toejam

I went to Big Bend last weekend for a post-holiday get-away. I drove out Thursday evening - wasn't looking forward to the 8 hour drive, but I napped partway through and when I got to the park I pulled onto the Hannold Draw campsite road and slept until after 7 a.m. when it got light. My Grand Cherokee is a great trailhead sleeping vehicle. Got to see the sun rise behind El Pico on the Alto Relex, or whatever that cool mountain is.

I got to Panther Junction just after they opened at 8, paid $15 to use public land, and reserved 2 nights at NE5 on the southeast rim. Then cruised on into the Basin. The 20 lbs of water in my pack weighed me down a bit, but it took less than 2 hours to get to the top of the Pinnacles Trail. The Pinnacles Trail is one of my favorite trails in the world and I've always wondered why anybody who's hiked both would take the Laguna Meadows trail. There were a bunch of college students who hadn't gone back to school yet on the trail. Most were leaving.

I could feel the altitude more than I expected to - maybe that 20 lbs of water. The temperature was around 60 degrees and it was overcast. I climbed up on the rocks by the TM1 campsite to enjoy a break with a view and got blasted by a chilly south wind. I moved on soon and took a long break on the rocks by Boot Spring, which was dry as a bone. There were several of those big blue birds with long black beaks eating acorns close by.

I took the NE rim trail to my camp so I could ditch the pack and walk along the rim without it. The sky was clearing from the southwest and the sun lit things up for a few hours before setting. Staring off the south rim is one of my favorite things to do. The best location for this in my opinion is right by the SE3 & SE4 sights. NE5, where I was, was the next closest - close enough to have meals at the top of the cliff and stroll to the edge by moonlight - inspiring! NE4 is one of the 5-tent sights and is a good distance from the other sights. This would be a great place for a good sized group that didn't want a lot of interaction with others. The NE1 and SE2 sights are a long way from a good cliff-top perch.

Saturday morning I climbed to the top of the mountain to the north of my camp and worked my way to an airy rock with a good view of Emory Peak & Toll Mountain. I called home with my cell phone but got the answering machine. I said I'd call back later but couldn't get a connection from up in the mountains the rest of the trip.

That day I walked around the south rim. I sat in the sun a long time at the far southwest point and tried to follow the Dodson trail below. I decided to stop by one of the toilets on my walk, but after I saw it I decided it would be more sanitary to dig a hole. It was a big plastic composting thing high enough to expose your head & shoulders above the wall when seated. The bolts holding the seat on were rusted away and the thing was exceedingly foul smelling.

I planned on hiking to the top of Emory Peak but when I got to Boot Spring I decided I'd rather get back to sitting on top of the rim and looking off, so I headed back that way. The rocky top of Emory Peak is awesome but I've been there several times. This was the second time I've backpacked in the Chisos in January and both times it was mostly sunny, highs around 60, lows around freezing, and windy.

Sunday morning I took my time leaving the rim. I'd been looking across Juniper Canyon at the top of the Lost Mine Trail and decided I should hike that before leaving. I got back to the car around noon and speed-hiked up the Lost Mine Trail to check it out. I was surprised at how cool it is at the top with the bare rocks and view.

Anyway, I was glad I did the 8 hour drive and got a bunch of time on the southeast rim before they close it off next month and leave it for the falcons.