Alright, so this will be my first trip report here at ExPo. I recently found the site a few months back and got some good feedback from the central texas folks about planning my trip to big bend.
Photos from the trip can be seen here
This was going to be the first 'off-road' trip and I was very excited and worked hard to perpare. Our vehicle of choice was a 2008 Subaru outback 2.5XT. No real modifications to the vehical, only HID lights were installed, low profile tires were swapped for 16inch Yokohama Geolander AT-S, and a rear hitch with shackle were added. We planned to be spending 3 nights in Big Bend National Park and one night in Alpine Texas before heading back to Austin. We planned to be sleeping in the car and tried to keep our camping kit as simple as possible.
We left Austin at approx 10am and heading west along 290 to I-10. The drive was fairly uneventful (as we had traveled most of it before). We arrived at the Persimmion Gap entrence just after dark and continued to make our way down to the Rio Grande River Campground where we had reservations for the night. The drive through the park was on paved roads and equally uneventful. The only suprise of the night was spotting a coyote as soon as we pulled into the capground. We went ahead and pulled the gear from our subaru and got the beds setup and got some sleep. We had alot of fun driving for the next day.
The next day Sleeping Beauty (Gaby) and Major (the pup) are seen as we started to break camp.
We then made for Boquillas Canyon just east of the campground to get our first view of the river
Some of the Trinkets from the Boquillas Villagers:
The Subaru at the overlook
The Town of Boquillas and the villagers who cross to sell stuff
Here is the actual canyon which is known for its huge sand 'dune' from sand blowing up against the wall on the American side
Us at the canyon
Shortly after taking this photo we quickly headed back to the car. Due to rules in the National Park we were not allowed to take the Dog on the hike with us. The weather was cool and our dog is very well behaved so we had no reservations with keeping him in the car. However, as we headed away from the car we noticed 3 mexican's with horses directly overlooking the parking lot. We suspected they were keeping an eye on their wares that were being sold but I was also very suspecious of their vantage point over the parking lot. I wanted to just let it go and enjoy the canyon but I kept having a nagging feeling that one of them could get into my car and/or get to my dog before I could do anything about it. Given all of our concerns we turned around after this to get back to the car and make sure everything was in order and get on our way. The car and pup were fine and this turned out to be the only time we felt uncomfortable on the trip.
We then hit the road again and headed back up into the park passing by the overlook into the valley
We made a quick stop at the dugout wells which were a natural gravel area where springs came from the rocks. Early settlers in the park dug wells to help increase the water volume and eventually built a windmill at the area to pump water.
We then headed to Glen Springs road for the start of our [first :smiley_drive:] off road driving adventure. Our plan was to take Glen Springs Road to our back country campsite for the night at Talley1. Just before hitting the trail I dropped the pressure from ~ 38psi for the highway to ~ 26-28 for the trail.
Here we are at the entrance to the trail
A view of the basin in the sidemirror
Approaching Glen Springs:
The Subaru near Glen Springs
We Passed by Marsical Mine which we will stop by in more detail the following day. This was actually the last point that we saw vehicles on the river road for the rest of the day. This was approx 5pm.
The Subaru at the Mines:
We then hopped into the car to take the rest of the way down to Talley 1 campground.
Thus far the road on Glen Springs and River Road had been fairly easy. We encountered fairly easily navigatable roads with some tricky parts at washouts but overall fairly easy. We had no clearence issues and only a few scraped on the hitch.
Our camp was right next to the road but very much in the middle of nowhere. We did not come across any trucks passing by the entire rest of the day until the following morning when we headed back to the mines. We unpacked, setup camp and had a nice dinner of Chili and sat back to watch the sunset.
Unpacking the gear and getting the bed ready as sunset comes
After the sun went down it started to cool off so we made for bed. The moon outside was quite bright and initally made getting to sleep rather tough. About 4am I was awoken by a pack of coyoties howeling and running around what seemed to be no more then a few hundered yards from the car. I took a long look around but couldn't see anything. By now the moon had disappeared and it was quite dark. I spent the next 10 minutes or so watching the endless starts in the sky.
After taking a look around the entire sky before heading back to sleep I noticed a bright single point of light coming over the edge of the mounitans in the backgound. I was suprised to see such a light and it looked to be slowly coming over the crest of the ridge. I immediatly suspected that someone with a headlight might be coming our way. I watched a little longer as the light seemed to rock back and forth as if someone was walking. I woke Gaby up and told her someone might be heading this way. I also woke the dog who was looking around as I fumbled for my knife which would be our only protection if this was some type of melicious person.
Gaby, whow as still groggy from just being woke up looked out the rear tinted windows in the car and agreeded that the light had not been there in the evening. As I grew more concerned she said that she didn't think the light was moving. I told her that was absurd as I could CLEARLY see it moving when I looked out the window.
I was quite spooked and confused at this time and grabbed my phone. As expected I had no signal but I was pulling up my star map because I had a hunch. Sure enough it told me Venus was rising just over the hill and was acually the cause of my anxiety! :Wow1: Once I looked at the light using the cars pillar as a fixed point it no longer moved!! Wow...I let out a big sigh and then laughed at myself. Here I was getting so worried I tried to think a planet was out to get me. I managed to sleep wonderfully for the rest of the night!
