Big Bend: Rio Grande Village

My favorite sight on a road trip

Leaving Fort Davis I turned my car towards Big Bend. Big Bend is a National Park and has been on my list for a long time but its so remote that I never really was close enough to visit. Plus, as I mentioned before, I typically plan out my trips weeks or months in advance and know exactly where I'm going and what I'm seeing. It was frankly kind of scary to just hit the road and have nothing in mind but a destination. Plus a guest a few weeks ago said they left Big Bend early because they didn't really enjoy it so I was a bit leery. I was so glad to be proven wrong because it is now one of my all time favorite parks. I entered through the North Entrance at Persimmon Gap. I paid my fee ($25) and the ranger gave me a map and the lay of the land (i.e. it's hot). I decided to just drive and stop at whatever interested me.

Preview of coming attractions

My first stop was the Fossil Bone exhibit. Its under construction and will open in January 2017 but it had 2 sculptures of creatures that roamed here that were pretty scary looking. My next stop was Panther Junction where I checked out their small visitor center. Then I headed down to the Mexican border!

Road to hot springs

There was a stop called Hot Springs and I always enjoy a good hot spring so I thought I would head over. The road is gravel and VERY narrow in spots but doable in my car. I hiked out and followed a narrow trail between a cliff and very dense foliage.

Trail to hot springs

I could hear the Rio Grand but not see it. Finally I emerged at the hot springs and was sorely disappointed.

Hot springs

The first thing I saw was a dead frog in the springs. I think the river had flooded recently because it was running super high and the hot springs were very murky and the Rio Grande was rushing by its edge. I dipped my finger in to confirm it was warm and got out of there.

Road to Rio Grande

Sierra Del Carmen Mountains

I drove through a tunnel to the Rio Grande overlook. I was so impressed by the Sierra Del Carmen mountains off in the distance. They were so imposing. I drove down to the Rio Grande village where they have camping and a store but I wasn't planning on camping there because the ranger said it was really hot so I kept going to Boquillas Canyon.  There is an overlook where you can see right across into Mexico and I waved at some locals working over there.

Boquillas Canyon

I decided to hike the Boquillas Canyon trail because I wanted to see the narrow canyon. By the time I got there it was 104 degrees and I was feeling it. I rested and downed water and ended up going to the banks of the Rio Grande and dunking my hat and shirt in to cool myself down. I got back to my car and immediately cranked up the A/C. My skin was all splotchy and my face was red so I downed some Gatorade and wrapped my forehead in neck in wet cloths and finally got cooled down. I knew it would be hot but I wasn't expecting to boil like that.

Trying to beat the heat

Road to Rio Grande Village

I was over it at that point and just wanted to set up camp so I drove to Chisos Basin. The campground was full so I went to Chisos Mountains Lodge and was told they were sold out. Big Bend's busy season is November through April because the heat is so intense the rest of the years so I was not expecting everything to be sold out on a Wednesday in early October. I was discouraged and frustrated and frankly scared because I knew I would have to backcountry camp and I'd never done that. I knew I didn't want to drive all the way back to Rio Grande Village because it was far and way too hot down there. I noticed on my park map that there was backcountry camping off Grapevine Hills Road which was right at the end of Chisos Basin road so I drove over and lo and behold it was empty. It was a large clear space with a bear proof food container so I set up camp and cooked myself some dinner and organized my car because it was an absolute mess and was driving me nuts. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous. The funny thing is that I was out in the middle of nowhere with not a soul around but I did have 3G internet so I spent some time checking emails and posting to social media.

Campsite

The moon was bright so it was like a spotlight outside so that was comforting because I could potentially see any nocturnal critters. Luckily the only things I saw were a roadrunner and a rabbit. I didn't sleep most of the night because I had never done camping completely by myself before with no other people in the vicinity. I thought I would be so nervous but my lack of sleep that may have been more because of the heat (it was in the 70s). Also every time I got up to go to the bathroom I would gaze up at the billions of stars for a while. It was actually quite peaceful to have absolutely no noise or light pollution and I was actually quite glad I got to have such an experience.

Sunset