Early Morning Animal Watching...
It all started with a drink and a
question….Well it really started with a few drinks, but we will get to that.
Arriving a little later in
Marathon than we had anticipated, we quickly set up the tent in the motel
grounds and made our way down to Gage Hotel and into the famous White Buffalo
bar. We were the first to enter, and quite possibly last to leave.
We settled ourselves at the bar,
ordered a few of the local brews and were content to just sit back and watch
the Dallas vs. Seattle NFL game. Shortly afterwards, the bar began to fill up,
and as chance would have it Trevor sat up at the bar next to Nic and ordered
one of the more popular drinks of the evening. The drink looked much like a margarita
but it contained jalapenos, like a martini contains olives, and it was rimmed
with some sort of chilli salt in lieu of the standard sea salt. Nic couldn’t
resist and asked what the drink was and what it contained. It is known as a
Brushfire, and it happened to be White Buffalo’s creation, a vodka margarita
with cayenne peppers, fresh jalapenos and jalapeno juice – for those who like a
bit of spice in their life.
After chatting with Trevor and
his wife Nola, it turns out they actually live within the park, and come to
Gage Hotel once a year to celebrate their wedding anniversary. The conversation
flowed and they were both interested in our travels across America and in
particular the concept of Couch Surfing. After a brief explanation of how you
ensure you don’t end up with creeps, Nola and Trevor invited us to skip camping
out in the elements and stay with them for the first night in the park.
That was just the beginning…
Nola and Trevor left to enjoy
their anniversary dinner and we continued to enjoy ourselves at the bar. We met
numerous others throughout the night, from all walks of life and most really
pleasant company. Safe to say, we enjoyed a few froths over the course of the
evening and weren’t up quite as early the following day as we had planned.
Still, after a much needed shower
(about 3 days between drinks) we got going and checked out the south west
corner of the park. More of a driving day, we took the Ross Maxwell Scenic
Route, and were treated to incredible views of the Chisos Mountains and numerous
rock formations within the park. The outlook from Sotol Vista is one of the
best in the park, all without getting out of your car – if you’re inclined to
be so lazy!
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| Sotol Vista |
The slight hike into Santa Elena
Canyon, although not breathtaking, gets you as close to Mexico as you’d like
without actually setting foot on foreign soil. It also takes you a mile or so
into the canyon where you are greeted with cool breezes and lulling sounds of
the Rio Grande making its way to the Gulf of Mexico.
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| Santa Elena Canyon |
That night we were treated to the
luxury of a home cooked meal and a family atmosphere. Nola and Trevor have two
of the cutest kids we have met. Laine and Rowan had us entertained from the
moment we stepped through the door, until way past their, and our, bedtimes.
Laine, like her dad is very musical and they both treated us to some live
performances from the lounge room, with Laine a young maestro on the piano and
Trevor a local star on the guitar, bass, or pretty much anything bar the
violin! Rowan dazzled us with her magic tricks, and I have to say I have not
seen a magician pull so many things out of a hat in the one sitting. Our
favourite was ‘I don’t know what this is, but I’ll pull it out of my hat
anyway’, pure comedic genius! Nola had us in stiches with stories of past
shenanigans Lajitas (a private resort town on the edge of the park where Trevor
works) has to offer for anyone who spends more than a week in its grips.
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| View atop the Lost Mines Trail |
Day two of the park was to be a
little more adventurous than the first, with our hangovers in check we set out
to hike Lost Mines and the Window, both moderate hikes in the Chisos Basin
which give amazing views of the mountain ranges scattered throughout the park.
Both hikes are around the 5 mile mark and Lost Mines in particular was the
perfect length to fully appreciate the views of Casa Grande and Toll Mountain.
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| Lost Mines Trail |
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| The Window... |
After a quick picnic lunch, we
checked out Boquillas Canyon, not knowing the history it held for the Hickle
family, before unwinding with a relaxing dip in the natural hot springs. There
is just something cleansing about hot springs, no matter how murky the water
looks.
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| Picturesque tunnel on the way to Boquillas Canyon |
We again caught up with the
Hickles that night, this time in their home within the park boundaries.
Tonight, much like the previous night, had us feeling part of the family, and
had my spelling skills tested to their breaking limits. Apparently my spelling
is as atrocious as my hand writing.
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| Relaxing in the natural hot springs |
Our final day in the park was to
be the most intense, but most rewarding. We set out early with the intention of
hiking Emory Peak, an 11.6 mile round trip to the highest peak in the park, and
third highest in Texas. We had also planned to throw in the South Rim hike but
had been warned we were quite crazy to consider this as it would be like doing
a half marathon through the mountains.
Nevertheless we set out for Emory
Peak with the hope of a few animal encounters along the way. Already the park
had provided us with unrivalled meetings of numerous road runners (yes they are
as cool as the cartoon), deer, blue jays, wood peckers, jack rabbits, and
kangaroo rats, but much like in the Smoky Mountains, a chance encounter with a
bear had thus far eluded us.
The hike got off to a pleasant,
if not brisk, start (both pace- and weather-wise) and around one of the first
bends were a couple of deer just enjoying an early breakfast. After making good
progress along the Pinnacles Trail we reached the branch off to Emory Peak in
far less time than we had imagined. The hike up was one we enjoyed completely
to ourselves, with our only meeting of the human variety a fella who got us
jealous with his quick recap of camping up the mountain that night and an
earlier meeting with a small male juvenile bear.
Well, as chance would have it,
today was our day. Our friend had described the bear as almost like a shadow,
dark and easily missed in the surrounding woods. And much like his description,
I was almost level with it before I realised what it was. Silently warning Nic
of our newest friend just off the path, the realisation had me immediately
reaching for the camera, as well as fighting the urge to back away.
It’s funny, you read so much
literature on bear encounters in the park, and for the most part, the bears are
non-fussed with our presence, but what if you get that bear that is interested
in you. Although this one was small, for a bear, I do not doubt that he would
have easily de-limbed us if that was his intention. Lucky for us, he was in the
midst of a second breakfast, and the surrounding plants and roots offered a
tastier meal than either of us.
The other funny thing is, with
camera in hand, you really wanted him to look at you, for that perfect face
shot, but then when he looks at you, you know he’s seen you. And while you are
looking through the camera, trying to capture that perfect shot, he may just be
on the move trying to capture the perfect lunch time snack. Though he gave us
the look as he crossed the path not five metres in front of us, apparently we
weren’t his type.
Bear Country...F_cking oath it is!
With renewed energy and
enthusiasm, we near on dashed up to the peak, with the final 10-15 meters a slight
scramble up the rock face. The view from the peak, for me, is unrivalled in the
park. Not another soul in sight, and not a breath of wind to spoil the moment,
we sat back and took in what we had earned.
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| The reward from the top of Emory Peak |
Continuing down back to the
Pinnacles trail, Nic’s blisters opened up and she had the dreaded decision to
turn back or soldier on. Given it was about the same distance to complete the
loop as it was to turn back, Nic kept on keeping on and despite the pain,
knocked out a half marathon through the mountains in about six hours, something
that the park guides say takes closer to 10.
I had planned to divert from the
trail and try and get across to the South Rim as we had heard the views on
offer here were on par with Emory Peak. I had also decided that I would try and
jog part of it to ensure Nic wasn’t waiting in the car for hours on end as I
satisfied that ‘fear of missing out’. Something that is evident in all of us,
to a degree.
Although the South Rim is
magnificent, if you aren’t crazy and only want to do the one, I would suggest
Emory Peak, but if you’re not into hiking directly uphill for hours on end, the
South Rim, at its lower vantage point is a much more pleasant day hike. The
views are incredible, and one could spend hours sitting on the edge of the rim
taking it all in but unfortunately the day doesn’t have enough hours in it to
satisfy all of our indulgences.
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| The South Rim...I guess it is pretty impressive |
In the end, Nic and I clocked up
over 30 miles between us, some very wearing legs and sore feet, and some very
special memories.
That night we headed back to
Lajitas, where we had spent the first night with the family. This time it was
to be only us and Trevor as the girls were all staying in the park where the
school is located, but we did have another unexpected surprise. Trevor’s dad,
Danny, was in town, and with Danny comes a whole lot of folklore and stories
you couldn’t imagine to be true until you meet the man himself.
To say Danny and Trevor are
characters is a gross understatement. These two guys are Big Bend legends, and
have done everything one could think of doing in a remote place close to the
Mexican border. I’ll let your imagination run from here, but trust me, whatever
schemes you come up with, Danny and Trevor have done them.
The night played out like some
sort of mini country-western festival, with impromptu jams sessions on the
porch watching the sunset over the park, whilst drinking cans from brown paper
bags (well not quite but almost), to open mike nights at the pub down the road
where the raucous crowd conned Danny and Trevor into performing a few of their
tunes. Big Bend really is a magical place.
Just another night in Lajitas!
We couldn’t quite put our finger
on exactly what other park Big Bend reminded us of, and the reason is, because
it reminded us of a heap. It’s a ‘Big Blend’ of a number of parks we have previously
visited and loved – from what you would expect to find in a Deep South desert,
images of the Arizona desert springs to mind, to a mixture of the rock
formations of Cappadocia, the plateau ridges of Drakensburg, the greenery of Chapada
Diamantina, and the wall of earth that encloses Ngorongoro Crater. Wherever you
were, you were hemmed in by mountains ranges and vistas that you didn’t want to
end.
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| Big Bend and everything it has to offer... |
Sometimes things are just meant
to be. We hadn’t even heard of Big Bend before we got to America and hadn’t
even considered checking it out until we got to Texas. Then we came, were
adopted, fell in love, and almost didn’t leave.
We have vowed to return…
