[at-l] Big Bend hiking

[psjones at fastmail.fm (Philip Jones)]

Hummingbird,

 

When I was there five years ago, we stuck to paved roads and some of the
smoother unpaved ones, so we didn't see the more remote parts.  I'd love to
go back to hike some of the longer trails.  The Chisos Basin /is/ really
cool, though, and one of the best settings for a national park campground
I've ever seen.  From the basin you can get to Emory Peak, which I think is
the highest in the park.  There are great views of the desert and you can
see a long way into Mexico.  The "short" route to the Emory Peak trail is
very steep, but may be quicker overall, and is a lot more interesting than
the other, longer route.  Heading in this direction, you'll eventually get
to the South Rim, which is where the mountains end and the desert sprawls
out below.  It would be a pretty long day hike to get there and back,
though.  Be sure to reserve a campsite if you decide to camp; it's required.
There are one or two privies on the South Rim but no water, as I recall.  If
you do decide to backpack, the South Rim area is definitely the place to go.
Keep in mind that the Chisos area is the most accessible and coolest
(temperature) place in the park, so it may be crowded (relatively speaking).

 

We went to Boquillas, which was neat for me because I'd never been to Mexico
before.  People will offer you a ride into town in a pickup, but it's only a
10-15 minute walk.  There are a few places to eat.  The one we went to was
run by an American expatriate and her Mexican husband.  You eat on their
porch, so it's very casual.  The food was good.  However, the crossing into
Boquillas is unofficial and I'm not sure if you can still use it post 9/11.

 

Elsewhere in the park...  There are several other short day hikes that you
can do in the Chisos Basin.  They all start from the campground area.  The
Boquillas Canyon trail is very short but worth it.  Watch out for the grass
on the banks.  It looks like solid ground but isn't, as I found out the hard
way.  Luckily I didn't seem to suffer any ill effects from my dip in the Rio
Grande.  I second what Paul said about Santa Elena Canyon.  We spent a night
at Castolon nearby and didn't like it that much.  The Chisos Basin and the
Rio Grande Village campground are nicer places to camp, in my opinion.
Route 170 heading west from Terlingua is very scenic and there are some
state parks along the way.  In the north end of the park, we spent a hour or
so hiking around the Grapevine Hills.  There's a trail that leads to an
overlook.  My last suggestion is to try the K-Bar campsite south of Panther
Junction.  It's at the end of a good gravel road.  There's nothing to see or
do, which is kind of the point.  You're just in the middle of the flats
surrounded by stillness.  Have a great time!  It's not hard to do.

 

Phil

 

P.S. Get the Falcon Guide.  It will talk about all this and more.