The Big Bend expedition was an experiment not ever attempted by Post One Before. Back Country permits were available only on a first come first served basis, which complicated the normal trip planning process where the hiking itinerary, equipment & food logistics, water availability etc are known in advance. Not knowing which trails would be available, our planning strategy called for acquainting ourselves with the entire Big Bend National Park so that we could familiarize ourselves with as many hiking scenarios as possible ahead of time.. 7 ½ min maps for the entire park were ordered as well as handbooks covering trails, backcountry 4 wheel drive roads, water availability etc. This unique pre-planning activity gave the team plenty of experience in decision making and prepared us for the intense day by day real time planning that transpired throughout the trip.

Dawson Hunter Atop Mt. Emory

This all aside, we had a great experience in many ways. 50 miles from the entrance to the park we came so close to taking out a pair of mule deer that I had visions of my van that was almost totaled by a baby elk many years ago in Yellowstone National Park. Closer to the park, vultures lined the road like a welcoming? committee. Road runners scooted by and many species of hawks and other birds seemed to fill the air. The place was a veritable "jungle" of wild life including elf owls, javelinas (wild boars), rattle snakes, ravens, lizards everywhere we traveled. The Chisos (large mountainous mesa like land body pushing 7,000 feet into the air, tree covered and normally full of springs) could be seen for an hour before we reached the park. In all the world the colima (a rare bird specie) is found only on the Chisos. Arriving at the Panther Ranger Station we were ushered into the auditorium to get our permits. The size of the operation here gave us an inkling on how popular this place is certain times of the year. The auditorium was empty however except for us and the two rangers sitting at the planning table. We stood there looking at each other for a moment and I guess our opening words seemed to break the ice. I said that we had been hiking the Grand Canyon for the past 15 years and....... The ranger broke in and said " you guys must be real tired then". As it proved we could have had anything we wanted in the park since college breaks had pretty much peaked earlier. We quickly planned a 38 miles 5 day hike which took us up the Chisos; summit climb of Mt. Emory (7825) two different campsites, one where the colima bird lives followed by a 9 mile down-climb (Juniper Canyon Trail) then onto the "around-the Chisos" Dobson Trail returning over the Chisos on the Blue Creek Canyon trail 5 days later to our cars.

Ryan Wood On a ride into Boquillas, Mexico

In all of this we have said little about water and the heat of the day. Yes we have had much experience with this in the Grand Canyon but there was always water there and we could always find shade at days end. In Big Bend it had not rained since last September (no rain for 6 months). Except for a trickle in Fresno Spring on the Dobson there was no natural running water in the park. Carrying two days of water (16 pounds) up the Chisos was like climbing Mt. Rainier. Our packs were all over 50 pounds. But even with all this water we could not seem to get use to drinking it at first and we were all feeling the affects of dehydration. It was not until near the end of the trip that we finally mastered the art of drinking enough water so that we needed to go to the bathroom at least once every hour. We spent almost half a day placing caches of water(4 quarts per day per person) along the Juniper and Dobson trails before we could start our hike. We had placed twice that amount of water just in case. When we got to the caches we took showers in remaining supply with the water almost hotter than we could take on our bodies. And that brings us to the sun which was something else. One thing we know now is that our trail tarps do not keep out the infra red rays from the sun. We just continued to fry under the tarps. We also know that we simply cannot hike as far each day in 100 degree heat and zero percent humidity. We quickly reverted to night hiking (in the moonlight) getting up at 4 am (sunrise is at 8 am in Big Bend) to get over the most difficult parts of the trail early in day.

Steve Daniels on a Mexican Burro

The last three days in the park we spent checking out all of its other attractions, Rio Grand Village TX, Boquillas Mexico, Santa Elena Canyon, Lajitas an many other small towns just outside the park. We walked across the Rio Grande unrestricted and could just as well have been outlaws or whatever. It is a very big park (approx. 50 miles by 50 miles square) with winding paved roads and horribly rutted dirt backcountry roads. So travel was slow. The population in this whole part of Texas is sparse because of the heat and lack of water but there were signs of activity everywhere, condominiums, airports, golf courses etc.

Texan Javelino

El Paso? Our entry point is a bustling Texas City of ½ million on the Mexican border. Just about everyone is bilingual with businesses and homes developing everywhere. Juarez, the Mexican city directly across the river houses a million and a half people with a lot of poverty evident, but nevertheless bustling with tourists basically. The travel to and from Big Bend an Elpaso was painless with super highways which whisked away the 329 miles each way to our plane. We stayed over one night exploring Elpaso and found a great place to eat called THE STATE LINE. Great ribs etc etc etc reasonably priced. We all ate like pigs and talked about our souvenir purchases in Mexico. But there is so much more to tell. Maybe the next time we will talk about riding the burros in Mexico, Coke in bottles from 50 years ago, flat tire on Jim's SUV, Dinner in the Chisos Lodge, our encounter with the rattle snake in the St. Elena Canyon, our leaky water jugs, picking cactus needles out of you-know-whos behind, Ryan bargaining for the purchase of a poncho in the Juarez market, Steve admitting that he did not bring as much food on this trip as usual, the outrageous one- liners, the javelina herd that raided our camp, watching the road runner mating ritual, trying to catch a fish in the Rio Grand, ring tail droppings on the Chisos, and wow that spectacular once in a lifetime midnight thunder storm.

Rattlesnake On The Trail

Dawson  Hunter