We had such a nice hike today. We drove to the other side of the park and found a short (1.8 miles one way) trail that supposedly led to a “spring.”
It was slightly uphill all the way in, which is our favorite kind of hike because that means it’s downhill all the way out—when we’re tired. (Going downhill first is a big mistake. We always whine on the way out.) The temperature was much cooler on the other side of the park. As we drove away from the campground, the temperature was already in the 80’s, but by the time we got to the trailhead, it was a cool 69 degrees with a nice breeze. Since it was plenty warm in the sun, it was a perfect temperature for our hike. I even took along a sweatshirt and wore it for awhile, but then tied it around my waist when I was comfortably warm.
The hiking book told us it would be a moderately difficult trail to follow because it was lightly traveled, but we didn’t find that to be the case. We had no trouble finding our way to the spring and beyond.
This area was grazed before it became a national park, and there was a pipe along the trail that had originally fed water into a container of some sort for the cattle. The area was overgrazed, and the grasses were pretty well wiped out. However, they are making a comeback now that they are protected.
We went past the end of the trail because we kept thinking we would come to the “spring.” As it turns out the “spring” was just a trickle of water at a low point in the wash. Other hikers had obviously done the same thing. We came to a cairn (which is a stack of rocks that marks the trail), and continued on what was a less-traveled, but still easily-seen trail. Even though the spring was a disappointment, it was still a good hike because the view of the surrounding landscape was impressive.
The "cleft" in the canyon in the image above is where the Rio Grande flows through Santa Elena Canyon, a hike we did on a previous visit to Big Bend.
There is this geological formation known as a dike, which means the rocks were squeezed through cracks in the surrounding softer rock. Then as the softer stuff erodes away, the dikes are left behind. They’re easy to spot because they almost look as if a stonemason laid them intentionally.
We hiked right up next to the dike and ate the oranges and crackers we brought along with us before hiking back down and out. After that we considered a few shorter hikes, but opted instead for the little store in the historic village of Castolon where we each got something to drink and some junk food. I’m a lover of crazy and colorful socks, and I found some chili pepper socks that I couldn’t resist.
This is our last night in Big Bend. We’ve had intermittent internet access—just enough to check important email, but not enough to spend time doing blog posts. However, we were able to check the weather channel app on my iPad and determined that the weather in Oklahoma City is in the 70s for the next ten days. So, we’re on our way to Oklahoma City. By the time you read this, we will be back in civilization and internet range. I’ll update you on our other plans then.
It was slightly uphill all the way in, which is our favorite kind of hike because that means it’s downhill all the way out—when we’re tired. (Going downhill first is a big mistake. We always whine on the way out.) The temperature was much cooler on the other side of the park. As we drove away from the campground, the temperature was already in the 80’s, but by the time we got to the trailhead, it was a cool 69 degrees with a nice breeze. Since it was plenty warm in the sun, it was a perfect temperature for our hike. I even took along a sweatshirt and wore it for awhile, but then tied it around my waist when I was comfortably warm.
The hiking book told us it would be a moderately difficult trail to follow because it was lightly traveled, but we didn’t find that to be the case. We had no trouble finding our way to the spring and beyond.
This area was grazed before it became a national park, and there was a pipe along the trail that had originally fed water into a container of some sort for the cattle. The area was overgrazed, and the grasses were pretty well wiped out. However, they are making a comeback now that they are protected.
We went past the end of the trail because we kept thinking we would come to the “spring.” As it turns out the “spring” was just a trickle of water at a low point in the wash. Other hikers had obviously done the same thing. We came to a cairn (which is a stack of rocks that marks the trail), and continued on what was a less-traveled, but still easily-seen trail. Even though the spring was a disappointment, it was still a good hike because the view of the surrounding landscape was impressive.
The "cleft" in the canyon in the image above is where the Rio Grande flows through Santa Elena Canyon, a hike we did on a previous visit to Big Bend.
There is this geological formation known as a dike, which means the rocks were squeezed through cracks in the surrounding softer rock. Then as the softer stuff erodes away, the dikes are left behind. They’re easy to spot because they almost look as if a stonemason laid them intentionally.
We hiked right up next to the dike and ate the oranges and crackers we brought along with us before hiking back down and out. After that we considered a few shorter hikes, but opted instead for the little store in the historic village of Castolon where we each got something to drink and some junk food. I’m a lover of crazy and colorful socks, and I found some chili pepper socks that I couldn’t resist.
This is our last night in Big Bend. We’ve had intermittent internet access—just enough to check important email, but not enough to spend time doing blog posts. However, we were able to check the weather channel app on my iPad and determined that the weather in Oklahoma City is in the 70s for the next ten days. So, we’re on our way to Oklahoma City. By the time you read this, we will be back in civilization and internet range. I’ll update you on our other plans then.
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