Big Bend and Beyond
We loaded up the car with gallons of water, two German nationals, a desire to sweat through every pore of our bodies, and headed into the desert. Prison Break thought it would be fun to explore Big Bend National Park for the weekend with his German buddies in town. I was anxious for the weekend to arrive more than anyone, and I begged Prison Break to convince his friends to rough it with us on the most challenging trails.
After driving over seven hours from Austin to Big Bend, we were much too cranky and sane to reach for our inner Eddie Bauer. It was bleepity bleeping hot. Terlingua, the town closest to the entrance of the park, had a cabin that could accomdate our poor, dehydrated souls. The pick was a pleasantly surprising one. Terlingua is a bright, scorchingly hot desert town filled with no more than 100 people. It wasn't your typical small Texas town. The majority of people we met there weren't natives. Some of them were retired professors fleeing the urban life. Others were liberal business owners who owned ranches in nearby towns (I use the term nearby loosely. The closest points of civilization from Terlingua were usually ranches or farms punctuating the desert every 80 miles or so.)
The few restaurants they had in the town were actually good. This one, La Kiva, is pretty typical. Most structures are underground and have few, if any, windows to minimize the heat. The dark interiors of all the stores and restaurants were a pretty stark contrast to the alabaster sands that were outside.
Everyone was excited about the "cabin" we ended up staying in. It was cheaper than the resort cabins in towns much farther away from the park, it had A/C, and it was newly renovated. This place was nicer than my own apartment.
Our first hike in the park was to Santa Elena Canyon, which was formed by the Rio Grande River. The left side of the canyon in this picture is Mexico. The right side of the canyon is the United States. The things that added excitement to the solitude were the constant signs and warnings about Mexican cartels having heavy routes in the park. On the only highway out of the park into we were stopped three times by Homeland Security. And that was a slow day for them!
The Window Hike trail was scenic, but beauty had it's price. The four mile trail took us over 3 hours to complete, which is average for hikers. You have to descend into the valley of the Chisos Mountains to get to the spectacular view. Valley is the Iriquois word for "get the f outta here because it's f-in hot."
I finally made it to the view. I really had to reach for a happy face here because I was so damn tired. I overshot a little bit and oozed the cheese.
Me and Prison Break's lower face getting ready to swim to Mexico.
More trip pics.
Speaking of Mexico, we decided to make a jaunt over there since we were on that side of the state. Taking the legal way was a pain in the ass, groin, and entire nether region. We were detained by Homeland Security at the border (bringing the total of stops and interrogation to four over a span of two days) while federal agents raped Prison Break's car and dismantled it piece by piece. Each time we were stopped by border patrol, it was tracked to the rest of the guys in the agency. By the time we got to Mexico, Homeland Security knew the exact coordinates and times of each occasion where we were stopped previously on our trip. And if you comment on this entry, they'll probably lay the smackdown on you too.
After driving over seven hours from Austin to Big Bend, we were much too cranky and sane to reach for our inner Eddie Bauer. It was bleepity bleeping hot. Terlingua, the town closest to the entrance of the park, had a cabin that could accomdate our poor, dehydrated souls. The pick was a pleasantly surprising one. Terlingua is a bright, scorchingly hot desert town filled with no more than 100 people. It wasn't your typical small Texas town. The majority of people we met there weren't natives. Some of them were retired professors fleeing the urban life. Others were liberal business owners who owned ranches in nearby towns (I use the term nearby loosely. The closest points of civilization from Terlingua were usually ranches or farms punctuating the desert every 80 miles or so.)
The few restaurants they had in the town were actually good. This one, La Kiva, is pretty typical. Most structures are underground and have few, if any, windows to minimize the heat. The dark interiors of all the stores and restaurants were a pretty stark contrast to the alabaster sands that were outside.
Everyone was excited about the "cabin" we ended up staying in. It was cheaper than the resort cabins in towns much farther away from the park, it had A/C, and it was newly renovated. This place was nicer than my own apartment.
Our first hike in the park was to Santa Elena Canyon, which was formed by the Rio Grande River. The left side of the canyon in this picture is Mexico. The right side of the canyon is the United States. The things that added excitement to the solitude were the constant signs and warnings about Mexican cartels having heavy routes in the park. On the only highway out of the park into we were stopped three times by Homeland Security. And that was a slow day for them!
The Window Hike trail was scenic, but beauty had it's price. The four mile trail took us over 3 hours to complete, which is average for hikers. You have to descend into the valley of the Chisos Mountains to get to the spectacular view. Valley is the Iriquois word for "get the f outta here because it's f-in hot."
I finally made it to the view. I really had to reach for a happy face here because I was so damn tired. I overshot a little bit and oozed the cheese.
Me and Prison Break's lower face getting ready to swim to Mexico.
More trip pics.
Speaking of Mexico, we decided to make a jaunt over there since we were on that side of the state. Taking the legal way was a pain in the ass, groin, and entire nether region. We were detained by Homeland Security at the border (bringing the total of stops and interrogation to four over a span of two days) while federal agents raped Prison Break's car and dismantled it piece by piece. Each time we were stopped by border patrol, it was tracked to the rest of the guys in the agency. By the time we got to Mexico, Homeland Security knew the exact coordinates and times of each occasion where we were stopped previously on our trip. And if you comment on this entry, they'll probably lay the smackdown on you too.