Beauty and Beast Bouncing Along In Big Bend

[WeeJeep2]

Mid-February and it was time for our annual trip to the Big Bend area. Our long time traveling friends decided to join us for a long weekend of back country camping in the National Park. We planned to hit some of the places we had seen on an earlier visit with them 25 years prior. On that trip we were base camped in the Chisos Basin and day tripping the dirt roads in a 1992 Montero. This time we were fully back country ready. The vehicles – Beauty – a 2015 Subaru Outback – bone stock with no off-road experience under its wheels, radio call sign Thunderbird One.
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The Beast – our 2016 Ram CTD with FWC and towing an Adventure Trailer Horizon with the supplies and toys, radio call sign Thunderbird Two.
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We made our way out early in front of the Presidents Day Weekend crowd. The obligatory entry sign photos in 15 variations were taken. One will suffice for the trip report.
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On through the entry station to get our first views of the Chisos Mountains.
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We reached the visitor center and reserved 5 nights of back country sites comprising a loop around the park. It was very busy in the back country but the ranger worked with us to put together a good loop itinerary.
Our campsite for the first night was down by the river off of River Road on the East side of the park. Off we went and headed back north a bit first to check out the new fossil exhibit that opened just recently. It was very well done with some impressive specimens.
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We had lunch there and were off to find our campsite with some time to stop and sightsee. We stopped at Dug Out Wells historic site and took a short hike on the trail. Still relatively high in the park there were views to the south,
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And back to the north and the Chisos Mtns.
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We made it comfortably early into our campsite with a not so glamorous name of Gravel Pit 3. The ranger assured us we’d like it and it didn’t disappoint.
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We explored some on the mountain bikes after camp was set up and then it was off to climb the surrounding hills. We had good views down on camp, with the Mexican border being the river that divides the grey hills in the back ground from the green scrub in the foreground.
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With a zoom lens we could see the bridge back at the paved road,
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Some burros on the Mexican side of the river
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We took in the views as the sunset
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The lighting was great in the foreground
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And on the mountains off into Mexico.
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Back down for dinner and we called it a day. We did have neighbors in the other two campsites, but they are well spaced and not in view of each other. The next morning we were up with the sun and back up on the hills after breakfast as the sun filled the valley.
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Our favorite ridge was lit and the sun made the chilly morning in the 30’s feel a little warmer.
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Our campsite peaking around the edge of the ridge.
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Back at camp we had a curious roadrunner watch us load up from the safety of a bush. They are normally fairly shy and run away into the scrub.
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On the way out we caught a different view of the bridge with different lighting and stopped for a picture.
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We made our rendezvous with Thunderbird One at the visitor center before lunch and were off to start the adventure.
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We had lunch off the roadside on Dagger Flat road on the way to Old Ore Road. The sign pretty much sums up the requirements. We met them all and headed off.
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We took a quick breather along the road to stretch legs and admire the view.
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The road was fairly rough and the ranger said the Subaru might have some challenges. We were careful on the sections with small steps and used a spotter to confirm tire placement and ground clearance on the Subaru. We were carrying bridging ladders just in case but we never needed them.
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This section was a little intimidating with a large outcrop in the center.
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[WeeJeep2]

We opted for the left side and took the lead.
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The Subaru followed with no problems.
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We crossed a few more small obstacles on our way south.
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As usual they never look that intimidating in the photos.
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This one got the Subaru to lift a wheel while in a climb. It challenged its X-Drive system to deal with a lifted wheel and climb simultaneously. It would just stop and wouldn’t make forward progress. A more generous application of the right pedal, like all the way to the floor and it coaxed its way up and over in a controlled manner. It was a slightly different driving tactic than the Ram with manual transmission that also lifted a wheel but just crawled up and over in 4 low at an idle.
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We made our way into camp at Willow Tank in time for some exploring on foot and to have leisurely dinner of tacos. The OZ tent was deployed to break a chilly wind and we enjoyed sitting around the propane fire pit for a while, (no ash producing fires).
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The morning was clear and crisp, (more 30’s)
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The sun lit the mountains in the background well before it was shining on our camp.
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We had a breakfast of pancakes before packing up and hitting the road.
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On to the south we headed with stops for photos
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And to do some spotting on a few more challenging sections.
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We crossed Javelina Wash with a little climb coming up the far side.
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There were a few rougher sections in there.
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The next planned stop was Ernst Tenaja to do some hiking.
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We headed up into the canyon with multiple layers of rock cut by the wash, (geologists for scale)
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We made it to the far end of the canyon.
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It involved climbing up rocks,
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Sliding down rocks,
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And if you were not careful you ended up in a rock.
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The last view looking back out toward the trailhead.
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We continued south on Old Ore Rd. to the end and stopped at the last lookout to confirm everything was secure for a short stint on pavement.
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The same view without the truck in the way
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[WeeJeep2]

