Big Bend - Alpine - Marfa - Fort Davis

[DaysOff 8215]

I think there's 3 restaurants and bars. It's a dusty town filled with desperate people and tuberculosis babies, but it's worth the crossing. Leave some dollars behind.

[StruggleBus 3922]

Anyone stayed in one of the cottages in Chisos? Thinking of taking my wife there for her birthday. We usually stay at the Perry Mansion in Terlingua with another couple but it's just us this time.

[gecko 1104]

Cottages are rustic, basic, but comfortable.  No TV and last time I was there the Wifi was very spotty - but I didn't care.  We do cottages or lodges for the location.

If possible, try and reserve cottage #103.  Its the most popular as you have views of the sun setting.  I used to do my reservations by calling the lodge directly.  It's been a while, so they may not accept them that way any more.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g60733-d124984-i148206459-Chisos_Mountains_Lodge-Big_Bend_National_Park_Texas.html

Edited November 14, 2019 by gecko

[Ths71 472]

Pre 9/11. D/FW yuppies illegally cross the Rio Grande into Mexico near Lajitas.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[tejas60 3573]

On 11/12/2019 at 4:18 PM, dlatin said:

We are heading out for our first visit the weekend before Thanksgiving.  This thread has me pretty pumped.  We planned it so we would be there during a nearly new moon.

heading out tomorrow for a full week. New Moon is Tuesday. staying at Tin Valley Saturday night, pitch camp on property in Solitairio section Sunday, then back to Ranch Lodge Saturday before leaving Sunday.

Boquillas Wed or Friday. Falcons!

ya'll have a good Thanksgiving.

[dlatin 328]

1 hour ago, tejas60 said:

heading out tomorrow for a full week. New Moon is Tuesday. staying at Tin Valley Saturday night, pitch camp on property in Solitairio section Sunday, then back to Ranch Lodge Saturday before leaving Sunday.

Boquillas Wed or Friday. Falcons!

ya'll have a good Thanksgiving.

Hopefully the clouds stay away...at least 1 night since we planned this whole trip to see the stars...my birthday is Sunday and we'll be doing a river trip that day.  Hopefully though SE Canyon.

[drt 647]

3 hours ago, tejas60 said:

heading out tomorrow for a full week. New Moon is Tuesday. staying at Tin Valley Saturday night, pitch camp on property in Solitairio section Sunday, then back to Ranch Lodge Saturday before leaving Sunday.

Boquillas Wed or Friday. Falcons!

ya'll have a good Thanksgiving.

We had a Peregrine Falcon dive past us when we were on top of Emory Peak.  Definite holy shit what was the fuck was that moment.

[tchookem 3985]

Had planned on going this weekend, reserved our spot in May. Flu B hit my son this week and had knocked him on his ass. Still debating making the trip on my own.

[Cajun 11779]

Just came across this on YouTube.  Documentary type deal called "Change in the Big Bend" featuring the family of yours truly, the Stillwells, and some friends or ours, the O'Neils. 

I know some of you will get a kick out of it.  If you're a No Country For Old Men fan, you'll get that itch a bit scratched too by the narrator.

Enjoy...

 

[Your Mom 4981]

On 11/14/2019 at 7:16 AM, GreenspointTexas said:

Thoughts on Boquillas?

Take your passport. It’s a full-fledged official border crossing now, complete with customs and  BP. You’ll be scanned, same as  if you just flew into JFK.  Rent the horses on the other side. It’s not a scam and it’s worth it. The road up to town floods easily and stays really muddy.  Plus those guys need the business. I took my kids across a couple summers ago. They loved the experience and said it was the best meal they had on the trip. 2 restaurants in town... we ate on the patio of the one on the right side.  

[Bigbend1812 13060]

Sorry guys. Just saw this .  What’s up?

[Cajun 11779]

Pork bellies.

Pork bellies are up.

[Steel Shank 9556]

Cajun, that's really cool about your family. That's the kinda people that truly gave Texas our reputation, especially the women.

I tip my hat, sir.

[Cajun 11779]

Lat22 went out to the ranch w/me back in our UT days.  He spent a few minutes with Hallie on the front porch of our little store.  Later on, while we were icing down beer and loading up mags for the great jackrabbit slaughter of 1980whatever it was, I asked him what he thought of her.

He said, "I mean this with all due respect, but your great grandmother's the toughest man I've ever met."

Funny shit, but he wasn't wrong.

That woman did not fuck around.

[Cajun 11779]

And as you can see, when it came to jackrabbit slaughters, Lat22 didn't fuck around either...

Gotta respect the man's trigger discipline.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Cajun
Lat gave me permission awhile back to post up old pics of him since father time has rendered both of us unrecognizable from those days

[Cajun 11779]

Me out at the ranch last time it snowed nice and hard.

Circa 2003ish...

[Cajun 11779]

Stillwell Mountain on the same morning...

[Cajun 11779]

Sure do miss Rat Patrollin' in the old yella dog Jeep out there...

Edited November 24, 2019 by Cajun

[miguelito 11509]

Those could be stills from Fandango 2: West Texas Boogaloo.

