While in Big Bend why not climb the highest peak in the area? Emery Peak is around 9000 feet with a nice trail of 5 miles or so leading out of the visitor center parking lot. We are not totally obsessed with climbing tall mountains but, when there is no serious rock climbing or equipment necessary, why not?
Is that our speed limit or the bear’s? We did not know that Texas had a black bear population.Emery Peak it is!We still cannot believe we are in Texas. Amazing scenery for what we thought would simply be a flat state geographically speaking.Every once in a while on a hike with views like this one simply has to stop and ponder…..Good thing that is a faux summit as we would not climb that spire.
We are used to some rock scrambling to get to the summit of certain peaks, but Emery had a very scary rock climb at the summit. We basically had to go hand over hand and constantly check our footing to “boot”. Going down was even trickier! Look off to the left in the picture below and you can see our “route” to the summit.
On the summit! It took a few tries to get a shot of Laurie without the wind picking her hair up and covering her face with it. I offered my hat but…..you know?As far as the eyes can see!Lunch with a view. Cannot beat that seat in nature’s house eh?It appears someone beat us up here and planted a solar panel on a ridge right below the summit. Best we could figure is that they keep some weather related instruments powered up.Here is a view of the solar panels/equipment on the summitWe saw this on the way down. Glad we did not have to “act safely” on this hike.A bit later that day we took a short 2 mile hike into the countryside surrounding our RV park. We could not make out our trusty Bullet camper but we enjoyed the view on this hike.We had never heard of these large rodents called Javelina??? We did see a dead one on the side of the road after figuring out what they looked like, but, nothing live.
We have been discussing solar panels for as long as we have owned the Bullet and over Christmas (cannot call it Christmas break when you are retired can you?) we finally ordered a Renogy 100 watt panel after a bit of research. Hooks up just like you giving a jump start to a dead battery and the controller on the underside tells you all about your battery and how it is charging. Very cool!!
Check out our new solar panel set up! Works like a charm topping off the battery when no electrical hookup is available.
Before we left on our retirement trip 8 months ago we had never heard of Big Bend National Park. We found some really cool stuff here and a landscape that is out of this world. This of course means great hiking!! Our first hike was a 14 mile lollipop hike out to the Rio Grande and back. A lollipop hike is one that heads straight out until you hike a big loop that brings you back to the “stick”which you then hike back to your beginning point. We could not believe how diverse the geography of Texas has been so far.
Does this look like a hiker ready for 14 tough miles??As this area was an old mining settlement we kept coming across piles of broken down stuff. Some things never change in our country like making sure those who profit off the land have no responsibility to clean it up after.We have been looking at cacti and yucca plants for a half a year now but have not seen one flowering like this.2 miles in we found the right turn to the top of the lollipop. Straight up!A pair of butterflies enjoying a nice sunny afternoon.Here is our first view of the Rio Grande. There was a group of kayakers having a picnic lunch on the US side of the river.The Rio Grande is used as a watering hole for wild animals. You can see the tracks in the center of the photo. Follow the river and see what you can find.Laurie is playing hike and seek in this nice little cave.No longer a game of hike and seek I humor my wife by posing before continuing on.
From here on we were in for the “hike of our lives”. We thought we were going to follow the river back towards our truck but forgot about the lollipop stick that waited for us at the end of the hike. This meant climbing 1500 more feet and then back down on the other side of the ridge. Here are some pics:
Where is the trail?
On the way back we were in for quite a surprise in the middle of the trail. We have encountered grizzly bear, black bear, rattle snakes and mountain lion before but never………..
Let me blow that up for you:
We have never seen a tarantula in the wild before. Hopefully not again! Had to include this picture of a reconnaissance blimp near the border.
Our last trip to Mexico was to a town on the California/Mexico border and involved medical tourism and a big border wall with a long customs line coming back. Boquillas is a very small town across from Big Bend National park in Texas and only seemed to exist to cater to the very small number of Parks tourists. They had two restaurants, one small shop, but most of the business involved the locals putting their wares for sale on their lawns.
