A Rio Grande Time!

March 27 – April 4, 2022

Six months ago, we made reservations to camp at Rio Grande Village RV Campground, located 200 yards from our border with Mexico, in the southeast corner of Big Bend National Park!  After setting up camp, I was completely exhausted and a little confused as to where all my energy had evaporated to.  When I realized it was 102º outside, it made a little more sense!  Good grief!  It’s March!!

Big Bend, known as “Texas’ Gift to the United States”, offers more than 200 miles of hiking trails, making it difficult to choose which trails we wanted to tackle!  One trail was an obvious choice as it was located within walking distance of our campsite.  Rio Grande Village Nature Trail is a short trail, which begins as a boardwalk to a pond, perfect for viewing birds, bugs and critters!  The trail then climbs a hillside and offers views of the Rio Grande River and the surrounding Chisos Mountains.  The sunset view from the top of the hillside is spectacular!  In addition to the sunset view, we also spotted a coyote (in Mexico!).  Although this was the only coyote we saw during our week there, we heard them howling and yipping in the wee hours most mornings!  

Walking back to our campsite following sunset, we had a bit of a surprise.  Apparently, javelinas enjoy grazing in the campground once the sun has set.  You just never know what you are going to come across around this park!

Another obvious hiking choice for us was the Boquillas Canyon trail.  Location, location, location – right?  Big Bend NP is huge (the size of Rhode Island) and getting to most all of its offerings requires a drive of some type.  Boquillas Canyon is no exception; however, this one was only a 10-minute drive.  After parking, we found the trailhead that led us to an overlook area of the Rio Grande and a tease view of the Boquillas Canyon!  We decided this setting offered the ideal location to enjoy a picnic lunch, so we pulled up a boulder and made ourselves comfortable.  Before long, we noticed a few horses tied up in a shady area on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande.  Looking a little closer, there was one horse on the US side of the Rio Grande.  This horse was being ridden by a man calling out “fresh tamales!”.  Well, that was certainly intriguing!  It was like the best Door Dash the world has to offer, this time on horseback!  After I expressed an interest in Eduardo’s offerings, he rode his horse up to the lookout and took a package of six hot tamales out of his insulated saddlebag.  In exchange, I gave Eduardo $10 and the deal was done.  Yes, it’s completely illegal but they were the finest tamales I’ve ever eaten!  There is, traditionally, an attitude of cooperation between the two sides of the river here and such activities seem to be overlooked.  I asked Eduardo to pass on our compliments to his wife!

Properly fueled with real Mexican food, we set out to explore Boquillas Canyon.  It turns out Eduardo is not the only one making a living from the visitors to Big Bend NP!  As we walked the trail, periodically you would find nicely displayed bracelets, walking sticks, pottery, beaded decorations along with a money box of some sort for you to use if you decided you wanted to make a purchase.  Not a soul in sight, however!

What was I talking about?  I’ve gotten a bit side tracked with the border situation!  Oh, yes!  Boquillas Canyon!  This mile and a half trail leads you along the Rio Grande to a beautiful view of the canyon.  Although we had seen the Rio Grande while watching the sunset, this was our first chance to actually touch it!  It’s incredibly low right now due to the drought.  The rainy season later this summer and fall will hopefully restore it to a more typical level.

We read in the National Park book Maggie (our daughter) gave us that the best hike in the park is the Lost Mine Trail, located in the Chisos Moutains.  With that endorsement, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hike this 4.8 mile, out and back trail.  With 1100 feet of elevation gain, we headed out early, while the temperatures were still cool.  Legend has it that Spaniards discovered a silver mine in the mountains and forced Chizos Indians to work it.  The slaves eventually rebelled, killed all of the Spaniards and sealed up the mine.  Although there is no evidence of any ore in the area, the legend continues to be told.  The hike was indeed, spectacular! 

The wide variety of flora along the trail was so amazing!  We saw agave, cholla, prickly pear, sotol, yucca, cedar trees, scrub oak, and so very many more we couldn’t identify!  The birds serenaded us throughout the hike, each singing its unique song.  Two new birds we added to our log were the Spotted Toehee and the Mexican Jay.  Now, add in the surrounding Chisos Mountains to complete the picture!  Our views of the landmark Casa Grande formation started out with the reddish colors from the early morning light.  With each turn of the switchbacks, the giant landmark grew larger and larger.  Photos don’t begin to capture the enormity of Casa Grande and the surrounding canyon walls.