[Cajun 11779]

How about margaritas at Chata Ortega's?

We could see the Donkey Lady...

[GreenspointTexas 9989]

17 minutes ago, Cajun said:

How about margaritas at Chata Ortega's?

We could see the Donkey Lady...

We could get diseases

[Cajun 11779]

I swear Greenspoint, sometimes I don't know why we take you along...

[DaysOff 8215]

His car, his money

[dlatin 328]

First visit to Big Bend and I have been blown away. Day 1 we planned to do the Window but there was an open spot at Lost Mine so we did that. Simply amazing. Perfect weather for a hike, 70 degrees. We even saw 2 black bears.

[dlatin 328]

Day 2 we rafted Santa Elena Canyon, via Big Bend River Tours. We had a beast at the helm. The water was low so Jared rowed nearly the entire day, 21 miles.

[dlatin 328]

[GreenspointTexas 9989]

Really great pics. TFS

[Anton Chigurh 3335]

Yeah, that is some good stuff!

[Anton Chigurh 3335]

I meant to post this here but I took a big 115MP pano of the Chisos on my visit last month.

 

I forgot to do in portrait so it’s a really awkward size, but it came out nice and highly detailed, I think.

 

 

Full res link

 

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49026107943_24a077cd38_o.jpg

 

[dlatin 328]

Hiked the Window today. Gorgeous! I think we liked the Lost Mine better bit this was nice. The weather was overcast and sprinkled some and even drizzled at the end. I love the Lost Mine hike ends all downhill. The Window is all uphill. We walked at pace since the weather was threatening.

[dlatin 328]

Last stop was the hot springs, maybe a bit underwhelming, maybe because it was crowded but we got in and worked our way to a great spot. Ended up being pretty cool with the river right there and the hot springs on the other. The Rio G was crazy cold but it was cool seeing so many jump in and hang then get back in the hot springs. Someone recorded the temp in the spring at 104. It didn’t feel that hot to this wimp. This was a far #3 on our list of what we did. We had 2 great nights of stars and 1 with overcast. The consensus was the highlight was rafting the Canyon, followed by the Lost Mine hike, then the Window. However, I had a hard time picking between the 2 hikes. I like them both, just different

[gmr548 16703]

@dlatin great photos. The end of the Lost Mine trail is one of the single coolest points in Big Bend. To experience that on your first day must have been awesome.

 

[Native Horn 3581]

dlatin, you done good!  Thanks for sharing.

[tejas60 3573]

On 11/22/2019 at 11:39 PM, Cajun said:

Just came across this on YouTube.  Documentary type deal called "Change in the Big Bend" featuring the family of yours truly, the Stillwells, and some friends or ours, the O'Neils. 

I know some of you will get a kick out of it.  If you're a No Country For Old Men fan, you'll get that itch a bit scratched too by the narrator.

Enjoy...

 

about to watch this, think I've seen parts of it before.

came home sick from work this morning and picked up a book I bought at the PJ ranger station last trip (Big Bend Country by Kenneth B Ragsdale). just finished the chapter on Hallie. and just ordered her book "How Come it's Called That?; Place Names in the Big Bend Country". can't wait to get it. what a great woman she was.

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by tejas60
terrible at remembering names...

[thrillhammer 686]

On 11/25/2019 at 8:36 AM, dlatin said:

First visit to Big Bend and I have been blown away. Day 1 we planned to do the Window but there was an open spot at Lost Mine so we did that. Simply amazing. Perfect weather for a hike, 70 degrees. We even saw 2 black bears.

great pics!  congrats on your first trip.  i've been at least 10 times, maybe more, but those pics make me want to go again.  no pics of the black bears?  i've yet to see one.  

[Cajun 11779]

Guy I know took this around Terlingua in November...

[Longhorn94 2501]

Headed to  BB NP tomorrow for the weekend.

[gmr548 16703]

We were there from 1/2 - 1/5, camping at RGV. Caught a pretty intense rainstorm right when we finished cooking dinner the first night, but otherwise weather was pretty much perfect. Did the Marufo Vega trail our first full day there. Incredibly beautiful and solitary, we saw two other day-hikers and a BP agent in addition to one backpacking group each in and AM/PM heading out/in. My girlfriend is the photo buff, so I will post the photos if I remember once I get my hands on them, but the views of the Rio Grande and the Sierra Del Carmen are something else, not to mention the desert floor and wash you hike through.

That said, that trail is not for the faint of mind, body, or soul. I'm in my 20's and in decent enough shape that the South Rim loop was not hugely physically taxing or anything. MV blew that out of the water. By far the hardest hike I have ever done. I was sucking wind on the steep ascent up from the Rio, which is made even more difficult by the terrain, which is far rougher and less maintained than most trails. It's more of a scramble at times. We started the day with overcast skies and chilly temps, the sun broke through throughout the day but we had cloud cover for most of it. High probably didn't get to 70. I would not recommend doing that hike in anything warmer or sunnier than that. I was fucking beat. I can't imagine doing it with direct sun all day, let alone warmer temperatures. We skipped an early start in the Chisos and just went and soaked in the hot springs the next morning because it just completely whipped us. I'm glad we did it but I have no intention of ever doing it again.

