the 2nd weekend of May, my climbing buddy and I went to climb a peak that has been calling our name for quite a while. for those that have been camping in the Basin in Big Bend, the mountain making the right frame of the window, Vernon Bailey Peak, was our goal. according to rough topographic guesses, it was going to be 4 miles one way, no problem on flat terrain. we left our site later than we wanted to at 7, we were trying to get out before 6 to avoid the may heat. we started down the window trail, leaving it where it meets up with the creek, about half a mile down. then we bushwacked to the small creek at the base of the peak, and started our way up the gulley. to avoid the thick underbrush in the creek, we followed the ridge to the right untill the brush cleared. we were hoping on 2 hours to gain the 1600+ ft to the North Rim's summit, but it ended up being 9:30 before we got there. not having any trails on this side of the basin, pathfinding isn't the easiest thing to do. we eventually got along the ridge heading toward Vernon Bailey. we were thinking another hour and a half, which turned out to be VERY wishful thinking. the terrain was much worse than the gulley, and, being behind a ridge, we had no way to scout before we were already up here. even the topo map flatened things out more than they really were. scaling the ridge right next to the cliff, we summited the ridge around 12:15. a small pile of rocks marked the summit, but there wasn't much sign of people being up there. we ate our pbj's, some candy for quick energy, and a power bar before heading back down. we scouted the south face of the peak for a way down, but the terrain was too steep. so back up to the top to go back from whence we came
we had brought 3 nalgenes a person, plus another half gallon bottle. on the way up, we both drank 2 nalgenes, and figured the rest would be sufficient for the faster trip back down. more wishful thinking. we were both down to half a nalgene by the time we recahed the summit of the gulley. it had taken nearly 2 hours to reach it, and it was in the mid 90's with no cloud cover. not a good situation at all
we had another 2-2.5 hours to go, so we only drank enough water to keep our mouths wet every 15 minutes or so, while stopping in the shade so as to not overexert ourselves. by the time we made it back to camp, it was 4:30, we had run out of water for at least 30 minutes. so we drove to the hot springs to make dinner, and soak in the hot springs, but a enormous storm halted that plan.
the climb was well worth the drive, but you have to be very careful in Big Bend, no matter how well prepared you think you are. the rangers said at the rate of our drinking the water, the heat, and the elevation, we would have had roughly 15 more minutes to walk before we couldn't walk any further. me and my friend have been climbing for 10 years or so, and we still weren't smart enough. just be careful people
BUT, we did see 2 mountain lions heading home from the hot springs, that alone made the trip worth it
here are some of the pictures
www.beckerphoto.net/galleries/Big_Bend_May