A day in the Life of "Big Bend"

As the morning light began to creep through the cliff crevasses surrounding Chisos Basin, we began a full day in Big Bend national park. Situated along the Rio Grande, the temperatures in Big Bend can leap well past 100° F, a fact which became instantly apparent as the sun finally cleared the enclosing stone fortress. We shed our warmer clothing, downed the rest of our morning stimulants (coffee, tea, and breakfast burritos) and made our plan for the day. At first we had to deal with some National Park issues. Since we had showed up so late the night before we hadn’t paid the park entrance fee or the camping fee, both of which we could take care of at the ranger station near the campsite. Have you ever seen someone that you were sure was a fake person, someone that seemed either too good to be true or too eccentric to be authentic? I have, twice. The first was a real estate agent in North Carolina, and the second was the ranger at Big Bend National park. His appearance from foot to neck was conventional, slightly stocky, perhaps a tattoo or two, nothing out of the ordinary. From the neck up was another story. His fading brown sunglass/ eyeglass hybrids sat atop a stout nose enclosed by sharp bleached blonde sideburns and a soul patch that would make even James Brown bow down. If his appearance wasn’t enough, just wait until your eyes wandered slightly south and came across his official gleaming nametag “Fozzy Trauster”. Fozzy was the real deal; he was everything you could hope to find in a National Park ranger, style, charisma and an extensive knowledge about the park. After we paid our park fees, we asked Fozzy if he had any recommendations for a not so long, not so short trail. “You should take the Lost Mine Trail; I have really been diggin’ it lately”. His suggestion turned out to be a great one. Within about 100 yards of the trailhead Alan spotted an adolescent black bear wandering down the trail right towards us, a great start to our first National Park visit.


Sign at the beginning of the trail



The landscape was really amazing, a harsh and dry climate, softened by thick shrubs and rows of cacti. Varieties of birds provided a sweet melody and stunning aerial entertainment as we switch-backed along rocky ridges. After a couple of hours the trail came to an end at a spacious rock outcrop. At the pinnacle of this trail was an enormous stone formation which we decided was an exact representation of a gorilla wearing a Native American headdress.





We feasted on PBJ & H’s (PB & J plus honey) and took in the incredible view which at this elevation stretched all the way to the Rio Grande, some 20 miles away.

After our morning hike, we hopped back in Valeria the Valkyrie, and drove towards the southern side of Big Bend along the coast of the Rio Grande. The temperature, as expected, climbed up to 107° as we approached the Mexican border. The infernal heat really made the idea of hanging around the river quite undesirable, but we stayed long enough to snap some photos and cross the Rio Grande at a shallow spot. Once we made it to Mexico we realized that it was in fact Cinco de Mayo, and what better way to celebrate a Mexican holiday then by crossing into the country itself.



The final stop along the Rio Grande was at an exceptional Canyon called Santa Elena Canyon. This gap in the immense cliffs along the Rio Grande flanked by a small trail provided the perfect refuge from the wicked sun.



We strolled serenely along the river enjoying the presence of stealth like swifts and pretentious pyrrhuloxias, eventually returning to our car and soon after the comforts of our campsite. As the sun fell beyond the outer cliffs, we prepared dinner, drank some Shiner beer and reflected on a great day. In our time in Big Bend we had seen some wild wildlife (including many varieties of birds, pronghorns, peccaries, deer, a bear and a skunk), soaked up some strong rays, and seen some new and spectacular sites.