Check out the folks just walking across the Rio Grande!We are up next!!!!Once on the other side we could have walked the one mile to town but chose these two fine looking mules. They offered horses for the same $5 fee but we have never ridden a donkey before.Can you say Poor donkey?Our guide was Miguel. We thought he would simply lead the donkeys to town but…..Miguel spoke no English but had us walk with him through town to his casa (house). He was proud to show off his wife and kids. We purchased a few trinkets as some were really nice. A very well behaved dog approached us for a bit of attention.I found a friend! This little girl approaching us wanted to sell us hand made bracelets that said Mexico on them. We did buy 4 of them, one for each grandchild.Miguel then grabbed our arms and led us to this building half way through town. We were not sure what to think but he led us around back and opened the gate so we could go inside and look….It was their elementary school! The kids were super friendly and very happy to see us. They had just finished lunch and were sweeping up the floor and getting ready for the afternoon lesson. No double super secret security at this school. Also notice the lack of technology in the classroom.Then it was off to their lone church in town. Very clean but, once again, very spartan.Off to lunch! Miguel motioned to us that this was the place to eat and not the place across the street. They both seemed to have 10-15 customers so we did not know what to think.We are not sure what we really had for lunch but the food above needs no explanation….chips, salsa, guacamole and a good Mexican beer.We gave Miguel a nice tip and thanked him for his guidance. Not sure if he understood that verbal gratitude but he smiled at the tip.
Once back on the other side of the river we simply had to pick up a phone, look into the camera and have a customs agent in El Paso, TX tell us it was okay to be back in the USA. There was an armed NPS ranger at the station and he was very helpful in showing us how to present the passports to the machine.
The process was so quick this time coming back into the USA it was almost a blur (or at least the photo looks that way)
We then decided to take a nice 6 mile hike along the other side of the river and check out the local hot springs. We could have driven but, then again? The Rio Grande is a very pretty river that meanders and winds through the “countrysides” (literally).
Our view of the Rio Grande as we hiked toward our destination.This is Mexico’s version of a border wall. No expense, just a very formidable cliffside along the river.We could not believe that it is already springtime at the border here in early February!We are not sure how the picnic table got there but this oasis was a nice place to eat a secluded lunch for two.While eating lunch we heard what sounded like a cowbell across the river. Eventually we saw a guy and his cow walking along the Mexico side of the river.After lunch we found what we assumed were his trinkets for sale along the trail. A jar of money was next to it and it seemed to have a bit of cash in it. We guessed he just walks across the river once or twice a day to conduct this “suspect” form of commerce.This was the advertised hot springs and yes, that is the Rio Grande. The border with Mexico! We did not bring our swim suits or you never know?We found a more petroglyphs on the way back. Not sure why my stick figure art as a kid was not received well?A different view of the river gorge from higher altitude.
Hikers say that the holy trinity of hiking accomplishments is to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT), The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). We are planning to complete the AT this spring but it is wonderful to say we have now walked on the PCT and the CDT for at least an afternoon.
Ready for a nice 10 miler! Wonder what we will see on this gorgeous February afternoon?A bit of melting snow on the side of the road is our first find. Our elevation is only around 5000 feet here.Something you don’t see back east. These two cuties were out wandering the trail with us. A bit young in cow years to be set free in the neighborhood for the afternoon eh?It almost seemed like they had been approached/fed by other hikers in the past. Either that or simply a friendly cow?A sad time to say goodbye to our new friends. They were branded and tagged so we knew they were not lost little cows. They followed us for quite a ways.We thought this flowering cactus deserved a spot in our post don’t you?It was great to use the scooter as transportation back to the truck again. A 20 mile ride back in the 50 degree weather made us feel a bit chilly until we warmed up to a cup of tea.
After an absolutely wonderful walk on the CDT, the next day we went out in search of more petroglyphs. Locals told us about the Dragonfly Trail. We enjoy using our Alltrails app we purchased last year but sometimes locals know best.
