Big Bend Texas is as rugged and wild and free as the Lone Star State itself. Our recent RV trip there was an adventure that ranged from heart-pounding hikes in pine forest mountains to fun scrambles amid red rock hoodoos to quiet time spent along the lazy Rio Grande River, and it culminated in a brief sojourn to a small village in Mexico, which is a short walk over the border. Nestled along the southern border of Texas, Big Bend National Park is so large that it takes an hour to drive across it (the 45 mph speed limit is strictly enforced), and there are five visitor centers. The weather is as changeable as the terrain, and we found we could choose our daily activities to suit the conditions of the moment. The Chisos Mountains tower over the center of the park and offer cool respite from the heat of the desert floor surrounding them, but when the temperatures suddenly turned icy, we were glad to stay down in the lower and warmer elevations of the Rio Grande Valley. Hiking, biking, nature walks, and photography are wonderful activities to enjoy in Big Bend National Park. We hiked the beautiful five-mile round-trip Window Trail Hike from the heart of the Chisos Mountains to a wide doorway-like opening in the cliffs overlooking the valley. As we hiked downhill from the visitor center through scrub brush, the scruffy trees soon gave way to rock walls that slowly began to loom around us. The National Park Service has carved a series of stairways into the rock to make the hike down across the smooth stone flooring a little easier. Before long we found ourselves deep in the shadows of the sheer rocks with The Window beckoning us in the distance to come and savor the view. In contrast, another hike in the Chisos Mountains, the Lost Trail Hike, took us on an uphill climb to a vista that soared above the park and offered views of the craggy mountain tops and smooth rolling hills in the range. Birds singing in the trees and chipmunks at our feet encouraged us as we hiked up and up and up. Turning around now and then, we watched the view across the narrow valleys behind us grow ever larger. At the summit, we found boulders of all shapes and sizes and wonderfully gnarled trees that clung to the mountain with claw-like roots. We had started the Lost Trail Hike late in the day and needed to get back down before dark, but this would be a fabulous place to bring a picnic and enjoy lunch with a view. The rest of Big Bend National Park surrounds the Chisos Mountains with a vast desert plain, and the desert Grapevine Hills Hike took us through terrain that felt more like Utah or Arizona than the southern reaches of Texas. Trekking across the valley floor on a dusty trail, rock hoodoos began to appear on either side of us, and soon we were surrounded by odd rock formations that oozed personality and quirky charm. The hike ascended a steep hill, making constant, tight switchbacks, and the rock hoodoos accompanied us the entire way, closing ranks
Big Bend’s sunsets are breathtakingly colorful.
The Desert Valley hike to a balancing rock formation was worth the effort.
around us as we neared the top. Then, suddenly, we saw a huge balancing rock in front of us. Two massive stone pillars stood on either side of the trail and a third enormous boulder formed a lintel across the top. We scrambled around the many boulders that encircle this unusual formation and marveled at the powerful forces of nature that created such a fantastic rock configuration. The hike had been hot and dry to this point, but this peak was open to a chilly wind, and we were grateful for the light windbreakers we had brought in our packs. On another day, we drove the 43-mile-long Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive from the center of the park to the southwest corner. This took us on a winding tour past beautiful rocky hills and delivered us to the banks of the Rio Grande River. At this point in its journey between the U.S. and Mexico, the Rio Grande meanders at a slow pace. Families played in the mirror-like water on the shoreline. A few folks had laid out beach blankets and were soaking up the sunshine or relaxing with a book. We ventured up the Santa Elena Canyon Hiking Trail and soon found ourselves huffing and puffing once again on a very steep trail. Hikers coming down the path assured us that the views along the trail and especially at the end
10 COAST TO COAST FALL 2016
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