising beyond in the background provide
a stark contrast to the soft green color of the river and vegetation.
As we continued our hike, we heard the sound of horses neighing. We walked in that direction
but the brush was too thick to see anything so we continued on. As we reached the summit of
the trail, we looked down and to our left we saw what we had heard – two wild horses grazing on
some scrub grass. They were not as big as domestic horses, but they certainly looked healthy
from our vantage point. We can cross wild horse off our animal check list.
At one point along the trail, to our great surprise, we came across a souveneir shop. It’s not
what you think. Apparently, someone from Mexico had managed to bring to the trail a number
of handmade craft items, such as cup warmer wraps, a wooden vase, and some real cute road
runner reproductions out of wire and beads. There was a sign that said something to the effect
that all items were made in Mexico and were available for sale. By the sign was a locking
cylinder into which money could be placed. Prices ranged from $5.00 to $15.00. We needed a
souveneir from Big Bend, so Beth picked out one of the road runners and I placed a ten dollar
bill in the cylinder and we now have a mascot to accompany us on our trip. It’s great, because,
unlike Beth and I, it doesn’t need to eat, sleep, or shower.
We finished our hike and returned to our tent. Using a box mix, Beth made, and we enjoyed,
blueberry pancakes for breakfast. A good treat and a nice break from the frosted cherry
PopTarts I had been eating for the past week.
After breakfast, we packed up camp and began the 30 mile trek west to our next campground in
the Park, Chisos Basin. Since this campground was at a higher elevation (about 5,500 feet), we
were looking forward to cooler temperatures. We were not disappointed. When we arrived at
our campsite the temperature was 79 degrees, over 20 degrees cooler than the Rio Grande
location we had left only an hour before.
Our campsite left a lot to be desired. When we pulled up we were very happy to see a sun
shelter covering our picnic table, but there was no level ground on which to set up our tent.
Behind the shelter was an area for a tent, but the slope was such that we could not pitch our
tent in that location. We would literally roll out of bed (air mattress). There was no room on
either side for our 9×12 tent, and we did not want to sleep in our pup tent. We had only one
choice – the concrete pad underneath the shade shelter. While our tent did not completely fit, it
was close enough. About 12 to 18 inches of the one side of the tent was off the pad and the
ground was too hard to stake in our tent, so we again had to hope and pray that the winds
would not blow our tent over.
We spent Tuesday afternoon resting and reading in the comfortable shade of our campsite with
a refreshing breeze blowing down from the mountain. At sunset we drove to the trailhead for
the Window View Trail, a three quarter mile hike to an overlook with a view of the setting sun
between an area where water had eroded away a portion of the mountain. Beth had a great
time taking pictures as the red and golden hues of the waning sun lit up the clouds, mountain,
and valley all around us. The spot is clearly a photographer’s dream and there were at least 15
of them snapping away. What a beautiful way to end our day.
We had a rough night of sleep. The winds picked up significantly overnight and at 2:35 a.m., a
gust blew through the campground and nearly lifted our unstaked tent off of the pad. It was an
intense moment. The rest of the night was restless as we awaited the next gust. Several more
blew through, but our tent stayed upright.
At dawn, with the tent intact, we rose to begin our new day and embark on our next adventure –
a canoe trip down the Rio Grande. We left our campground at 7 a.m. for the 45 minute drive
west to Terlingua, Texas, the home of our outfitter, Far Flung Adventure Center. Upon arrival
we, along with 11 other adventure seekers, boarded a 15 passenger van for the trip to the river.
Beth and I were the last on and we had to sit separated from each other. It was the most time
we had spent apart in 8 days. I missed her.
I did get to sit in the back row with a very nice younger couple enjoying a few days in the area
on vacation. Jamis and Katie and I talked much of the way to our departure point. They, like
us, love national parks and we discussed the ones we like the best. They were good company
and made the ride pleasant.