Interesting art work we thought.
Looks just like the carsonite post at the trailhead.A bit chillier today so the hats and gloves came out.Now we know things are looking up! (or down) We were paying almost twice this much in California!A retirement investment?? NO. Just thought it was appropriate.Back to our camper to see the rainbow actually touch the ground, maybe we should have looked for a pot of gold?
When we set out on our yearlong journey back in July we figured on spending some time exploring the native American cliffside dwellings at Mesa Verde and other close by places. Turns out many of these spots are a bit far north for us to visit this time of year but we did get to tour the Gila (pronounced Heela) Cliff Dwellings near Silver City, NM. The members of the Mimbres culture only inhabited the dwellings for a number of decades. No one knows exactly why they left the area. The story has it that the first European to see the site was someone trying to avoid jury duty in the late 1800s by organizing a prospecting trip up the Gila River.
Are we excited or what?So folks lived inside this mountain?It is beginning to look a bit like an apartment eh?Check out the view from the living room!!The park staff said almost all of the stone work is dated to about 1300 AD or so. Odd fact is that this is the only dwelling site where the park service actually propped up some of the structures back in the 1960s. From an archaeological standpoint this practice has not been allowed since then, here or at other sites.Looks pretty secure to us. Humanity has always wanted a safe and secure place to call home.The ladder, of course, is not original but it certainly helped us “modern folk” get up into the dwelling. The wood beams are original though. Pretty cool eh?A close up of the wooden header here has 2 “plugs” removed for carbon 14 dating.Notice the creosote buildup on the ceiling. No chimney sweeps way back then!As we were some of the first folks to tour the dwelling since the government shutdown ended the NPS ranger there told us that these pieces of charred embers were newly placed there by the new denizens of the cave…….pack rats!
An up close look at a 700 year old ear of corn. Must have had different varieties of corn back then!The NPS ranger also guessed that these rocks were placed there to stabilize the “table” above it so the table could be used for grinding grain.This floor is littered with old corn cobs dragged out (or kicked out as the ranger said) by the pack rats over recent times.A few of the larger dwellings had 2 or 3 stories for living convenience.Laurie stares in awe of what previous civilizations have accomplished.Boy that rock work is amazing!On our way out we took this last pic of one of the larger dwellings. Makes our modern day tenements look shameful!After a good hike up an unmarked path we found another, smaller dwelling near the river. Rangers are guessing that this was reserved for a farmer in the group so he could live down in the valley nearer to the water source.This smoother rock was hypothesized to be a child’s play slide. I did not slide too smoothly.Not sure what these pictographs represent but cool nonetheless to look at 700 year old art!A thunderstorm in the distance on our drive home.This curious deer was happy to oblige our request for a photo.
We have all grown up hearing about Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday and their wild west adventures but mostly we remember the gunfight at the OK Corral…..right? Here is a bit of what we found in Tombstone, Arizona.
Notice the police in Tombstone are still called Marshals. The town logo is “The town too tough to die” We reacquainted ourselves with the Old West by watching a movie, seeing the re-enactment and walking through some really cool museums. This depicts one of the many confrontations on the days or so before the gunfight. On the right you see the lawmen, or good guys, Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp along with Doc Holliday. The folks on the wrong side of the law were Tom and Frank McLaury, Ike and Billy Clanton and Billy Claiborne. The legendary fight only lasted 30 seconds. In this re-enactment, the gun shots were loud enough to scare us even when we knew they were coming soon. Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the scene before the shooting rang out. The other two brothers Billy Clanton and both McLaury brothers were killed. The lawmen: Virgil, Morgan and Doc were all wounded but recovered. Wyatt Earp was not harmed.
After watching the very entertaining gun show we toured around town for a while looking in shops and finding a bite to eat. Then on to the Boothill Cemetery for a look-see.