Next I will continue with the remaining days
Photos from the trip can be seen here
This was going to be the first 'off-road' trip and I was very excited and worked hard to perpare. Our vehicle of choice was a 2008 Subaru outback 2.5XT. No real modifications to the vehical, only HID lights were installed, low profile tires were swapped for 16inch Yokohama Geolander AT-S, and a rear hitch with shackle were added. We planned to be spending 3 nights in Big Bend National Park and one night in Alpine Texas before heading back to Austin. We planned to be sleeping in the car and tried to keep our camping kit as simple as possible.
We left Austin at approx 10am and heading west along 290 to I-10. The drive was fairly uneventful (as we had traveled most of it before). We arrived at the Persimmion Gap entrence just after dark and continued to make our way down to the Rio Grande River Campground where we had reservations for the night. The drive through the park was on paved roads and equally uneventful. The only suprise of the night was spotting a coyote as soon as we pulled into the capground. We went ahead and pulled the gear from our subaru and got the beds setup and got some sleep. We had alot of fun driving for the next day.
The next day Sleeping Beauty (Gaby) and Major (the pup) are seen as we started to break camp.
We then made for Boquillas Canyon just east of the campground to get our first view of the river
Some of the Trinkets from the Boquillas Villagers:
The Subaru at the overlook
The Town of Boquillas and the villagers who cross to sell stuff
Here is the actual canyon which is known for its huge sand 'dune' from sand blowing up against the wall on the American side
Us at the canyon
Shortly after taking this photo we quickly headed back to the car. Due to rules in the National Park we were not allowed to take the Dog on the hike with us. The weather was cool and our dog is very well behaved so we had no reservations with keeping him in the car. However, as we headed away from the car we noticed 3 mexican's with horses directly overlooking the parking lot. We suspected they were keeping an eye on their wares that were being sold but I was also very suspecious of their vantage point over the parking lot. I wanted to just let it go and enjoy the canyon but I kept having a nagging feeling that one of them could get into my car and/or get to my dog before I could do anything about it. Given all of our concerns we turned around after this to get back to the car and make sure everything was in order and get on our way. The car and pup were fine and this turned out to be the only time we felt uncomfortable on the trip.
We then hit the road again and headed back up into the park passing by the overlook into the valley
We made a quick stop at the dugout wells which were a natural gravel area where springs came from the rocks. Early settlers in the park dug wells to help increase the water volume and eventually built a windmill at the area to pump water.
We then headed to Glen Springs road for the start of our [first :smiley_drive:] off road driving adventure. Our plan was to take Glen Springs Road to our back country campsite for the night at Talley1. Just before hitting the trail I dropped the pressure from ~ 38psi for the highway to ~ 26-28 for the trail.
Here we are at the entrance to the trail
A view of the basin in the sidemirror
Approaching Glen Springs:
The Subaru near Glen Springs
We Passed by Marsical Mine which we will stop by in more detail the following day. This was actually the last point that we saw vehicles on the river road for the rest of the day. This was approx 5pm.
The Subaru at the Mines:
We then hopped into the car to take the rest of the way down to Talley 1 campground.
Thus far the road on Glen Springs and River Road had been fairly easy. We encountered fairly easily navigatable roads with some tricky parts at washouts but overall fairly easy. We had no clearence issues and only a few scraped on the hitch.
Our camp was right next to the road but very much in the middle of nowhere. We did not come across any trucks passing by the entire rest of the day until the following morning when we headed back to the mines. We unpacked, setup camp and had a nice dinner of Chili and sat back to watch the sunset.
Unpacking the gear and getting the bed ready as sunset comes
After the sun went down it started to cool off so we made for bed. The moon outside was quite bright and initally made getting to sleep rather tough. About 4am I was awoken by a pack of coyoties howeling and running around what seemed to be no more then a few hundered yards from the car. I took a long look around but couldn't see anything. By now the moon had disappeared and it was quite dark. I spent the next 10 minutes or so watching the endless starts in the sky.
After taking a look around the entire sky before heading back to sleep I noticed a bright single point of light coming over the edge of the mounitans in the backgound. I was suprised to see such a light and it looked to be slowly coming over the crest of the ridge. I immediatly suspected that someone with a headlight might be coming our way. I watched a little longer as the light seemed to rock back and forth as if someone was walking. I woke Gaby up and told her someone might be heading this way. I also woke the dog who was looking around as I fumbled for my knife which would be our only protection if this was some type of melicious person.
Gaby, whow as still groggy from just being woke up looked out the rear tinted windows in the car and agreeded that the light had not been there in the evening. As I grew more concerned she said that she didn't think the light was moving. I told her that was absurd as I could CLEARLY see it moving when I looked out the window.
I was quite spooked and confused at this time and grabbed my phone. As expected I had no signal but I was pulling up my star map because I had a hunch. Sure enough it told me Venus was rising just over the hill and was acually the cause of my anxiety! :Wow1: Once I looked at the light using the cars pillar as a fixed point it no longer moved!! Wow...I let out a big sigh and then laughed at myself. Here I was getting so worried I tried to think a planet was out to get me. I managed to sleep wonderfully for the rest of the night!
Next I will continue with the remaining days
). After enjoying the smooth scenic drive up we made a quick stop in at the gas station in Panther Junction. The prices were quite high and the first time I felt like smacking myself for getting the turbo subaru (which needs 91). We headed out of the gas station with the sun setting racing to try to hit the road before it got too dark. No such luck...we turned off of the Dagger Flats road onto Old Ore Road just as the sun was setting. It looks like we were doing the next 10 miles in the dark on our way to the Telephone Canyon Campground.