We went down to Rio Grande Village for lunch. There is a camp store with limited food and snacks and also gas and diesel if you need it. We went out to a picnic area at the far west end of the road. We enjoyed the views from the valley
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And found a shaded picnic table for our lunch stop.
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Back on the road again we headed up on the main road and took a left onto River Road. We made stops along the way to enjoy the views and stretch our legs. Our two vehicle convoy with a view to the Chiso’s Mtns. to the North.
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And one with just the truck.
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Our destination for the night was the Solis 1 campsite. It is on a side road that runs down to the river. We passed up the camp and continued down to the river to do some paddling. The trailer was unloaded and boats inflated for some exploration by water.
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Three of us paddled upstream toward Mariscal Canyon while the 4th stayed back to relax in the shade, (and take pictures)
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We made it back to the takeout as the sun was getting lower.
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All packed up we made the short run up to our campsite which was marked with the typical sign.
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Camp was set up. It was pretty spartan as they all are, with just a tent area marked by rocks and a bear box.
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We had a pretty spectacular sunset while we enjoyed our dinner.
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Up in the morning with a view of camp with the shadows going the other way.
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Continuing West we made our first stop at Mariscal Mine to explore.
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It is a mercury mine and processing facility dating back to the early 1900’s
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We climbed to the top of the hills to take in the views.
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Back to the bottom with a last look up toward the top.
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We found this old Ford that has seen better days.
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You know we took the photo so we’ll just go ahead and post it.
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Back to the vehicles to continue the journey
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We spent the rest of the day on River Road. The road crossed one muddy area.
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And a section of grass lands.
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This is rush hour on river road.
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More views along the road in a grassy section.
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And a section of shelf road by the river,
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A view to Mule Ears to the north
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[WeeJeep2]

Crossing a section of volcanic tuff
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Thunderbird 1 blazing trail out front
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Thunderbird 2 bringing up the rear
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We made it to the western end of the road and climbed up and out over the last little hill.
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Back on pavement we made a stop at the store and ranger station in Castalon before heading on to Santa Elena canyon to scout boat launching sites for the next day’s adventure. We continued on up Maverick road to our campsite at Terlingua Abajo, (take a picture of the sign so you can spell it).
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We were set up in a flat bowl with a view out to Santa Elena canyon in the back ground.
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There were 3 sites in the area that were spaced a little close for our taste, but we were the only ones there so it was fine. We were off to explore on foot and climbed the nearby hills to take in the last light of the day.
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And made it back to camp before sunset.
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We headed out in the morning to a cloudy start of the day. Thunderbird 1 making the climb out on a road we were advised was going to be challenging. Compared to others we had been on it wasn’t.
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We parked at the main access area and carried the boats and gear to the mouth of the canyon.
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Heading upstream. There is more current than is apparent from the photos.
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We continued our paddle upstream for 3 miles until we found a grassy sand bar to explore.
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It also made a good spot for lunch.
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A steady rain set in for our return paddle.
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We dropped two people at the put in to shuttle cars and two paddled the boats solo to the river access point another 1.5 miles downstream. No long carry of equipment required.
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[WeeJeep2]

The rain eased up as we headed north on the paved road, (Ross Maxwell). We stopped at Tuff Canyon for a quick look at the overlook,
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And also at the Sotol Vista Overlook for views back down towards the desert and road below.
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We made it to our campsite at Grapevine Hills 4.
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Being rather cold and wet we opted to set up the shower tent, fire up the water heater in FWC and take hot showers.
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The sun and clouds took turns coloring the landscape. Ultimately the clouds won out and we had a pretty strong thunderstorm with heavy rain and wind just as we finished our dinner in the dark. It kind of snuck up on us coming over the ridge in the dark. It was all over in a few hours and everything survived.
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The next morning we were back to clear and cool.
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The local birds were checking us out.
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Thunderbird 1 had to depart back towards Houston to go to work.
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The retired Thunderbird 2 occupants headed out to the West along the paved river road toward Presidio. We made a stop at the Teepee’s rest area for lunch.
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And enjoyed the views along the rest of the road headed west. We stopped in Presidio to fill the truck with fuel and the refrigerator with food at the local grocery store.
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From there we headed in to Big Bend Ranch State Park. We hadn’t made reservations but we were expecting it to be fairly empty. The first stop after the entry sign was the ranger station at Saucida.

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We booked our campsite for the first two nights down in Fresno Canyon and off we went.
Top of the canyon looking down in.

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A couple of shots working our way down canyon as the shadows got longer later in the day.

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Set up at Rincon 1, our site for the next two nights.

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This little critter got added to the collection of copilots at the ranger station

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The next day we rigged up the mtn bikes and headed south on the single track bike trail.

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After 3.5 miles we reached our destination which was cross country hike up a wash as a short cut into lower shut up canyon. We ditched the bikes and were off on foot.

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After a mile or so of cross country hiking we dropped into the canyon and hiked up.

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[WeeJeep2]

It started as a shallow slot canyon with some scrambling on the polished limestone.

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The cliffs to either side start towering above as we approached the tall perimeter of the Solitario. We spotted about 30 sheep up high traversing a cliff. Pretty impressive the way they work the cliff face.

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We made it up almost to the point where we had turned around going down canyon on a previous trip.
Trip report here, http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/167274-BBRSP-Texas-Feb-2014-Trip
As it was starting to get warm we turned around and traced our steps back to the bikes.

