hiking_tx_log

Chisos Mountain Backpacking Log

December 2001

by Dana Farnsworth

Day 1

Arriving in Odessa, Texas, Kelli and I obtained a rental car and began our somewhat long drive towards Big Bend National Park, located about five hours south-west. Driven by hunger and excitement to get some "down home" Tex-Mex, we soon stopped at a gritty little roadside diner for some tasty Texas fare. What we actually received was much less than expected. Greasy tacos that tasted like they were stuffed with horsemeat and some flavorless smoky pinto beans were what we were treated to, or should I say we treated the trash to. Driving outside of Odessa, we were concerned about our surroundings. Driving through long, flat fields full of what seemed to be every conceivable derelict, rusting and abandoned piece of oil drilling haberdashery created an atmosphere that was pretty depressing. I comforted myself as well as Kelli by replying, "Really, I've seen pictures and Big Bend looks NOTHING like this, I hope" The farther we drove the more we were comforted. We were slowly approaching little humps on the horizon that later turned out to be the Chisos Mountains.

If you are looking for a remote National Park with a lot of solitude, then Big Bend is for you. It took us approximately five hours from Odessa to finally reach it. We entered from the north on highway 385. My exuberance of finally arriving overcame me as I sped through the park. A park trooper gently reminded me of my error in speed judgment by turning his lights on, but not pursuing me. I counted my blessings. After 10 15 miles we arrived at the Panther Junction Visitor Center around 4:30 PM and obtained our hiking permit. Our planned 13-mile loop would take us in a clockwise motion along the south rim.

Being December, our daylight was fading fast, so we made our way south to the Chisos Basin Visitor Center, where we would begin our hike. We had a plan to hike only about a mile or so this evening to our Juniper Flats campsite. This proved to be a perfect distance. Along the way, we were treated to a spectacular sunset view of "The Window"; a view of the desert flats below framed by Carter Peak (5,688 ft.) on the left and Vernon Bailey Mountain to the right.

Arriving at our campsite at dusk, we were excited about how nice it was. Our site, was at the foot of a majestic red mountain, surrounded by scrub trees and brush, a very beautiful spot. The sun had set, it was getting colder and we were out of energy. It was time to set up camp, eat something and turn in for the night.

Day 2

I woke up to total darkness. Darkness lasted for at least 12 hours or more; which is a minor drawback to camping in the winter months. I managed to lie around for an hour or so until dawn finally came; I couldn't hold it any longer anyway. When I got up to pee, I spotted two Carmen Mountains white-tailed does. Carmen Mountain deer are only found in the Chisos in the United States. They are smaller; no doubt an adaptation to the harsh desert climate.

When Kelli finally got out of bed, we managed to track them down so that she could see them. I've been around hunters before, so I know that where does are, a buck is not far behind. I was right. While I boiled water for breakfast, a nice healthy looking little buck sauntered through our campsite, oblivious to us, sniffing the air and looking for his ladies. I reacted as quickly as I could, but only managed a picture of his ass as he walked away.

Today, we would be putting in a few miles and hiking along the savannah-like pinon-juniper-oak forests of the South Rim Trail. We set out on the Pinnacles Trail and began an ascent into the Chisos. While traversing our first set of switchbacks, I noticed some beautiful blue birds. They were Mexican Jays. I quickly retrieved my camera and snapped off a few long distance shots of them. As I approach them, I continued to take better and better photos until I was practically on top of them! What good subjects they were!

After that, we continued our ascent. Just like when you know someone is watching you when you are in traffic in your car; I suddenly had the same feeling. Wheeling around and looking behind me, back down the trail, I was shocked to see the Mexican Jays hopping along the trail behind us! They wouldn't leave us alone! At the bend of every switchback from that point on until we reached the top, they would beat us there and be waiting in a tree. What was once a neat experience now seemed like wildlife harassment! Finally, when we reached the top of our first ascent, around Toll Mountain and Emory Peak Trail, they left us alone. They apparently gave up the "hey look a tourist, let's get a meal" game they were playing.

Emory Peak Trail ascends to right here. It's an out-and-back one-mile trail to the top of Emory Peak (7,825 ft). Big Bend has thought of everything. They have installed bear boxes at the foot of the trail, so that you may stash your pack there and go light for the trek up Emory Peak. After stashing our packs, Kelli and I grabbed some sandwich fixings and our canteens and headed up the trail to have lunch. We hiked about three-quarters of a mile up the trail when we found a beautiful place to have lunch; a nice ledge with a beautiful overlook of the desert and lesser brown mountains below would suit us fine.

After lunch we descended back down, grabbed our packs from the bear boxes and hit the trail again. It was a beautiful sunny day as we headed up Boot Canyon Trail. We began another gradual ascent as we neared the southeast rim. After passing Boot Spring, which was dry, we encountered some unique scenery. The trail passes through a unique desert area - a grassy field. The grass grew in puffy clumps that looked more like pom-poms than vegetation.

Soon after, we had to make a decision. We had made a reservation for campsite NE 4 on the northeast rim, but it was still fairly early. Should we continue to our site and stay the course, or do a short cut and bypass the Northeast Rim Trail, go along the Boot Canyon Trail to the Southwest Rim Trail and try to find a spot. We knew there were vacancies, so that wasn't a problem. What we had to decide was if we were going to turn our hike from a planned three-night hike into a two-night hike. If we continued on to the Southwest Rim Trail, we would effectively cut our overall distance and not leave enough trail to spread out over another day and a half. We decided that our loop wasn't really long enough to merit a three-nighter, so we took the short cut in search of a new campsite. When we reached the Southwest Rim, we were awestruck. The views here were sweeping, looking out to the desert valley below and off into Mexico. The terrain looked almost Martian; brown round mountains popped up here and there below our vantage point. At one point we commented that a lone rocky plateau that was topped with green trees and grasses looked like a scene from Africa, or at least the Africa we know from "The Lion King". This is the area where we passed the few hikers we saw on the entire loop.

