It was 44F when I woke up this morning in Marathon. At 6:10am I left town to start my drive to Big Bend, driving purposely slower than the 55mph speed limit so that I could catch the sunrise over the mountains. The northern park entrance is 69 miles south of Marathon.
An hour later and still away from the entrance, the sun still hadn’t risen. It didn’t peak over the eastern peaks until 7:30am as I got on the Dagger Flats trail, where a panicked coyote ran ahead of me down the dirt trail. His gait reminded me of Sammy’s gait.
Then I realized that part of the problem was the smoky haze from the grassfires in Snyder/Odessa/Midland. When the sun poked over the horizon I was greeted with an ugly sunrise of reddish brown haze that lingered in the vallies. There was nothing glamorous about the sunrise and I almost regretted coming to Big Bend. I could smell the grass in the haze.
I made it to the Central Visitor’s center at 9:45am. I bought a patch and a map of the Chisos mountain trails and was convinced that I should hike the Lost Mine Trail first as a warm-up to the elevation and hiking again. It’s listed as one of the more popular hikes in the park.
Popular was right, as the 16-car parking lot was nearly full when I arrived, and I still had to get my backpack packed and my pants put on (I was still in shorts). Several couples had already gotten to the trail head after me but had already started the hike. I’m always afraid I’ll forgot something and today it was the trail map. I started my ascent up the 2.4-mile trail at 10:20 and made it to the top in just under an hour.
I met up with a young German couple sunning near the top. They were from Berlin, which of course got me talking abut my days in Berlin and running the Berlin
Marathon in 1994. Running under the Bradenburger Gate was heart-warming for me and something I’ll never forget, being a child of the Cold War.
A school group was leaving as I arrived at the summit of Lost Mine Trail with a view of the East Rim. I was alone for a few minutes until a father-son duo, Derrill and Joshua, followed from behind. Joshua stayed to himself near the overlook but Derrill, the father, made himself comfortable right next to me. He was another talker. He’s retired, originally from TX but now living in South Carolina. His son still lives in Kerrville. Both are avid hikers/runners. Joshua is no 27 but when he was younger he’d come to Big Bend and race his dad up summits.
”Big Bend is my favorite national park because it’s so remote” said Joshua. Remote? There were more people on this trail than I’ve seen in quite a while. Yet Joshua rattled off trails he’s been on over the years that I haven’t seen in hiking guides.
Derrill is now 63 but he has a slender body of a 43-year-old. He runs or walks every day and lifts weights three times a week. “Sometimes I spend all day at the gym” he confessed, something I know I’ll never do. I’d rather get my exercise outside.
I ended up talking with the two men longer than it took for me to hike up the summit. We left as a trio at 12:37 but Joshua’s back was hurting so Derrill stayed with him while I went on.
The brown haze had cleared up enough to see the valley below, the distant Chihuahua desert of Mexico.
There were still nine cars in the parking lot when I got back at 1:30pm. I drove to the next trailhead, the Window Trail near the Chisos Lodge and campground, parked at the overlook and snacked on cookies and worked on my photos before doing my second hike.
I began the second hike down to the Window Trail, a scenic 4.4 mile down along a wash with an overlook of the Basin. Cottowoods and maples lined this trail, along with yucca and prickly pear cacti. The brochure said this was a photographer’s delight. I felt good and ready for another moderate trail.
I soon met another young couple, Sara and Brent from Austin who are here for ten days to backpack the hinterland. They had arrived today and like me were warming up. We chatted together until the trail split; I went down the scenic Window Trail while they hiked up the Oak Springs Trail. I caught up to them an hour later as they were coming back from the Oak Springs Trail. They didn’t hike all the way down, but after a short decision I opted to go down to at least the lower level to see the Window from the front valley view. It was spectacular. I finally convinced myself to turn around at :4:45 because it was mostly uphill going back and I wanted to make sure I was back before the big animals were out hunting. The sun sets early in the mountains.
I got back to the van at 5:40, picked a camp site, then went up toward the camp store to watch the sun set over the Window View Trail, a short, paved loop and a popular sunset overlook. I met another couple, one I originally met on the Lost Mine Trail, and chatted with the wife on a bench overlooking the sunset. The wind had kicked in again and brought in a slight chill over my still worked-up body from the two hikes. She was keeping her head inside her hood and shivered with me. The husband was out taking photographs. They drove to Big Bend from their home in Iowa and are staying in the lodge. She was a lovely woman to talk to.
They are heading back to Iowa tomorrow via San Antonio, but we all agreed that this winter has been an especially long and cold winter in the Midwest and it doesn’t look like its going to warm up any time soon.
They left for the camp store, I left to eat at the lodge, a pleasant meal of chicken tacos and a beer ($15.00). It was dark by the time I got to the camp space and already down to 40F. I felt tired but I have two more days of hiking. I got in a tad over nine miles today. Tomorrow it will be 13-14 miles. My legs felt today's work-out as I got ready for the night. I bundled up in my down feather comforter and slept splendidly until 4am when my bladder got me awake. It was just above freezing...
