toejam

I just did my fourth trip around the Rancherias Loop. It was different than the previous trips because I was not the only one out there this time. I brought a couple of guys with me and I saw the trail through their eyes, which was a different view.

On my previous trips I was escaping the holiday madness and stress. I started the hike almost running and never felt my feet until the last long climb to the saddle between Acebuches and Panther Canyons. Then I had lots of time to lounge around the springs at the adobe houses and sip tequila.

On this trip we parked at the west trailhead and hiked down the road to the east trailhead, taking in Closed Canyon on the way. It was about an hour before we got to the trailhead and actually started the hike. We stopped for lunch as we neared the foot of the mountains and one of the fellas was starting to show some wear. As we climbed out of the creek bed and through the rock fence to cross over to Acebuches Canyon, this guy was gassed. I had not noticed how much climbing we had done, since I’m always jazzed about starting the hike. But through the eyes of my friends I saw that we had gained quite a bit of elevation since leaving the car.

Once in the canyon, my other friend started to wear out. Hiking in the sand on the creek bed was getting to him. I didn’t expect this since he does a lot of hiking in Big Bend and is a tough old codger. We hiked slowly and took a lot of breaks, and with much resolve and ibuprofen, we made it to the top of the saddle and dropped into Panther Canyon as the sun dropped below the mountains.

There was a couple setting up a tent near the springs and I said hi as I scouted for a camping spot. They had missed the jeep road to Rancherias Springs and had followed the road up the north fork of Rancherias Creek, past the new Rancherias camp site towards Oso Peak. So not finding Rancherias Springs, they had returned to Panther Canyon. Part of their problem was that they were off the trail map almost as soon as they took the wrong turn, so they went quite a way before figuring out they were off the trail.

Another couple showed up from the south, saying they had started from the east trailhead around 1:00 p.m. My friends were amazed, but I pointed out that we were at that trailhead about 11:00 and they arrived almost an hour after us, so not a big deal for 6 miles. My tired friends were ready to crash on the floor of the adobe houses, but I was afraid of getting a citation in the mail, so we set up camp in a legal spot.

The next day I tried to keep the pace easy and we took a lot of breaks, enjoying the more open desert views. The intersection where the jeep road goes north seemed obvious enough, although at least 2 parties had gone north and missed Rancherias Springs. We set up a couple of cairns where the trail crossed the creek bed, just to make it a little more obvious. One of my friends had a pronounced limp, but we made it to the springs around 3:00 p.m. We went a way down stream and set up on a flat spot near where the water flowed pretty well. The burros had been all the way down there, leaving manure all over and mucking up the water. This problem appears to be getting worse every year. My friend with the limp enjoyed sprawling on a rock watching the cottonwood leaves dance for a long time.

I ran into a party of about a half dozen while scouting a short cut to the trail from our camp. They had climbed up from the west trailhead and looked pretty beat. I’ve never seen another soul on this loop before and always hiked it the same time of year. I guess the word is getting out. The good part is the trail was much easier to follow this time.

We limped out without incident the next day and got to the car around 3:00. My limping friend had never been to Big Bend before and was as impressed by the area as I’d hoped he’d be. The other guy has spent lots of time in the national park and was happy to be introduced to the state park. He said his next trip will be driving around the old roads in his truck. The solitude and history of the Rancherias Loop are what I’ve loved about this hike. It doesn’t have the extremes in elevation of the Chisos, Guadalupes or Rockies where I’ve often hiked, and the mileage is easy enough, but for those who don’t have a runner’s legs it’s a pretty tough hike. I thought these guys could do it easily, and I’m glad a couple of other guys I invited couldn’t make it.