Big Bend National Park

[TripLeader]

Part 10 [Big Bend Ranch State Park]
We headed into the park.

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We hiked down the Hoodoos trail. It was pretty short, but worthwhile.

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A dragonfly on the rocks.

 

[TripLeader]

Part 11 [Closed Canyon, BBRSP]
We moved to another close-by place in the state park: Closed Canyon. It's hard to turn down a hike through a slot canyon.
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Rock cairns by the entrance to the canyon.

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The trail eventually led to a drop-off. That was our turn around point.

 

[TripLeader]

Part 12 [Movie Stars]
We headed back towards the national park. We stopped along the way at this adobe structure. It was on the side of the road, right by the Rio Grande.

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A sign pointed out that several B movies had been filmed there, as well as some music videos.
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The river by the movie set.

 

[TripLeader]

More to come later...

 

[Ovrlnd Rd]

We were there in Oct '16 for 4 days. Loved it so much we're planning on a week this Oct. Didn't have the lay of the land so wound up in one of the regular camp sites. We'll be doing primitive sites next time.

 

[TripLeader]

We'll be doing primitive sites next time.

Good call.

 

[TripLeader]

Part 13 [Night Life]
We found this little guy one night on the entrance road into our campsite.

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There were some good, bright moons while we were there. The photo--not so good.

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One night we noticed some sort of a glow in the distance. We found out it was a forest fire on the Mexican side of the border.

 

[TripLeader]

Part 14 [Mariscal Canyon]
We got up early one morning. (Well, we got up early on several mornings.)

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Our destination was the area around Talley to hike the Mariscal Canyon Rim Trail.
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The view on the drive there.

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We set off from the trailhead.

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It was a pretty hot hike, with almost no shade.

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The rim is 1200 feet above the Rio Grande.

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We ate a snack on the rim.

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The Rio Grande and the green vegetation around it are contrasted by the surrounding desert.

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The hike back with the Chisos in the distance.

 

[TripLeader]

Part 15 [Driving Back from Talley]
The road to Talley from the highway is labeled for high-clearance vehicles on the Trails Illustrated map. We had aired the tires down on the way in on my F-150. It's a 2WD truck, so we there is always a concern about getting stuck, but we made it through without any real issue. I think my tires only spun out one time. Once our anxiety had passed about the possibility of having to turn around if we came to a sketchy spot, it was a nice drive.

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Airing the tires back up.

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The compressor is my Viair 450P. I really like it. I keep it in a knock-off Pelican case. (It's a Plano case and it does the job.)

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Back on the pavement, driving through the tunnel on the east end of the park.

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Maybe I'll replace my cracked windshield one of these days.

 

[TripLeader]

Part 16 [Around Camp]
Some views from around camp.

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The two folding tables we brought really gave us the luxury of countertop space. The pop-canopy saved us from being in the hot afternoon sun. May is a hot month in Big Bend.

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I believe there is a bear box at each primitive campsite.

 

[TripLeader]

Part 17 [Backpacking into the Chisos Mountains]
No trip to Big Bend is complete without going to the South Rim. We went and got a permit for site SW3 on the Southwest Rim.
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We started our hike in the early evening to try to avoid some of the heat of the day. We started out from the Basin.

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Trail amenities.

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Emory Peak.

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We made it to our campsite at dusk. We set our tents up by headlamp light.

 

[TripLeader]

Part 18 [The South Rim at Dawn]
We got up early from our camp on the rim. We headed out to enjoy the sunrise from the South Rim.
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Yuccas in the pre-dawn light.

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The Southeast Rim area was closed due to Peregrine Falcon breeding season.

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The South Rim. It's worth the trip.

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Emory Peak from the South Rim.

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[TripLeader]

Part 19 [South Rim Encore]
More from that morning.

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[TripLeader]

Part 20 [Leaving the Chisos]
We packed up our stuff at our campsite...

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...and headed back down.

 

[TripLeader]

Part 21 [The Bear Told Us Goodbye]
We saw some wildlife in the park.
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This deer was spotted during our backpack to the South Rim.

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As we drove down from the Basin, heading home, this bear and a couple others were by the side of the road.

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And we left...