Big Bend National Park, Texas - Part 1 of 2
This was it, our first national park, and it was a big one. Big Bend national park was put into the Sat Nav and a 3 hour drive lay ahead of us. A quick drive down the road compared to the day before. The sun was shining, the van was recharged, drained and filled and we were on our way south from Fort Stockton. We weren't too sure what to expect, and myself less so, but boy were we in for an amazing experience!
Day 1 - Fort Stockton, Terlingua Ghost Town, Big Bend Nat'l Park
Dropping off of the I10, we headed south down toward the town of Alpine. The long roads through the plains continuing far beyond the horizon, ranch gates every few miles showed evidence of some human presence. Though very little was apparent from the road. The desert plains of the Chihuahuan Desert gave way to foothills that gained greater and greater height as we ventured further and further south. Following a brief, but not unproblematic fuel stop in Alpine where I couldn't quite work out a petrol pump for some reason, we set off up into the higher terrain toward the last stop before we entered the national park - Terlingua ghost town.
The hills gave way to mountains and ever more dramatic landscapes until decending down a mountain highway into the town of Study Butte. A right at the junction and we were heading up to Terlingua. An old Abandoned mining town, Terlingua is now very much a tourist destination and doesn't exactly give the vibe of a ghost town if I'm being honest. There's a lot going on for what it claims to be. Nevertheless, we were welcomed by a guy playing guitar and singing country tunes on a bench under the covered walkway which added some sense of authenticity as we browsed the community store and the surrounds. Here we saw our first Roadrunner who seemed very un-phased by our presence. So much so that we were able to get close enough to get a decent photo or two.
Leaving Terlingua, and the word "wow" continually leaving our lips, we made the final leg into the national park. A quick Payment at the entry office at Maverick Junction and we were in. Immediately I was blown away by the sheer scale of the place... it was another hour/42 miles to drive to the campsite on the other end of the park! Thats 40 miles of literally nothing but desert plains. No houses, no power lines, no real road signs except the minimalist park signs and roadside reflectors. The isolation and the vistas of the surrounding mountains now homing into view were frankly breathaking. Everytime we thought it couldn't get any better, then we'd crest another hill or small mountain pass and be smacked round the face by yet more stunning views than before.
Stopping now and then to view the roadside "exhibits" and the odd overlook, we made it to Rio Grande Village Campground. As the name suggests, this is right on the Rio Grande and the border with Mexico can be seen a short walk from the site. After getting set up, we took the nature trail out from the campsite, through some floating wetland platforms and up a small rise from where we could watch the sunset. The guidebooks all said this was a great place to watch the sunset and boy they were not wrong at all. We watched the sun go down over the Rio Grande and Mexico, the Chisos mountains on the horizon. Funny to think these mountains were so far away, yet within the same park.
After returning to the van to cook dinner, we went outside to view the stars. This is when Ellen suggested we head back onto the nature trail to see them properly away from the lights in the campsite. Nervous at first given a risk of rattlesnakes, coyotes and bears, I eventually agreed. This was a great idea after all as we first went as far as the jetties and then decided to just go the whole hog, back up the rise and the stars were frankly amazing. There are few places on earth quite like it and I'm glad we did it, especially with a new moon when there is no light but the stars. Though it was far from the last amazing night sky we saw here, it was probably the most memorable, what a way to see in the new year. Although we didn't last until midnight and only had a single glass of fizz before wishing we'd never bought american fizz and binning the rest!
Day 2 - Boquillas Canyon Trail and Hot Springs Trail
The next day we drained and filled the van and had a quick stop at the store for a few bits. Then headed out toward Boquillas canyon Trailhead for our first Proper Hike. The idea was to take each day in an area of the park, so we were at Rio Grande for the one night and we would spend today around that area before heading over to the Cottonwood Campground for the remaining three nights. Boquillas Canyon is close to the only border crossing with Mexico in the park and is named for the small mexican village found across the Rio Grande. We didn't go to Mexico personally, as it could have been a bit difficult not being a national of either country, but it is doable.
After breakfast at the trailhead, we then spent the morning walking through Boquillas Canyon along the northern bank of the river. After returning to the van the next stop was the Hot Springs Trail. We chose these as they were shorter walks to break us into it a bit, especially as I personally am a bit out of practice. However, just getting to the trailhead was interesting at this next trail. The roads tend to say if they need a high clearance or 4x4 vehicle, this said neither. However, we soon found ourselves trying to drive down a wobbly, rocky track in a van, following a giant motorhome only to find that we had to stop halfway along at the "RV" car park as we couldnt go any further down to the actual trailhead.
We made lunch to go and saw that it wasn't far to the trailhead by foot but would likely need to go on another trail to get there that wasn't really marked. It looked like people had done this before as there was a track leading away from the RV car park and in the right direction. We went with it, and headed into the desert fully kitted out with plenty of water and some swim gear for the hot springs...
Turns out this was actually a cattle track and headed out toward a dried up creek and we'd brought everything but the map. Great start. Thankfully I had Tom Tom with offline maps on my phone (there's no signal in the majority of the park) which had enough definition of creeks and rivers for us to work out where to go. Needless to say we did find the trailhead without too much problem, but there was a brief moment where we realised we had just wandered into a desert without any map or real direction like idiots.
Hot springs trail was a nice, interesting hike but very hot and dry. The hot springs themselves were very crowded and basically just a ruin of a building over a hot spring on the banks of the Rio Grande. We didn't go in, but ate our lunch before heading on for the rest of the trail and then retraced our steps along the dubious off-piste route we had taken to get there.
Back at the van, air con on full blast, we then set off back down the dodgy track and got back onto the main road through the park. A brief stop at Panther Junction visitor centre and we then continued the hour drive west to the other end of the park and Cottonwood Campground where we would be staying for the next 3 nights. This was a much smaller and quieter campsite. We set up and were greeted by a small pack of Javelinas (look like pigs, but not related to pigs) who would wander through the campsite periodically. Dinner was made and we decided to try to get up early to go up the mountains to the Chisos Basin before the crowds got there. We had tried to get a campsite up there but (thankfully it turns out) were unsuccessful due to popularity.
Well... that was the plan... and then I went and got food poisoning. We don't know how, or what it was, maybe too much fat in the ground beef over here, maybe a mistaken lick of the finger whilst cooking when meat wasn't quite cooked, we can't be sure. But being that badly ill until early hours was not fun at all. That's all I'll say on the matter... but it did mean we had to change our days around and stay in the cottonwood area the following day. But that turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it let us continue to build up to the harder hikes around the Chisos Basin.
Still... More great stars that night! 😅