Santa Elena Canyon is the park’s iconic, post card scene.  It was about a 90-minute drive from the campground, but certainly well worth the trip!  To get there, you take the Ross Maxwell Scenic drive.  Along the drive, you pass many stunning rock formations including Mule Ears!

Once you reach Santa Elena Canyon, there is a 1.6 mile out and back trail that takes you to a sandy, beach-like area of the Rio Grande.  The massive canyon walls corralling the Rio Grande at this point is certainly a sight to take in!  With the river being so low, we were able to roll up our pants and amble upstream in the river.  Breathtaking beauty!   

Our final hike in Big Bend was the Window Trail. This 5.6 mile hike also began at the Chisos Basin, but instead of climbing, it descends 980 feet into a canyon.  After a rain, water runs through this narrow canyon and has polished the rock walls and floor to a silky, smooth finish.  It was an absolutely spectacular experience at the Window pour-off, taking in the view of the basin below.  New vegetation we discovered along this trail was the fragrant, purple blossoms of the Mountain Laurel and bright pink blossoms of the Mexican Buckeye.

The park is once again offering a wide assortment of Ranger programs and we were thrilled to be able to take advantage of several of them.  The first one we participated in was “Desert Survival for Plants” offered at Dugout Wells.  This was an amazing hike in the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert.   We saw several desert plants we were already familiar with, but mostly learned about a huge assortment of new-to-us plants.  Kathy (our ranger Guide) identified the Strawberry Pitaya Cactus (which produces dragon fruit!), False Strawberry Pitaya, the Allthorn shrub (yep, it is literally all thorns!), Agave (this commonly known as Century Plant sends up a shoot when it is somewhere between 10-20 years old which blooms and then the plant dies), Lechuguilla (used to make rope, mats, sandals… and is also commonly known as Shin Daggers due to their pointed, dagger-like appearance that is the perfect height for doing some damage to your shins.  If you do get stabbed by it, you are going to know it, as the tip of the “daggers” contain a toxin that causes some discomfort.  This plant is only found in the Chihuahuan Desert) the fragrant, yellow blossomed Huisache tree, Ocotillo, Mexican Persimmon (whose fruit bears love to dine on), Mesquite, Leatherstem, Texas Sage, several species of Prickly Pear (including Engleman’s, Blind, and Purple), and several species of Yuccas!  There was probably more, but this is what stuck with me from our one-hour stroll in the huge desert!

Another Ranger Program we participated in was “In Search of Wings”.  Apparently, Big Bend is a popular park for birds.  Birds are attracted here for the wide variety of ecosystems the park encompasses in addition to being on the migration path of many species.  The program left from the amphitheater near our campground so we were able to walk to this 90-minute stroll around the Rio Grande Village area.  The number of birds Chrissy helped us identify was mind boggling!  Our rare sighting for the day was an Osprey!  Even Chrissy was amazed at finding this gem in the park.  Other birds we saw include both a male and female Vermillion Flycatcher, Bell’s Verio, Turkey Vultures (who were kettling), White-winged doves, the Greater Roadrunner, Common Raven, Ladder-backed Woodpecker and the Golden-fronted Woodpecker!

The park offered an evening program, “Stars Over Big Bend” which we went to; however, it clouded over and we weren’t able to view much, if anything at all.  It was disappointing, as they had a telescope for us to view planets with. Wouldn’t that have been incredible?!  Dick and I decided we might not have a telescope, but we could certainly take advantage of the dark sky Big Bend offers on a clear evening.  Our last night in the park provided us the perfect weather!  We drove a few miles down the road to a pull-off that was well away from the campground and any light pollution.  Another car was there watching the sunset and looking forward to viewing the night sky.  They were college students from Austin and had never seen a dark sky before.  Watching the stars light up as the setting crescent moon disappeared was pretty special.  When it was pitch dark and our eyes had adjusted, we were even able to view the Milky Way!  

It’s a tough choice, but I think my favorite Ranger Program was “Healing at the Hot Springs”!  In the 1920’s, J.O. Langston purchased this section of what is now part of Big Bend NP.  He had suffered from malaria for most of his life and, after soaking in the natural hot springs 21 days, he was cured!  J.O. began developing what was to become Hot Springs, Texas.  There was a store/post office, a few homes, a seven-room hotel and, of course, the bath house.  