There were many cool signs posted throughout the town. Many were appropriate for today’s times A picture of Earp’s house in Tombstone.Standard traffic on the main road in Tombstone. Laurie says “giddyup”. Hold onto those reins!! Interesting eh? We stopped in the office of the still printing Tombstone Epitaph. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Arizona. The picture of the above edition is regarding the death of the Apache Indian Geronimo. Must show some level of respect for those getting hanged! There was a “good” exhibit in one of the museums regarding prostitution. Not a great picture but we had to include it as the famous local photographer C.S. Fly seemed to use only cameras and equipment made by the Rochester Photography Company later known as Kodak. A picture of an actual “cock fight” in Tomestone We fell in love with the stout at the local Tombstone Brewery. Liked it enough to spend $18 on this 20 ounce bottle for “later”. This is the actual burial site of the 3 men who died in the shootout at the OK Corral. Almost all the almost 200 graves here were dug within only 5 years or so.The hearse at the cemetery says: “why go around half dead when we can bury you for $49.50? This is the backside of the hearse. Quite amusing we thought.
We needed to get some exercise desperately as we have been doing a bit of standard touristy stuff lately. A quick look at the map of Arizona showed us a National Monument we had never heard of. The government shutdown is over so we welcomed the staff at the visitor’s center back on their first day. They did say they were happy to be back to normal finally.
After a bit of discussion with them we decided on an ambitious 11 mile hike up to Miller Peak at almost 10000 feet. As we were starting at over 6000 feet it would only be 3000 and something of elevation gain. Hopefully my fitbit will not explode!
It turns out we were actually beginning our hike at the southern terminus of the Arizona Trail. We had never heard of this trail but its northern terminus is in the Grand Canyon. A future hike????
This is what we woke up to at our campsite next to the copper mine in Bisbee. We did not leave while it was dark but we are on the western end of the mountain time zone so the sun sets later but also rises later. This is taken at 6:30am. Off to take a hike!!Shortly after beginning our hike we were shown some very nice views of the surrounding mountains and valley.That is the dirt road we drove up to get to Montezuma Pass where the trailhead is. Check out the hairpin turn toward the bottom. THE WALL! It stretched in both directions for as far as the eyes could see. In case you cannot see the wall look below (sorry….had to do it)See aboveOn our way to the peak we ran into two separate mine shafts. We supposed they are closed off to keep curious hikers from peril and not to keep any illegals from hiding?We have to admit, we might have been tempted to check it out if no barrier were in the way. Outside each mine opening we found huge piles of tailing (waste product from mining). We figured they had been there for decades, if not a century.We thought the trail was fairly well traveled but this sign might suggest the park service does not do much maintenance for the Arizona Trail. It reads “Miller Peak Wilderness, Coronado National Forest”We were gaining altitude. It is 70 degrees back at the visitors center.We noted the similarities this trail has to ours back east. Deciduous trees and huge pine trees to boot.
Some views from the summit…..Miller Peak, the highest point in the park:
A brief post from the Southern California Desert shows you what you can find in the desert if you look closely enough. The art is positioned near Berrego Springs, CA and was created by artist Ricardo Breceda. There are supposedly 130 of these pieces hidden out there. I don’t think we found them all but it did make exporing the desert interesting..
Notice the massive size of these sculptures.The battle for the ages!Check out those teeth! Not a single cavity!That is a mighty large snack for that raptor to have picked up.Perspective is everything!Finally I found a sculpture I could tower over. Playful little guy.My little buddy.The serpent stretches across the street. Actually underneath the street?The head of the above serpentThere was a theme of nursing statues at points.Not sure what this it? Pretty cool though.A bit of mining fun here.Shows the Christian background of the area as we are near all the 17th and 18th century missions around here.Wahoo….Off we go to find another interesting adventure!
As we begin our trek back east Arizona is the second southern state we are beginning to explore. We found ourselves in the town of Why. If you saw the town you might understand its name! If I begin sounding a bit like Abbott and Costello I apologize.
Check out the only store in the town of Why
With the government shutdown at the time of our visit the visitor’s center at the Monument was closed but the park itself knows no government so off we went.
