Big Bend clergy retreat Oct. 7-12
Oct 26, 2019 12:12:45 GMT -8
rebeccad, paula53, and 4 more like this
Post by trinity on Oct 26, 2019 12:12:45 GMT -8
Every year, I take a wilderness retreat with 3 fellow priests. This has become one of the highlights of my year, and a great source of renewal. This year’s pilgrimage took us to Big Bend, where we hiked the Outer Mountain Loop. Unfortunately, one of our party had a family tragedy the week before our trip, and couldn’t come, and another had to bail a little early, but it was still a great trip. I did this hike about 30 years ago, more than half a lifetime ago for me. I was eager to revisit the area, and was not disappointed.
We arrived at the park Monday afternoon. By the time we got our permits, cached water, and got out on the trail it was around 6pm, rather late in the day to be starting a backpacking trip! We left the Basin and hiked a couple of miles, spending the night at a beautiful campsite along the Pinnacles Trail.
We slept in the next morning, and had lazed around camp for a while. Just before we headed out, the folks at the next campsite over stopped by to tell us there was a bear rooting around nearby. We hurried over, and caught a quick glimpse of the bear lumbering through the trees. After all these years, my first Black Bear in the wild!
We hiked up the trail to the turnoff to Emory Peak, where we dropped our packs and hiked/climbed to the top of the peak. The 360 views from the top were breathtaking.
View from Emory Peak
We continued along the Pinnacles Trail, past Boot Spring (which was flowing nicely), and along the South Rim. It was just as spectacular as I remembered it, with views of the desert far below, stretching off towards Mexico. We spent the night at a campsite along the Southeast Rim.
Billy on the South Rim
Billy and Jimmy
Billy and I relaxing in camp
The next day took us down the Blue Creek Trail to the Homer Wilson Ranch, where Billy left the trail. We loaded up our packs with water for the long trip across the desert. We weren’t sure if there would be water in Fresno Creek, so we each left Homer Wilson Ranch with about 4 gallons of water! Not fun, but we didn’t want to take any chances, under the circumstances. We headed out along the Dodson Trail, getting in a couple of miles before stopping for the night.
Friendly Roadrunner
We got an early start the next day, to get in some hiking before it really heated up. Though it only got up into the upper 80s, the sun was brutal and unrelenting. I was pretty surprised how much the sun and the heat affected me, I had to stop frequently to rest. Shade was very sparse, and often meant crouching next to a shrub or along the bank of a dry wash. I also made the serious tactical error of wearing shorts along a trail that turned out to be overgrown with plants, almost all of which had thorns. My legs were soon torn up and bleeding. It was something of a death march, but the terrain was absolutely beautiful. We made it almost to the end of the Dodson Trail before I was obliged to stop for the night.
Jimmy and I on the Dodson Trail
Elephant Tusk
The next day we finished off the Dodson Trail, and headed up Juniper Canyon. This was another tough day, beginning in the desert, and climbing back up into the Chisos Mountains, about 3,000 feet or so. As much as we loved the desert, it was a relief to get back up into the oak/pinyon woodlands of the mountains. We spent the night in Boot Canyon.
Looking up Juniper Canyon
Hiking up the Canyon
Our last day was a fairly easy one, about 4.5 miles back to the trailhead, mostly downhill.
It was a great hike. I had forgotten how beautiful Big Bend is, with lots of diversity in the terrain. Though we saw quite a few people between the Trailhead and Toll Mountain (the first 3.5 miles or so), but saw very few people after that. Between Laguna Meadows and Juniper Canyon, we went more than 48 hours without seeing another hiker, a pretty good feat in a National Park. Part of the reason for this is that most hikers probably had more sense than to try to hike the Dodson Trail under such hot conditions, ideally the Outer Mountain Loop shouldn’t be hiked until November, at the earliest. But for anyone looking for a good winter destination, I highly recommend the Outer Mountain Loop.
"The Boot", enshrouded in low clouds
We arrived at the park Monday afternoon. By the time we got our permits, cached water, and got out on the trail it was around 6pm, rather late in the day to be starting a backpacking trip! We left the Basin and hiked a couple of miles, spending the night at a beautiful campsite along the Pinnacles Trail.
We slept in the next morning, and had lazed around camp for a while. Just before we headed out, the folks at the next campsite over stopped by to tell us there was a bear rooting around nearby. We hurried over, and caught a quick glimpse of the bear lumbering through the trees. After all these years, my first Black Bear in the wild!
We hiked up the trail to the turnoff to Emory Peak, where we dropped our packs and hiked/climbed to the top of the peak. The 360 views from the top were breathtaking.
View from Emory Peak
We continued along the Pinnacles Trail, past Boot Spring (which was flowing nicely), and along the South Rim. It was just as spectacular as I remembered it, with views of the desert far below, stretching off towards Mexico. We spent the night at a campsite along the Southeast Rim.
Billy on the South Rim
Billy and Jimmy
Billy and I relaxing in camp
The next day took us down the Blue Creek Trail to the Homer Wilson Ranch, where Billy left the trail. We loaded up our packs with water for the long trip across the desert. We weren’t sure if there would be water in Fresno Creek, so we each left Homer Wilson Ranch with about 4 gallons of water! Not fun, but we didn’t want to take any chances, under the circumstances. We headed out along the Dodson Trail, getting in a couple of miles before stopping for the night.
Friendly Roadrunner
We got an early start the next day, to get in some hiking before it really heated up. Though it only got up into the upper 80s, the sun was brutal and unrelenting. I was pretty surprised how much the sun and the heat affected me, I had to stop frequently to rest. Shade was very sparse, and often meant crouching next to a shrub or along the bank of a dry wash. I also made the serious tactical error of wearing shorts along a trail that turned out to be overgrown with plants, almost all of which had thorns. My legs were soon torn up and bleeding. It was something of a death march, but the terrain was absolutely beautiful. We made it almost to the end of the Dodson Trail before I was obliged to stop for the night.
Jimmy and I on the Dodson Trail
Elephant Tusk
The next day we finished off the Dodson Trail, and headed up Juniper Canyon. This was another tough day, beginning in the desert, and climbing back up into the Chisos Mountains, about 3,000 feet or so. As much as we loved the desert, it was a relief to get back up into the oak/pinyon woodlands of the mountains. We spent the night in Boot Canyon.
Looking up Juniper Canyon
Hiking up the Canyon
Our last day was a fairly easy one, about 4.5 miles back to the trailhead, mostly downhill.
It was a great hike. I had forgotten how beautiful Big Bend is, with lots of diversity in the terrain. Though we saw quite a few people between the Trailhead and Toll Mountain (the first 3.5 miles or so), but saw very few people after that. Between Laguna Meadows and Juniper Canyon, we went more than 48 hours without seeing another hiker, a pretty good feat in a National Park. Part of the reason for this is that most hikers probably had more sense than to try to hike the Dodson Trail under such hot conditions, ideally the Outer Mountain Loop shouldn’t be hiked until November, at the earliest. But for anyone looking for a good winter destination, I highly recommend the Outer Mountain Loop.
"The Boot", enshrouded in low clouds