Brianne and I left Las Cruces early Sunday morning and arrived in Big Bend mid day. I was ironically still grumpy from having to do my room mates dishes yet again since they left a pile in the sink and didn't think to do them before they left for break. But that is not what I am here to talk about. I was sadly grumpy upon arrival to Big Bend and it was starting to wear on Brianne. We both just wanted to figure out just what the heck we were doing and how to obtain a one night back country permit. I nervously approached the front desk and proceeded to mumble awkward incoherent sentence fragments to the park ranger asking for a back country permit when in actuality, I hadn't really thought about where it was I wanted to go. I left the main office looking for Brianne and to discuss where exactly we wanted to go. Brianne, the observant one, found the back country permit office and we sat down together with a strange, overly polite, young, ranger lady to plan our trip. After a briefing of the hazards and a detailed explanation of how to take a poo in the woods, we were set for four fantastic days in the park.
Cooking pancakes for breakfast the first morning in Big Bend.
I accidentally stumbled upon this rare cactus, the Nipple Cactus (Mammillaria heydera) while looking at some Lechuguilla Agave. The main portion of the plant grows mostly underground and only the very top flat portion of the plant is photosynthetic.
We spent the first two nights in Pine Canyon at the base of the Chisos Mountains. We were the last camp on the primitive road so our privacy was at a premium. The first evening we ran up the primitive dirt road into the canyon. It was a short run but it felt good to get out and stretch our legs. Darkness approached quickly and before we knew it (like 5:30) it was bed time. I was worried the nights would be very cold because this is after all late November. But the desert was not yet ready for winter and the nights stayed very mild. A gentle desert breeze blew all night and Brianne and I watched the sun set and the full moon rise in total silence. It has been a long time since I have heard total silence.
Day two and our plan was to hike all the way up Pine Canyon to the dry waterfall. The hike began in the warm high desert grasslands and progressed through a smorgasbord of unique plants found no where else in the world. We passed the Drooping Junipers (Juniperis flaccida), Texas Madrones (Arbutus xalapensis), and finally at the end of the trail we were among the Bigtooth Maples (Acer grandidentatum). The park had not seen not a drop of water in over two months so it was no surprise the waterfall was dry.
Here I am inspecting a Harvard Agave (Agave havardiana) in Pine Canyon.
Later that day, after a brief nap, Brianne and I made our way down from the mild grasslands into the hot dry Chihuahuan Desert to see the Rio Grande river. There in the low desert, more unique plants greeted us as well as Illegal Mexicans trying to sell us worthless hiking stick and "souvenirs". Man, we can never catch a break, even in the most isolated place in the lower 48 states people try to sell you crap. Anyway, we were there to see the Boquillas Canyon and do a little run. It was a little disappointing but that's likely due to the fact that everywhere you turned the people from Mexico where shouting at us from across the river or trying to get us to buy their worthless crap. It's such a discouraging culture sometimes.
Here I am inspecting one of my favorite plants, an Ocotillo (Fouqueria splendens). In times of drought they lose their leaves, however, their stems remain slightly green and are still able to photosynthesize despite the drought going on around them.
One of my favorite cacti is the Blue Barrel Cactus (Echinocactus horizonthalonius). They have a deep bluish-green flesh with large bright pink flowers.
This was a new cactus find for me. It is the Devil's Cholla Cactus (Grusonia kunzei). It formed low mats on the desert floor and looked like tufts of grass from a distance.
Day three was the "big day". Brianne and I would be hiking deep into the High Chisos Mountains to the Southeast Rim which falls away some 5,000 feet to the desert floor. We would be sleeping there, on the ridge, which was situated at an elevation of 7,400 feet. We took only enough water to last us through the night and little food which consisted of 4 Clif Bars and 2 cans of beans. Our gear consisted of sleeping bags, tent, warm jacket, warm pants, hat and gloves. That was it. I was sure we would freeze but ironically it wasn't the cold that was our biggest fear, it was the mountain lions.
Brianne sitting on the edge of the south east rim of the Chisos Mountains admiring the view. On a clear day you can see 250 miles.
I definitely didn't win any fashion points while hiking.
I was positive the mountain lions would leave us alone but Brianne was spooked beyond belief once the sun set. I tried to stay calm and assure her that mountain lions don't just come plowing through your tent in the middle of the night to rip you apart... That was until I heard the noise outside.
We both were dead silent, straining to hear it again. My heart was beating fast and hard and Brianne's eyes were as big as golf balls. Yes, there was definitely something out there and it was getting closer. When it was just yards from the tent I shouted "Hey!" In an attempt to scare it away with a "booming" human voice (that I don't have). It didn't scare. "Oh no!" I thought, "It had to be a mountain lion not afraid of humans." My heart was still pounding hard and I thought about reaching for my knife but slowly reached for the head lamp instead. I shined it outside the little tent window expecting to see a drooling lion looking right back at me. But what I saw was even worse. I saw nothing. A minute later Brianne whispered to me that we should put our bags (that were in the tent) into the bear box 20 feet away. I'm like "WHAT!?!" There is something hungry out there and you want me to just waltz out of the tent, completely vulnerable, and casually put this food in the box. She just smiled.
So now I am psyching myself up, getting ready to dash out of the tent with the back packs. The moment comes and I open the door and step outside fully expecting to get tackled from behind but instead, I am greeted to a family of small deer. What the...? They were not even remotely startled by my presence, and in fact, I felt better because if a family of deer were so calm then there must be no mountain lions. Yay! Now we can finally calm down and go to sleep.
Now it is day four and our last camp will be in the Ocotillo Grove in the low Chihuahuan Desert. Temperatures there were probably in the mid to upper 80's but as long as you stayed out of the direct sun it was rather pleasant. Still, the upper 80's in late November is pretty weird for me. Later we drove down to Santa Elena Canyon to poke around. Again I found some great photo opportunities and some more great plants. I ran into a strange member of the Tobacco family called the Tree Tobacco (Nicoiana glauca) and saw the only member of the Pineapple Family or Bromeliaceae growing in this part of the country. I'll be the first to admit that seeing a wild bromeliad for the first time was pretty exciting.
The Texas False-Agave (Hechtia texensis) is not an agave but a member of the pineapple or bromeliad family.
Santa Elena Canyon was amazing. Note the three small kayakers.
The final morning I rose early and was treated to one last great sunrise. As corny as it sounds it was as if Big Bend knew I was leaving and in its farewell, gave me one last present. For the next 20 minutes in complete silence and beauty I watched the sky turn all the shades of blue to pink to orange to red. But like all great things it came to an end. Brianne and I then loaded up the truck and proceeded back to El Paso and ultimately home to Las Cruces.
The final sunrise in Big Bend National Park as seen from our campsite in Ocotillo Grove.