It took about 2 minutes for me to realize that the van was heading back in the direction from
which we had just come. Sure enough, we were. Turns out the canoeing would be done in the
Rio Grande Village area of the park where we stayed our first night. The end of our trip was the
campground we slept in that first night. So we spent 45 minutes in the car, only to spend
another 45 minutes retracing our recently completed steps and then continued on for another 35
minutes where we unloaded the canoes along the bank of the Rio Grande. I wander if I had
asked to be picked up at our campground at Chisos Basin if they would have done that. It
would have saved an hour and a half of travel.
Our guides for the day were Jeremy and Lauren, 20 somethings that work for the outfitter and
the lucky pair that would take the intrepid tourists down the Rio Grande. After the obligatory
safety instructions, two by two we entered the canoes and began the adventure.
The morning was perfect: sunny, in the upper 70s and with a slight breeze. Beth took the rear
seat, the steering position, and I took the front, the unskilled labor position. It was Beth’s job to
keep us going in the right direction, and it was my job to paddle. Simple enough. Off we went
down stream. At this time of year, the Rio Grande has an average depth of only a foot. Even
so, the outfitter’s insurance policy required all of us to wear life vests. If we were to happen to
tip the canoe, we could just stand up. I don’t think there was enough water in which to float.
Better safe than sorry, I guess.
We really enjoyed our trip. It was almost scenic overload. To our left was the United States, to
the right, Mexico. And we drifted down the middle, paddling on the Rio Grande River. The
views all around were stunning. Tall mountain walls bordering the river; distant mountains in the
foreground rising from the canyon floor; a deep blue sky; and the green river beckoning us on.
Every now and then Beth would stop steering to soak in the surroundings. I knew this because
we would begin to drift to the right or left and our speed decreased. I can’t blame her though,
because it was hard not to admire the view.
At about the half way point, Jeremy guided us to the bank. We had reached a thermal hot
spring entering the river and we were able to take a break and enjoy the warm clear water.
Beth wasted no time getting in to enjoy a soak in a hot “tub”. It had been a couple of days since
her last bath, so this provided a wonderful opportunity to clean up a bit. The only thing she was
missing was a bar of soap. The water was not as hot as that from Hot Springs National Park, so
we could sit and enjoy it without overheating. All of us on the tour enjoyed our break.
We could have canoed all day, it was so beautiful. Unfortunately, we only paid for the half day
trip, so as noon arrived, we had to bring our time on the river to an end. We loaded back on the
van, and this time Beth and I got to sit together. Most of those aboard dozed off on the return
trip. Beth and I talked most of the way back. It had been a wonderful morning and we were so
glad that we had booked this trip.
Beth and I spent the rest of Wednesday at the campground relaxing in the shade offered by our
sun shelter. We had a good night sleep as the Big Bend winds never materialized to threaten
our tent or our safety.
This morning, Thursday, we hiked the Lost Mine Trail, a 4.8 mile out and back ascent of a
mountain about a mile from our campground. It took us exactly 4 hours to complete the hike
and we reached an altitude of about 6,850 feet. The views from the summit were amazing.
Beth took dozens of pictures. We spent about 45 minutes at the top and had a conversation
with some nice folks from LTR, a company that was on a work retreat. Nice retreat, we thought.
The rest of Thursday was spent around the campground. Beth, wearing a swimsuit, managed
to get a “shower” using our 5 gallon camp shower bag which heated quickly in the Texas sun.
We devised a great plan that involved her sitting in her camp chair under the shower bag and I
helped her as best I could. It worked. She was feeling clean, and we had plenty of water to
spare.
Friday morning we head to a campground in Guadalupe National Park. We will be visiting both
Guadalupe and Carlsbad Cavern National Park during our stay there. We have to stop at a
Walmart for groceries, a better cooler (ours is eating ice almost quicker than we can replenish it)
and a portable battery charger or two so we can keep our phones, laptop, camera, watch and
Fire going when we don’t have electricity available to us. Without some of these devices, we
may lose track of the day and date!
As with all of these posts, we could go on and on and on. We apologize for the length, but we
hope to give you a good view of what we are experiencing along our way.
Thanks for reading.