At this point, there were two logical choices of campsites. SW3, in the southwest rim area, or continue on to the campsite we had scheduled for our third night in Laguna Meadow. We were getting a little tired, that coupled with the absolutely incredible site at SW3, made us stop there for the day. SW3 has a nifty sheltered area behind several scrubby trees that made for a wonderful tent site. If that wasn't enough, we still had the breathtaking view that we first saw at the beginning of the Southwest Rim Trail only a few feet away.

We set up camp and made our dinner. Soon after we were treated to another sunset that will be hard to forget. We attempted to stay up and do some stargazing, but around 8:30 pm, we were back in the tent asleep. I swear, when it gets dark at 5:30 pm, it's hard to stay awake for very long after 8:00 pm.

Day 3

After our morning ritual, we packed up and headed out to find Laguna Meadow Trail. The Laguna Meadows area proved to be a "secret favorite" of mine. The sweeping vistas of big valleys with rolling brown mountains are an obvious Big Bend favorite. Laguna Meadows has lesser rolling hills spotted with green vegetation. The trail gently winds through the middle, with all forms of desert plant life carpeting the valley.

Later we were treated to another view of "The Window" as we once again neared the Chisos Mountain Lodge and our original starting point. We reached our car in the early afternoon. A cute and curious elderly couple struck up a conversation with us. Let's say, the husband struck up a conversation with us. Seems his wife couldn't talk much seeing as he was making her "do laps" around a scenic walking path to rehabilitate a foot surgery she had recently had. She only got in a few words during the times she would pass us.

Big Bend is a unique park in the sense that you can purchase beer and wine in the park. So, a cold six pack of Texas's finest brew Shiner Bock and a bag of Fritos later, we checked into the Chisos Mountain Lodge and enjoyed a few cold ones and a shower.

Later, we decided to venture out into nearby Study Butte/Terlingua to the west for dinner. Study Butte and Terlingua are two tiny towns outside of Big Bend. It takes about a half hour to get there from the lodge. I can't imagine being any luckier than we were. We stumbled onto a Mexican restaurant called Tivo's Place. Picture this, a little cinderblock building in the middle of the desert only miles from Mexico set back from the road. No windows, a dirt parking lot and a festive red sign that read "Tivo's Place Mexican food". "What the hell", we said as we doubled back and parked the car.

Tivo's is not an elaborate place, in fact it's barely a place at all. We were seated and instructed that if we wanted beer, we needed to go back to the convenience store up the road, buy it and bring it back! Tivo's was a BYOB establishment! After a trip up the road, they kindly stored our six-pack away in the refrigerator. Tivo's was full of happy people, so the food had to be good, right? Right! Tivo's food was as great as the service. The dinner entertainment left something to be desired though. See, Tivo has a satellite dish, and the locals seem to love watching Tivo's TV as much as other people like going to the movies. What where the locals glue to this night? Where they watching a western, an action adventure, a drama or perhaps a sitcom? Nope, nope, nope and nope; they were intently watching a special on the Discovery Channel about spontaneous human combustion! Imagine that; while we ate our dinner; they were burning flesh on TV in a simulation of personal implosion. Tacos and human combustion mmm-mmm good!

With our bellies full of kick ass Tex-Mex and Dos Equis Lagers, we made our way back to lodge and crashed for the night.

Day 4

We needed to head back to Odessa today, but we were in no hurry. We decided to take a scenic drive west along the Rio Grande over to ________and then cross the border for lunch in _______ Mexico.

Driving along the Rio Grande we found a Hollywood ghost town. Seems a movie called "Contraband", "El Contrabano" or something like that had been shot in this area. There were a few hollow structures that resembled an old west town left standing. We goofed around playing cowboy and saloon whore, took a few pictures and headed back out on the road.

Later we stopped and walked a section a very cool seemingly endless canyon that was lined with very smooth rock. I'm sure at certain times, this canyon has raging waters through it.

Along the way towards Mexico we spotted more Carmen Mountain deer along the road. No, they weren't road-kill; they were alive and running through a grassy brown field.

When we finally reached ________ and cleared the border, it was obvious we were in another country. We drove into the city square, parked our car and got out for a look around. In the square we saw a humorous site. Seeing as it was Christmas time, the locals had erected a live Christmas tree in the square. What's so humorous about that you ask? Well, they only decorated the tree as high up as they could reach, standing on the ground. Since I've never seen a seven-foot tall Mexican, let's say that the conservative and quaint paper ornaments were all concentrated in an area no higher than six feet up on a thirty-foot tree!

We took a few pictures, had a few laughs, got back into the car and headed out looking for a bite to eat. We ended up having some tasty barbequed chicken and headed back across the border. The US Border Agent was a little confused with our answer to his question, "What was your business in Mexico?" We answered simply, "lunch".

Heading back to Odessa, we stopped at a few places and generally enjoyed our ride. That is until I once again was reminded of my misunderstanding of posted speed limits. Yes, I was pulled over by Texas's finest. When asked how fast I was going, I answered honestly and I think for a change, honesty worked. He wrote me warning and sent us on our way. I love Texas!

Back in Odessa, we checked into a fleabag motel near the airport for the night. We had an early flight the next morning back home.