Had to get a pic of the park’s namesake. The organ pipe cactus can only be found in, and right around the park. Not the standard cartoon variety of cactus.As the park abuts Mexico on the southern side we were constantly reminded by these signs and many customs inspection stations that we must be near where THE WALL (sorry Pink Floyd) is to be built.The gps track of our hike shows we should climb into the canyon and then take a right up to the top of the mountain to the Arch is is shown in this picture, if you look hard enough..We have never hiked a trail before with such signage.The sign on the right is the type of sign we are accustomed to.Our directions were: “Find the cactus standing tall while looking into the sun and then find the sign telling most to turn back as it is too dangerous. Looks like the sign has been there for a while.We needed to hike up this landscape if we wanted the promise of an our of this world view that most mountain hikes afford a hiker.Laurie caught this picture of me as I wondered…..should we continue on or turn back as the footing was getting a bit suspect.
Here are some pictures of our lunchtime view from the summit:
Here I am trying to point out the interior of the park to anyone who would listen…….Laurie? Where are you?A view through a notch on the way down.We found this animated cactus on our way out of the hike. A jumble of arms and legs running along with a priceless expression on its face when told the government was shut down.We ran into a few folks near our truck that volunteered to take our pic with these fine looking cacti.All day long we were passed or did pass loaded trucks with mattresses and dressers, and all sorts of household belongings. They all had Mexican plates and were heading toward the border. Not sure what was going on there.Each of our night’s rests were interrupted by what we described as donkey noises.” They were very loud but not until our drive out of town did we actually get to see a herd of wild donkeys (burros, asses or mules if you like)
Over the past 8 months we have taken many tours of historical significance but this had to be the most intriguing of them all:
They dressed us in full miner gear plus the corny pinny. Not sure why the pinny but…..
Somehow the pinny does not look that corny on Laurie!
In we go to the recently shut down copper mine.Our tour guide Mike had worked in the mine until 1974 or so. It was really cool to hear how everything worked from someone who lived the miner’s life day to day. He is now in his 80s and had many tales of danger and excitement!Mike explained that the foreman used to ride this pedal car from job site to job site until the higher ups at the mine company figured that these bikes were better used by the actual miners who had to get things done.These two “drill guns were used to bore the holes to place the explosives in. The further one away is older but used to be preferred by many miners as it was not as dangerous. The newer one was more powerful but when it got bound up while drilling it could easily rotate the entire miners body and slam it into the ground sometimes killing the miner.This is what the blast zone would look like before it exploded. Mike talked a lot about how the timing had to be perfect to have the outter holes blow first and then the ones closest to the center. He also talked about the “no blows” that caused a lot of angst among the miners. Mike explained that although he never smoked cigarettes he had to carry a pack at all times as they actually used a lit cigarette to light the fuses!For most folks this piece of equipment was the highlight of the tour! Mike explained he never saw two men sitting at once and was not sure why it was a “double”. Many folks on the tour had to have their picture taken while sitting on it. We, being very proper folks, did not think that was appropriate!Mike took us to a huge cavern that had been mined to completion to show us examples of the different types of copper ore that was harvested here. This was the staircase leading back down to our train.We supposed this sign would be helpful in an emergency when your wits are not all about you?The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. A great tour was had by all.On our way into town to look for a brewery we noticed the open mine shaft in the hillside that Mike said was an alternate way in/out of the mine system. The mines in the area total about 2500 miles of tunnels!We took this picture right from our RV spot at the local campground. There was much literature on placards describing how the mining companies did pay for the reclamation of the surrounding land once the mine closed. As we are in earthquake territory we wondered if our RV was in danger of sliding into the 700 foot deep mine pit.As usual, after a long day of touristing we were jonesing for a craft beer. Luckily Bisbee had a local brewery.An arrival of hops for their brew. Must be locally sourced we supposed.We loved the tray they served their beer flights on. The clear “beer” was called salut! It was developed in France in the 1880s when there was a wine shortage. It tasted a bit like champagne.
