Finding Fantastic: Exploring Big Bend National Park August 2019

Big Bend National Park is an enormous park in Southwest Texas. This national park borders Mexico and in some areas, you can walk right up to where the border is located. This park has quite a lot to offer but it is pretty out of the way. It is best to stay at the park for a significant period of time as there is much to see once you are inside. While the hiking trails during the day are beautiful, one really spectacular thing about Big Bend is how dark it gets at night. On the nights we were there, few clouds littered the sky leaving breathtaking views of the stars. One other thing to note, in August the bugs were terrible. Small gnats were everywhere, so bug spray is a must.

Lodging/Camping: There are two major areas to stay in Big Bend: Chisos Basin and Rio Grande Village. Chisos Basin is up in the mountains so it provides significant relief to the heat that plagues Texas in the summer. We opted for Chisos Basin for this very reason. We decided to stay in our camper that we towed behind our car, but there are tent camping and cabins in Chisos Basin. Though there are spots for a camper, Chisos Basin doesn't have any hookups for RV's (these can be found in Rio Grande Village). We used the electricity garnered from the solar panels on top of our camper.

7/31/2019 We spent our first day of the trip making the drive from Austin, Texas to Big Bend. We were hauling a mid-size camper, so the drive ended up taking us about seven hours. After the drive, we had little time to do anything besides set up our camper and explore the surrounding area. We walked a short trail up to a paved area located above the campground that housed the Chisos Basin Lodge, a restaurant, and a convenience store. We had meal prepped food to eat on the trip, but it was nice to see that they offered options for people who didn't have the means to store food for their trip. As the sun went down, the sky revealed the vast and expansive galaxy. I had never seen so many stars, it was absolutely beautiful.

8/1/2019 For this trip, I was traveling with my parents. We set a routine of hiking in the mornings when it was cooler and relaxing in the afternoons. Our first hike of the trip was the Window Trail. The trailhead was just a short walk from the campground. This hike ended up taking us about two hours roundtrip and was a relatively easy walk with some elevation gain when returning to the campgrounds. The trail is clearly laid out and easy to follow until you reach a dried-up stream bed. This seems like it could signify the end of the trail, as there is no clear path, but this is not the end. If you look further up the bed, you will see steps carved into the stone that leads to the rest of the trail. This hike ends at the top of a dried-up waterfall, where if you dare go near the edge, you can see a dramatic drop. The views were quite beautiful and the trail was not crowded at this time.

8/2/2019 Today we embarked on one of the more popular hikes, Lost Mines. The trailhead can be reached by hiking up the paved road out of Chisos Basin campground to the marked signs, or by driving as there is a parking lot. This hike was definitely more difficult than the Window Trail as the elevation gain was much more extreme. This trail took us about four hours to complete roundtrip. Once at the top, the views of the surrounding landscape are stunning. The area at the top is quite big so there is a lot to explore including rocks to climb up.

After returning to the campground and relaxing for a while, we drove about an hour to Santa Elena Canyon. There is a parking lot right outside of the canyon, so it is only a short walk to get to its base. Once there, there is a stream that can be waded across to get to a set of stairs that lead up the canyon to the top of it. These stairs are rather steep and when we were there in August the water was deep. The canyon is definitely worth seeing if you have the time.

8/3/2019 On this day, we decided to head out on our most ambitious hike of the trip, Pinnacles Trail. This trail leads up to Emory Peak, the highest of the Chisos Mountains. The trailhead begins up by the paved area that houses the restaurant, convenience store, and lodges. The trail is clearly marked and well outlined throughout. We chose to leave early in the morning to avoid some of the mid-day heat as only about the first 3/4 is well shaded. This hike took us about 6.5 hours roundtrip and had significant elevation gain. Once you near the peak, there are some rocky scrambles that you must get through. The first is a relatively steep wall and the next is to reach the highest point of the mountain. Beware of the trees at the top of the mountain, I bumped into one and was swarmed by tiny bugs. The views from the top are really stunning.

8/4/2019 This day, we headed back to the Chisos Basin visitor center to hear listen to a ranger talk. The one for that day was all about how the native people from Chisos used the plants that grew there to survive. The rangers are really knowledgable and the talk was very interesting, so if you have the chance to go, I would recommend it. After this, we headed over to the Boquillas Canyon trail which lies on the Mexico border. This trail is located at a much lower elevation, so temperatures were extreme. Make sure to bring adequate water for the conditions. The trail leads to a stream that flows through the canyon that you can swim in. On the way, we passed by some horses that were grazing in the area. The hike is relatively easy and flat, but high temperatures and little shade require precaution.

8/5/2019 In the morning, we headed out and began our long drive back to Houston, Texas. Big Bend was really beautiful and with the time we had there, we were unable to see everything. I am definitely planning on going back at some point to do some of the trails we missed out on this time.