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Published: January 20th 2007
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January 13, Saturday. From Fort Stockton, we stopped at Marathon TX; a cute little town that was our last taste of civilization, before going on to Big Bend NP. The distances in Texas are substantial, from the entrance of the park to the main visitor’s center at Panther Junction is 26 miles, and then another 29 miles to the Rio Grande Campground, so miles start to add up. The park has only one diesel station. Our reservations were from 1/14 to 1/21 at Chisos Basin Campground then another week at Rio Grande Campground 1/21 to 1/28. Plans changed because of weather conditions. Since we are one day early, we are staying at Rio Grande Village RV Park (Didn’t know they had a private RV campground with hook-ups). We hiked the Rio Grande Nature Trail; it passes through dense vegetation that opens to a raised boardwalk across wetlands, then climbs to a panoramic view of the Rio Grande and south into Mexico. After dinner he went to the Ranger Station and had a presentation on the history of Big Bend.
Sunday, January 14. We head to Chisos Campground in the Chisos Mountains with a higher elevation. Our first hike was the
Window Trail. It leaves from the campground and goes down to the bottom of Oak Creek Canyon, with several creek crossings then the trail leads to a lovely, almost window, and view of the desert. As we hiked Kel, was ahead and had her I-Pod on when she was startled by a Javelina, grunting and eating right on the trail. She scared him ---He scared her. A Javelina , resembles a wild hairy pig. They usually travel in a herd. They have poor eyesight and use a gland to emit a skunk-like smell for territorial marking, not defense. “Kelly’s” javelina ran off to join his pack of buddies and continued eating in peace. Then we got some photos. Yes we were crazy enough to continue on the trail, it was about 4 plus miles.
Back to the Bothan for some Chili.
Monday, January 15, Chisos Basin to Cottonwood Campground; our change of campground today is the result of a weather forecast calling for snow, sleet and ice. When the weather gets nasty, Chisos get hit the hardest, because of the elevation. The Rangers close, Green Gulch, the road in and out of Chisos. If you are there, you
stay put, and no one else gets up the mountain until things clear. As we leave the rain is already changing to sleet, so we carefully get down the mountain and drive a good distance to the lowest elevation in Big Bend, Cottonwood. This campground is the most primitive camp area; there are no hook-ups, minimum of a few gallons of water per day and we spot a sign that says… NO Generators! Sooo while we await the snows, we go for a hike. We are now the far west end of Big Bend and begin the Santa Elena Canyon Trail. It was a neat trail crossing the Terlingua Creek (Kelly sloshed), then it climbs into the canyon overlooking the Rio Grande and Mexico. With the new border regulations, and this not being an official crossing, if a US citizen goes into Mexico, he/she just can’t come back. The fine is $5,000.00 plus time in jail. So we decide to stay on American soil. Tuff canyon is our next hike today. It is a view of white volcanic ash cliffs contrasting with the dark volcanic rock. The last hike is “Mule Ears Trail”, bet you know how it got its
name.
As we return to Cottonwood the rain is beginning, throughout the night we could hear sleet and rain.
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Paddrick Mackin
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Memories
Thanks for the story and photo memories. It reminds me of the early 1970's when 5 friends and I took a 60 mile three canoe trip on the RG though the canyons. Yes, we soaked in the hot springs in Mexico and camped near the river close to Boquillas where we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at a local eatery. Another time, my wife and I backpacked to the South Rim for a night. We could only carry enough water for a day out and a day back.