2023 - Big Bend National Park
Despite extremes of heat and cold (and wind but no rain), Jennifer and I had a fabulous time in Big Bend. Our first stay was at the campground in Chisos Basin, a bowl-shaped valley surrounded by mountains, except for one water outlet called The Window. When it rains enough, water rushes through The Window and falls hundreds of meters to the desert below.
The one road in climbs to a high ridge before a steep descent ,with hairpin turns, into the Basin. The two main hikes we did there were to The Window, and the Lost Mine Trail. Regarding the Lost Mine: Legend has it that prospectors found gold and enslaved natives to mine it. They rebelled, killed the prospectors, and destroyed all evidence of the mine. Not surprisingly, there is no evidence of a gold mine to be found!
On one day trip, we followed the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to Santa Elena Canyon.
From our campsite in Chisos Basin, we moved on to Rio Grande Village: Nothing more than two campgrounds and a camp store. From there, we could view the Chisos Mountains to the northwest and the Sierra del Carmen to the southeast, with the Rio Grande flowing near our campsite, and Mexico on the other side of the river.
At no time during our stay across the Rio Grande from Mexico did we feel unsafe, and with our passports, crossing the border was no problem for us. On one day, we crossed over to Mexico on the “Boquillas International Ferry”, in actual fact, a 20-second crossing of the Rio Grande in a rowboat. We enjoyed a chicken enchilada lunch and then explored Boquillas, a dusty village 150 difficult miles from the nearest Mexican town. Not surprisingly, the US is out of bounds for most residents, even though there is no border wall and the river is easily forded. Some Mexicans cross the Rio Grande anyway as a shortcut across meanders of the river and don’t seem to be bothered by US agents. But others cross to sell goods to tourists like us, and risk serious consequences. In one case we actually witnessed, a couple Mexican men fled back across the river when US border agents arrived, leaving one of their horses behind. We had come across these men selling hot tamales on our way into Boquillas Canyon. The men watched from the Mexican side of the river as the border agents took possession of the horse. A Border Patrol vehicle hauling a horse trailer arrived as we were leaving. I don’t know if migrants are an issue in this remote area, but this would not be an easy place for migrants or traffickers to reach.
Read MoreThe one road in climbs to a high ridge before a steep descent ,with hairpin turns, into the Basin. The two main hikes we did there were to The Window, and the Lost Mine Trail. Regarding the Lost Mine: Legend has it that prospectors found gold and enslaved natives to mine it. They rebelled, killed the prospectors, and destroyed all evidence of the mine. Not surprisingly, there is no evidence of a gold mine to be found!
On one day trip, we followed the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to Santa Elena Canyon.
From our campsite in Chisos Basin, we moved on to Rio Grande Village: Nothing more than two campgrounds and a camp store. From there, we could view the Chisos Mountains to the northwest and the Sierra del Carmen to the southeast, with the Rio Grande flowing near our campsite, and Mexico on the other side of the river.
At no time during our stay across the Rio Grande from Mexico did we feel unsafe, and with our passports, crossing the border was no problem for us. On one day, we crossed over to Mexico on the “Boquillas International Ferry”, in actual fact, a 20-second crossing of the Rio Grande in a rowboat. We enjoyed a chicken enchilada lunch and then explored Boquillas, a dusty village 150 difficult miles from the nearest Mexican town. Not surprisingly, the US is out of bounds for most residents, even though there is no border wall and the river is easily forded. Some Mexicans cross the Rio Grande anyway as a shortcut across meanders of the river and don’t seem to be bothered by US agents. But others cross to sell goods to tourists like us, and risk serious consequences. In one case we actually witnessed, a couple Mexican men fled back across the river when US border agents arrived, leaving one of their horses behind. We had come across these men selling hot tamales on our way into Boquillas Canyon. The men watched from the Mexican side of the river as the border agents took possession of the horse. A Border Patrol vehicle hauling a horse trailer arrived as we were leaving. I don’t know if migrants are an issue in this remote area, but this would not be an easy place for migrants or traffickers to reach.