All that remains of the bathhouse today is the foundation of it.  You can still see the individual tubs and even a bit of the plumbing for a few of the tubs.  We wore our swim suits for our drive to Hot Springs and enjoyed soaking in the 104º water after the presentation was wrapped up.  

Along the trail, the ranger pointed out both pictographs and petroglyphs from long, long ago.  It’s clear, J.O. was not the first to discover the healing properties of these hot springs.  I have to admit, you do feel pretty darn good after even one day of soaking up this amazing environment.  I was actually glad the walls of the bath house no longer stood.  While soaking, you could take in the Rio Grande, the cliff wall along the river, and even the Chihuahuan Desert!  Enjoying God’s beauty certainly does have a way of healing your mind and spirit!

Believe it or not, there is an official Port of Entry within Big Bend National Park.  With our passports in hand, we took the historic Boquillas Crossing down to the Rio Grande, where we found a chalupa (rowboat) waiting to take us across the Rio Grande.  We could have easily walked across the river; however, tourism is the main source of income for the small town of Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico!  It was $5.00 for a round trip boat ride.  The back seat of this small boat was sealed with an emblem “Boquillas International Ferry – Your Ride to the Other Side”! 

 As soon as you disembarked from the ferry, you were offered a choice of car, horse or burro to take you the half mile into town.  Burro?  That sounded just quirky enough for me to give it a try.  I’m not sure what the difference is between a mule and a burro, but there can’t’ be much of a difference!  Stubborn as a mule – right?  Burros are either incredibly stubborn or just plain stupid!  Emilio had to walk behind these creatures, giving them some much needed encouragement and guidance each step of the way into town!  I wasn’t sure why in the world I was holding onto reins!  The burro refused to go, stop, turn or do pretty much anything unless prodded by our helpful guide!  

Eventually, we did make it into town where Emilio recommended we enjoy lunch at Boquillas Restaurant (one of the two restaurants in town).  They were offering a choice of three entrées the day we were there. Cabrito (goat) tacos, cheese enchilada and chicken tamales made up the entire menu.  We tried the tacos and tamales and would certainly recommend both dishes!  Oh, and the margaritas were wonderful as well!  

After dining, we strolled the gravel street of town.  Up and down the street were “stores” where women and children were selling the same type of goods we saw along most of the trails we hiked on.  Pottery, walking sticks, beading, hand embroidered linens are how many of these people provide for themselves.  With limited space for our own living accommodations, we selected a hand embroidered tortilla warmer and headed back for the US.  Of course, we got one more burro and chalupa ride before going through immigrations at the Port of Entry!

We were incredibly saddened by a fatality in the park on the first full day our stay.  Our campground is notoriously the hot spot in the park, often having 20º - 30º higher temperatures than 30 miles away in the Chicos Mountains.  The day the 53-year-old hiker died, it was 104º in the campground.  A half mile from the campground is the trail head for Daniels Ranch to Hot Springs Trail.  The heat of that day turned this moderate, six-mile trail into a deadly hike in the sweltering afternoon sun.  I ran into Evan (a seventh-grade boy) while out walking Frankie that afternoon.  Evan was standing near the base of the trail after having run a mile down the trail to get help for his mother.  His father had stayed with his mother after she was having a difficult time breathing.  During Evan’s hurried descent, he had fallen and skinned up his knees pretty good.   Evan was standing there, all alone, watching the medics gather their supplies.  After the medics departed up the trail, Evan approached me and told me what was going on.  I stayed with this young man, keeping him company for a while.  I was eventually able to talk Evan into letting one of the medics that had stayed with the ambulance, clean up his bloodied knees.  Once Evan was in the caring hands of the medic, I left the scene, assuming all would end well.  The following day we learned differently.  Evan and his parents were visiting Big Bend NP from Michigan during spring break.  Our hearts are broken for this family.  Apparently, many individuals underestimate the danger of the afternoon heat in this climate.  Signs at most of the trail heads warn of it and advise hikers to be off the trails by noon.  It’s a hard lesson learned, but we took the warnings extremely seriously.  God, grant her eternal rest, and may perpetual light shine upon her.   

Up next:  Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas