The Savage Traveler: Winter Trip 2015: Chisos Basin at Big Bend National Park

Fri. Feb. 6: We ate breakfast, packed up and took showers and still managed to leave Rio Grande Village by soon after 9:00. After another stop at Panther Junction to call for reservations for a river trip we drove up 2000 feet above the desert floor into the Chisos Mountains, through the pass, and over the gap dropping into the Chisos Basin campground. This was a favorite spot for us when we came to Big Bend six years ago so we were happy to find two sites together in the small campground of about 50 sites. There are no electrical sites and they have changed most of them to “No Generators” for which we are grateful. We can get what electricity we need from our solar panel, which is silent. After setting up and getting a good lunch we set out to take the Window Trail. This is an iconic hike in the Chisos Basin. It drops down 450 feet in elevation and is over 4 miles long. It was sunny and in the seventies as we descended, with some shade trees at times to relieve the heat. The pay-off comes at the end where one can view the desert floor far below through a “window” between the high peaks that serves as a pour-off for a small creek formed by nearby springs. There was very little water in the creek as we crossed over it several times and climbed up and down steps along the rock banks and built by the CCC before the area was established as a National Park. Even though there was no water going over the pour-off, the slippery flowstone kept us safely back from the opening itself. The return trip is all uphill and is why it is considered a “moderate difficulty” trail. The sun was getting low so it was much shadier but it’s still a pretty rugged climb. We made it back in time to catch our breath and grill pork chops (us) and kielbasa (Robertsons) on our grill which we enjoyed with potato salad that I whipped up. In the evening we took a quick trip up to the Chisos Basin Lodge to use their internet sitting on the porch and overlooking the campground. It was getting colder as we returned to our respective campers to read.

Campsites in the Chisos Basin

On the Window Trail

Large Agave (Century) Plant with last year's bloom

Marv climbing the rock stairs into near the pour-off

The Window with the desert floor far below

Ann. Shelby, Peggy & Marv in front of The Window

Marv with a mature Agave plant

Casa Grande as the sun sets

Long shadows as the sun sets

Sat. Feb. 7: It got down to the high thirties but we stayed warm enough to sleep well. The sun took a long time to come up over 7300’ Casa Grande, the high rock formation behind us in the basin. But the air temperature rose steadily so that by the time we had eaten breakfast and left the campsites in our truck it was into the fifties. We stopped on our way back out of the Basin to do the first mile of the 4.8 Lost Mine Trail. This trail starts at 5600’ elevation and leads upward along the northern slope of Casa Grande to a wonderful lookout over Juniper Canyon that has one of the finest views in the park. The return trip is all downhill, which is certainly our preference when hiking! From there we drove back to the Maverick Junction entrance to the park where we stopped to eat our lunch on the truck tailgate. We left the park and drove to Study (Stew-dee) Butte, about 2½ miles away. We bought gas for $2.65 (which was even more than they were charging in the park!). In years past we would have been thrilled with the price, but for this trip we were more used to paying $1.80 or so, so it hurt a bit. In Study Butte we went to Big Bend River Trips where Andy loaded the four of us, and another couple named Chelsea and Sean, into a big van and took us into Big Bend Ranch State Park, which is the biggest and least visited Texas State Park, west of Big Bend. After driving almost an hour on El Camino del Rio, which National Geographic lists as one of the 10 most scenic drives in America, and giving some brief instructions we put in 4 canoes for a trip on the Rio Grande. The outfit also does raft trips but the river is too low for the rafts right now. It was 80° and perfectly clear with a brilliant blue sky as we set out. We soon entered Dark Canyon, where the towering cliffs shaded the river completely. There was a stiff wind to our backs which pushed us along but also tried to turn us around sometimes, and kept us from getting too warm. We stopped once at a long stretch of rocky bank on the Mexican side of the river where a snack is sometimes served but Andy felt it was too windy there so we walked the shoreline for about 15 minutes and then got back in the canoes. We had about four stretches of rapids that added just a zing of excitement but nothing too harrowing and Andy waded into the river each time to push errant canoes into the channel, if necessary. Piping Plovers, Swifts, Towhees, and Sandpipers wheeled in the air around us and it was wonderful to be in the awesome canyon on such a spectacular day. We saw many Big Bend Sliders (turtles) sunning themselves on the rocks in the river. Between Dark Canyon and Madera Canyon there was a low-banked stretch of the river. Two spots along the river have the grizzly remains of vehicles that had driven off the hilly El Camino del Rio (17% grade in one spot!) and down the hillside. One driver lived and one didn’t. We successfully made it through a Class 2 rapids and then pulled over at our take-out point, which is a primitive campground for the state park. Andy loaded up the canoes and drove us up the hill to an overlook of Madera Canyon where he set out a snack of apples, oranges, crackers, cheese, peanut butter, jelly and three kinds of cookies. It all tasted pretty wonderful! Ann and I got some pictures nearby of Big Bend Blue Bells. We returned to the outfitters at 5:30 and drove back into Chisos Basin. After cleaning up a bit we drove back up to the lodge and had a nice dinner to top off our wonderful day.

Ann with the backside of Casa Grande beyond her

Juniper Canyon

Unloading Canoes

Approaching Black Canyon

Black Canyon

Big Bend Blue Bonnets

Sunset through The Window

Orion again

Sun. Feb. 8: It hadn’t gotten as cold overnight and the day warmed quickly as the sun rose. This was our day to drive the thirty mile Ross Maxwell scenic drive on the west side of the park. There are many opportunities along the way to read interpretive signs and take hikes but we pretty much drove straight down to Santa Elena Canyon. Terlingua Creek joins the Rio Grande just in front of the canyon and often times it is so wide and swift that there is no access to the canyon. But we were lucky to find it completely dry so we could just walk across the creek bed. At the mouth of the canyon there are 81 steps, 13 ramps, and some rocky paths up over the towering rock sides then one descends the other side down to the water. We walked as far as the trail took us over grassy areas and giant boulders into the steep sided canyon until the canyon walls ran straight into the Rio Grande and there is no way to go further. It was noticeably cooler in the canyon and so we tarried for pictures and to look for the Mexican Beaver who lives in the bank and had been busy cutting tender saplings that grow along the trail. As we hiked out Shelby said that the path had been the worst one yet (he’s sort of afraid of heights and trails that drop off on the sides with no guard rail) but the rest of us had loved the quiet, serene canyon. The trip back included a stop for ice cream at the Visitors Center at Castolon, which is in a store that has been there for over one hundred years. We also took short hikes at Tuff Canyon and Mule Ears viewpoint, where Marv went farther up the trail that the rest of us. It was in the eighties and the sun was relentless. Combined with our longer hike in the morning we were pretty wrung out. We still had a couple more places we planned to stop when we got the Sotol Vista Overlook. As we surveyed the area a pair of backpackers came up the trail from the abandoned Homer Wilson Ranch far below. Matt and Clay had been out since Saturday and hiked about 23 miles so far. They had planned on one more day but the heat and exhaustion led them to give up on the last 8 miles ahead for Monday. They were going to try to flag down a Ranger or someone to drive them back to their car at Chisos Basin. So instead we crammed them into the back seat of the truck with Ann & Shelb and made only one more stop on the way, to see the Window from the west side. We dropped the grateful boys at their car by the Lodge and returned to our campsites for dinner, sunset through the Window, and a hot game of Dominoes in our camper before bedtime.