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More rocks to climb on and some interesting ones too.

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We discovered the bike back to camp was mostly uphill going up the wash, go figure. We were paralleling the outer walls of the Solitario, (collapsed volcanic crater). The canyon we had hiked was a major drainage for water that falls inside the crater. Unlike Crater Lake, this crater drains well so there is no lake here.

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At least the last run back into camp had a downhill section to it.

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Pam was happy resting back at camp and I took off on the bike down Fresno Canyon to the south to burn the last of the daylight. It was down the bike trail and main road to the Crawford/Smith ranch ruins.

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Then single track from there. I went a ways and left myself some buffer on sunset because the way back was all uphill.

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The next day we were up with the sun and ready to get going.

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This little guy was hanging around scouting for handouts. He came up empty.

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We headed down canyon some more. With some water running and warm temps the bluebonnets were out in places.

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The driving section of the canyon ends at the Crawford-Smith ranch which was abandoned in 1946. We poked around the ruins some.

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We had lunch and pointed the truck north back toward the ranger station.

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More views of rocks headed up canyon.

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[WeeJeep2]

At a gate at the crest of a hill the view of the ground in front of the truck was non-existent.

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The same view from the front camera displayed on the truck screen confirmed the road was still on the other side.

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We hit the top of the canyon and took a break to look around.

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There were plenty of cactus and wildflowers around, but not much else.

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We stopped back at the ranger station and picked up a site for our last night. Yedra 1 is on the way back out and not too far off the main road. There is a bike trail at the bottom I wanted to do so off we went.

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The site is out by itself in a saddle at the crest of a hill.

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We biked down, (operative word is down), from our site to the trail. The road down was loose rock and the trail wasn’t much better. After a few miles of this Pam had enough and we started the bike/hike back up to camp.

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We made it as the sun ducked behind our lookout hill at camp.
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Another nice clear sunrise over camp, and we were off on our way.

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We exited to the west, went through Marfa, and set it on cruise control for the long straight stretch up to Fort Davis.

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We secured a campsite in the Fort Davis State Park before lunch and set about exploring. Views to the north and the McDonald Observatory.

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Down into the valley with the campground below.

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And a close up of the Indian Lodge which has rooms available and a good restaurant which we took advantage of for dinner that night.

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They have a challenging (i.e. steep and rocky) mtn bike trail that runs up the ridge on the opposite side of the road from the camping area. The views were great from up top.

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View of the rocky trail. Only one flat tire on this section.

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Not that many trees around, so if you find two together why not run the trail between them.

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On the way out the next day we passed the Calvary at Fort Stockton, (with a well-placed telephone pole). The perils of taking photos at 80 mph.

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We stopped at the wagon wheel rest stop outside of Sonora for lunch

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And made it to Boerne in time for an evening hike with friends along Cibolo Creek.

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The last day of driving was I-10 through San Antonio to Houston. Nothing photo worthy there, but the wildflowers were starting to make the start of their Spring show.

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Bill and Pam

 

[krick3tt]

Many thanks for the trip.

 

[Ovrlnd Rd]

Great photos and nice tour. We're doing our second trip in Oct and plan on a week in BBNP. Stayed in the improved campgrounds last time (Cottonwood) but plan on all primitive sites this go around.

 

[Triplesnake]

Great photos!

 

[AggieOE]

Amazing pictures and thanks for the write up! I'm hoping to use y'alls trip as a guide whenever my wife and I go there.

 

[machine1]

I enjoyed your trip report! Very detailed and great photography.

After doing Old Ore back in December, I was wondering how a stock Subaru would do on that road. I was halfway hoping that you guys were going to take the Subaru through Black Gap.

 

[WeeJeep2]

I enjoyed your trip report! Very detailed and great photography.

After doing Old Ore back in December, I was wondering how a stock Subaru would do on that road. I was halfway hoping that you guys were going to take the Subaru through Black Gap.

Glad you liked it. We were advised by several folks in the parking lot at the visitor center that had just completed it and the ranger we got our permit from that Old Ore Rd. would be tough in the Subaru. If it was by itself it would have been more risky. We had enough gear to get it through about anything, including tire repair if needed. Black Gap was specifically not on the itinerary.

 

[WeeJeep2]

Amazing pictures and thanks for the write up! I'm hoping to use y'alls trip as a guide whenever my wife and I go there.

Thanks for the comments. Here's a google map view of the driving stuff across the national and state parks.
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Both couples had done the park before and we wanted to stay by the river more and do some paddling this trip and stay on stuff the Subaru could do. For a first time overview of the National park I'd recommend looking at this trip report I posted a few years back for an itinerary that would get you to the Hot Springs and up in the Chisos Mountains.
http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/69675-Big-Bend-Nov2011

 

[huachuca]

Great photos, we really enjoyed them. Any chance those sheep may have been Aoudad? My eyes are too poor to be relied upon but the coloration and horns looked a little different from bighorns. We encountered four or five when hiking Pine Canyon a few years back and the rangers got all fired up about exotics moving into the NP from BB Ranch when we reported it. Either way, kind of neat to run across something like that.