Big Bend National Park (February 2013)

Carolyn and I went on a backpacking adventure to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Tucked away in a tiny corner of southwest Texas, the park straddles the bending Rio Grande River. It’s an expansive desert mountain landscape with untouched nature and intense isolation. Hundreds of miles away from any civilization, the park is teaming with adventurous opportunities.

Departing from Houston early Friday morning we started our ten hour drive west. After passing through San Antonio the landscape opened up, with small hills, towering mesas, short vegetation, and dust. It is a western scene in every sense of the word. It brings you back to times long lost where lone rangers on horseback muscled through this unforgiving terrain.

We spent two nights car camping in the Chisos Basin. The campsite sat in the middle of a big bowl, with towering mountains on all sides. Heading east from our campsite we hiked the Window Trail the following day, after caching water at a bear box for a 3 day backpacking trip in the back-country. The weather was perfect and the desert was a barren beauty. And for 3 days, it was all ours.