New Territory

Though I’d been to Big Bend National Park three times before, I’d never made it to the west end of the park. So I was particularly excited that the second day of my visit would take me to Santa Elena Canyon and the other sights in that area.

Soon after setting out for the west end of the park, I was able to see The Window feature of Chisos Basin, mentioned in the previous post, from outside the basin:

The first view of Santa Elena Canyon, the ultimate goal of the day’s trek, is from a great distance. It’s the notch you see in the dark ridge:

There is plenty of interesting geology to see along the drive to the canyon:

The picture above is the entrance to Lower Burro Mesa Pour-Off Trail. It’s a reasonably flat and very scenic hike, though a little unnerving because the trail is unmarked and occasionally hard to follow:

In the photo above, you turn to take the canyon on the right.

After the trail joins a dry streambed, the way you want to go is clear:

The canyon gets progressively narrower:

until you reach the end of the trail, the dry waterfall that is the Burro Mesa Pour-Off:

That’s about 100 feet from top to bottom. My first thought was that it would be exciting to see when water was flowing, but, of course, there’d be no way to hike back in there then. Here’s photo taken straight up, standing at what would be the foot of the falls:

There are numerous caves behind and around the falls. Here’s shot I took using my tripod:

On the hike back out, I took time to appreciate some of the succulents along the way:

Continuing on the drive, you get a good view of the Mule’s Ears:

and can stretch your legs to take a look at Tuff Canyon:

I like the last photo as a self-portrait, and also because it shows that the bottom of the canyon has standing water and thick vegetation.

Further along the road, it’s a surprise in the midst of this largely volcanic landscape to come across stark white cliffs and sand dunes:

The lure of Santa Elena Canyon is almost palpable as you approach:

Heading out from the parking lot, a path takes you through some marshy growth leading to the bank of the Rio Grande:

(I’m using photos from both the hike in and and the hike out, which explains the variation in sun angles.) As a reminder, the left side of the canyon is Mexico and the right side is the U.S. The Rio Grande runs off toward the left:

and a small tributary runs off toward the right, so it’s not immediately obvious how to get across to the canyon itself. Hiking a hundred yards or so up the tributary leads to a spot where it’s narrow enough to jump across and scramble up a small embankment. Soon you’re on a winding trail that leads up into the mouth of the canyon:

When you reach the top of the trail, there’s a great view back to the Rio Grande:

I also like this shot because the tiny human figures at the lower left give a sense of the scale of the scenery. About that time, a lone kayaker came down the canyon singing and whistling to himself:

After the initial steep climb, the trail gradually descends back toward the level of the river:

You have to wind your way past some enormous boulders that have fallen from the cliffs:

and scramble over some rocks, until you come to the end of the trail:

The beauty of that area is well worth the hike in:

Reluctantly, I turned around and headed back toward the entrance to the canyon:

As with my earlier hike, I took time on the way back to appreciate some of the native plants:

and a rock face with embedded fossils:

An axiom of traveling is that you haven’t seen an area until you’ve driven the road in both directions, and that is certainly true of Big Bend. The drive out of the west end was as interesting as the drive in. There was more interesting geology to see:

and exhibits from when the land was active farming and ranching country:

I was tempted to take a detour to Terlingua, just outside the park, which is famous for its annual chili cook off that also attracts a lot of big name country music stars. But, I had missed the 2014 festival by just a week, so the 2015 cook off the first week of November gives me a good excuse to visit the Big Bend area again.

Instead, I stuck to my plan, driving east, back past the turn offs to Chisos Basin and Panther Junction. The setting sun highlighted the cliffs in the east:

and I arrived at the Rio Grande Campground just as the sun was setting:

Again, no electricity, but at a lower altitude and next to the river I could count on a much warmer night. I had just enough light left to explore the nature walk through the Rio Grande marsh:

After an active day, I slept well that night, and woke the next day ready to explore the east end of the park, the subject of my next post.