An hour later and still away from the entrance, the sun still hadn’t risen. It didn’t peak over the eastern peaks until 7:30am as I got on the Dagger Flats trail, where a panicked coyote ran ahead of me down the dirt trail. His gait reminded me of Sammy’s gait.
Then I realized that part of the problem was the smoky haze from the grassfires in Snyder/Odessa/Midland. When the sun poked over the horizon I was greeted with an ugly sunrise of reddish brown haze that lingered in the vallies. There was nothing glamorous about the sunrise and I almost regretted coming to Big Bend. I could smell the grass in the haze.
I made it to the Central Visitor’s center at 9:45am. I bought a patch and a map of the Chisos mountain trails and was convinced that I should hike the Lost Mine Trail first as a warm-up to the elevation and hiking again. It’s listed as one of the more popular hikes in the park.
Popular was right, as the 16-car parking lot was nearly full when I arrived, and I still had to get my backpack packed and my pants put on (I was still in shorts). Several couples had already gotten to the trail head after me but had already started the hike. I’m always afraid I’ll forgot something and today it was the trail map. I started my ascent up the 2.4-mile trail at 10:20 and made it to the top in just under an hour.
I met up with a young German couple sunning near the top. They were from Berlin, which of course got me talking abut my days in Berlin and running the Berlin
Marathon in 1994. Running under the Bradenburger Gate was heart-warming for me and something I’ll never forget, being a child of the Cold War.
A school group was leaving as I arrived at the summit of Lost Mine Trail with a view of the East Rim. I was alone for a few minutes until a father-son duo, Derrill and Joshua, followed from behind. Joshua stayed to himself near the overlook but Derrill, the father, made himself comfortable right next to me. He was another talker. He’s retired, originally from TX but now living in South Carolina. His son still lives in Kerrville. Both are avid hikers/runners. Joshua is no 27 but when he was younger he’d come to Big Bend and race his dad up summits.
”Big Bend is my favorite national park because it’s so remote” said Joshua. Remote? There were more people on this trail than I’ve seen in quite a while. Yet Joshua rattled off trails he’s been on over the years that I haven’t seen in hiking guides.
Derrill is now 63 but he has a slender body of a 43-year-old. He runs or walks every day and lifts weights three times a week. “Sometimes I spend all day at the gym” he confessed, something I know I’ll never do. I’d rather get my exercise outside.
I ended up talking with the two men longer than it took for me to hike up the summit. We left as a trio at 12:37 but Joshua’s back was hurting so Derrill stayed with him while I went on.
The brown haze had cleared up enough to see the valley below, the distant Chihuahua desert of Mexico.
There were still nine cars in the parking lot when I got back at 1:30pm. I drove to the next trailhead, the Window Trail near the Chisos Lodge and campground, parked at the overlook and snacked on cookies and worked on my photos before doing my second hike.
I began the second hike down to the Window Trail, a scenic 4.4 mile down along a wash with an overlook of the Basin. Cottowoods and maples lined this trail, along with yucca and prickly pear cacti. The brochure said this was a photographer’s delight. I felt good and ready for another moderate trail.
I soon met another young couple, Sara and Brent from Austin who are here for ten days to backpack the hinterland. They had arrived today and like me were warming up. We chatted together until the trail split; I went down the scenic Window Trail while they hiked up the Oak Springs Trail. I caught up to them an hour later as they were coming back from the Oak Springs Trail. They didn’t hike all the way down, but after a short decision I opted to go down to at least the lower level to see the Window from the front valley view. It was spectacular. I finally convinced myself to turn around at :4:45 because it was mostly uphill going back and I wanted to make sure I was back before the big animals were out hunting. The sun sets early in the mountains.
I got back to the van at 5:40, picked a camp site, then went up toward the camp store to watch the sun set over the Window View Trail, a short, paved loop and a popular sunset overlook. I met another couple, one I originally met on the Lost Mine Trail, and chatted with the wife on a bench overlooking the sunset. The wind had kicked in again and brought in a slight chill over my still worked-up body from the two hikes. She was keeping her head inside her hood and shivered with me. The husband was out taking photographs. They drove to Big Bend from their home in Iowa and are staying in the lodge. She was a lovely woman to talk to.
They are heading back to Iowa tomorrow via San Antonio, but we all agreed that this winter has been an especially long and cold winter in the Midwest and it doesn’t look like its going to warm up any time soon.
They left for the camp store, I left to eat at the lodge, a pleasant meal of chicken tacos and a beer ($15.00). It was dark by the time I got to the camp space and already down to 40F. I felt tired but I have two more days of hiking. I got in a tad over nine miles today. Tomorrow it will be 13-14 miles. My legs felt today's work-out as I got ready for the night. I bundled up in my down feather comforter and slept splendidly until 4am when my bladder got me awake. It was just above freezing...
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