[tejas60 3573]

looking forward to the pics. I'll put MV on my do not hike list. 

[deft 7063]

Ok gang,

Wife (no pics) and I are planning a little getaway from kids and life next month and thought it'd be cool to drive out that way for a new moon.  Probably gonna drive out of SA on Wednesday 2-19 but don't have any concrete plans shy of being back by Sunday midday.  I'm wanting to hit McDonald for obvious reasons during a star party.  Should I also bring my 8" dob?  

I now realize after perusing this thread and getting advice from her coworker that we should have planned this long ago. No doubt #103 is gone as is much of anything nicer.  We'd be game for spending a night in a different place too if that yields for experience.  Maybe hit Balmorrhea for a night on the way there, then mcDonald obsv/fort davis the next, then terlingua etc.  Wife hates camping so thats out.  We're out of shape novice hikers so don't make us end up in 127 part 2: pocketknife boogaloo. Aside from hiking, any other day trips worth mentioning?  We were last out of the country a decade ago and sadly, we've let our passports lapse so Boquillas is out of the question. Is Balmorrhea pool comfortable this time of year?  Big bend hot springs?  canoe trip down the river?

I haven't been to BB since I was a wee little deft so this is basically all new to me.  I'm a sad Texan who hasn't appreciated whats over there so now I'm carving out some time.  Make me a plan surly.  

[Anton Chigurh 3335]

Terlingua Ranch Lodge is a great place to stay, though it’s a little far from the park itself (unless you take Old Marathon Road, but you need some good tires for the sandy parts.

[tejas60 3573]

deft,

definitely go to McDonald's Observatory during a new moon. and book NOW. we stayed at a ranch between Fort Davis and the observatory, can't remember the name, but booked through the Fort Davis Drug Store if I remember correctly. found it, Sproul Ranch.

as the above poster says, the Terlingua Ranch Lodge is a good place to stay. if you have 4WD, drive up the Christmas Mountains (book when you get your room). 

you can also stay at Tin Valley Retro near the Lodge. kinda cool place that has fixed up old RV's and other crazy stuff (like a boat and VW bug) that you can stay in.

I haven't canoed/rafted the Rio yet, but that's on my list. there's plenty of easy hiking trails, just ask the rangers at Panther Junction. you should really get your passports and go to Boquillas some time.

as far as places to eat, I've heard Tivo's is great (damn place is always closed when we go by). the Bad Rabbit at the Lodge is decent. in Terlingua, Rio Bravo is best for authentic Mexican. there's a bbq place people say is good but I haven't been. La Kiva has good pizza, but the last two times I've been, the service has sucked. and of course, if you want to wait forever for a table and good food, try the Starlight. for breakfast you have to go to El Milagro or Chili Pepper Cafe.

 

 

Edited January 12, 2020 by tejas60
ou sucks

[lonestar3 274]

Taking my first trip out to BB. Heading out of Austin at 3am and staying at the Terlingua Ranch Lodge.

Considering doing both of the longer trails; one tomorrow and one on Saturday. That feel like it'd be too much? Should I do one prior to the other?

[Anton Chigurh 3335]

Which trails do you mean?

[lonestar3 274]

Emory Peak and South Rim

[Anton Chigurh 3335]

Well, for South Rim you will pass the side trail to Emory (if you do it as a loop which you should), so if you can handle it all in a day I would recommend it, so that you could explore a different part of the park the next day.

[GreenspointTexas 9989]

14 minutes ago, Anton Chigurh said:

Well, for South Rim you will pass the side trail to Emory (if you do it as a loop which you should), so if you can handle it all in a day I would recommend it, so that you could explore a different part of the park the next day.

Thats a 15-16 mile trail if both are done at same time

but not a bad idea

[lonestar3 274]

1 hour ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Thats a 15-16 mile trail if both are done at same time

but not a bad idea

So the idea of a 16 mile hike doesn't necessarily strike fear into my bones. What I'm worried about is not being able to take in the scenery if we try and do both the long ones in the same day. Are they really 7 hour hikes, or is that for the slower-paced group? 

[GreenspointTexas 9989]

11 minutes ago, lonestar3 said:

So the idea of a 16 mile hike doesn't necessarily strike fear into my bones. What I'm worried about is not being able to take in the scenery if we try and do both the long ones in the same day. Are they really 7 hour hikes, or is that for the slower-paced group? 

Did the south rim with the wife last year

 

13.2 miles

 

took 7 hours just to do south rim, and we only took one, real, 15 minute break at south rim. Adding in the extra 2.5 miles for emory peak will easily add 1.5 hrs, as most of the trail is pretty steep

[Anton Chigurh 3335]

Yeah, it can be quite the undertaking. I’ve done South Rim in a day but did Emory on day 2 of a backpacking trip.

It would definitely take all day. The South Rim views are better though, especially if you go up via Pinnacles since you don’t get a preview (if you take Boot Canyon all the way, which you’ll have to starting Feb. 1 anyway since Rita Peregrine season).