Big Bend and Big Bend Ranch State Park - MLK 2017

[wngrog]

Last year a group of us went to Big Bend National Park for MLK weekend and did a single day in the State Park Ranch. After getting a taste of the State Park we knew we had to get back and see more of this remote park that borders the north end of Big Bend National Park.

Here is our trip report from last year: Big Bend National Park and Ranch State Park - January 2016 - Expedition Portal

Joining the 4 of us from last year were 3 others that had never been in the area. 2 guys decided to head out a couple days early and make a loop through the National Park. Their plan was to roll out to Ft Stockton on Wednesday and hit the NP on Thursday and Friday morning and catch up with the rest of the group at our campsite in the State Park Ranch Friday night.

Of course the thought of going all the way out to the area and not seeing my buddy @yetiranger and getting a taste of the Chisos Mountains was killing me so I wrapped up work on Wednesday and hit the road a day early in order to spend a night in the NP with these guys.

The drive out to Big Bend from Mississippi is pretty brutal unless you go cross country after Dallas and soak up the amazing Texas Hill Country. Since I was not meeting the guys until the campsite on Thursday night, I decided to start my southern turn at Hwy 377 west of Ft Worth and enjoy the ride.

Colorado River Bridge

I took a different route from Iraan through Ozona to bypass Ft Stockton. That portion of the drive is a bit depressing.

Pesos River Bridge at Sheffield

I rolled into the National Park at 3:30 after leaving the Ft Worth area at 7:00 am and had to get the obligatory picture.

 

[wngrog]

I checked in at Persimmon Gap and peeled out for Rio Grande Village to see Matt and his new baby.

I met this guy on the road first

As you can see, I am a huge fan of bridges. This one is beautiful with Boquillas Canyon in the background

This is where Old Ore road dumps out and I love this view!

Matt (@YetiRanger) is the Commander of the Eastern Region of Big Bend Park Rangers and lives in park housing on the Southeast corner of the park. After meeting his family and shooting the bull for a few minutes, I grabbed a bag of ice at the RGV store and hit the trail.

My destination for the night was Pine Canyon. I was hoping to get there in time to watch the sunset with the other guys but I also wasn't in a huge hurry. East River road is deserted at this time of the day and the weather was perfect.

I turned up Glenn Spring Road and started to climb away from the river and the sun was blowing up the colors on the distant Mexican mountains.

Just as I saw the massive Cottonwood tree in the distance that grows at Glenn Spring my BaoFeng radio spoke to me for the first time from the guys that I was supposed to be meeting in Pine Canyon.

I glanced to the west and saw the Cruisers at the top of the ridge as they were finishing up Black Gap. It was perfect timing and a one in a million chance that we hit that spot at the exact same time.

 

[wngrog]

I knew we would not beat the sun but I wanted to have a little light left when we got to camp so we caught up over the radio and dropped the hammer for Pine Canyon

Elephant Tusk is one of my favorite mountains in Big Bend and watching this magic happen around it was awesome

Dust was thick and hanging in the dead calm dusk

One of the guys with us, Ron Blaylock aka @paplud is a professional photographer and he took my stop as an opportunity to jump out and grab the same thing I was seeing. I can't wait to see what he shares.....but until then you are stuck with my Jpegs......

We got to camp and popped out the Eno's and tents and enjoyed the beautiful weather while Ron wandered around and made camera voodoo happen in the dark.

 

[wngrog]

The next morning Ron got us up with the first glimmers of sunlight in the east. I got a little free photography school as the sun painted its way into Friday in Big Bend

We fired up the Skottle and had a meat-fest with bacon, sausage and eggs while the sunrise did its thing

@Bomar 's truck posing for the camera

As we rolled out of Pine Canyon, the fog started rolling into the foothills around Panther Junction

We hit the road to see Santa Elena Canyon via Ross Maxwell with the goal to be out of the park around noon.

 

[wngrog]

The Chisos Mountains are some of my favorite in the US. The way they rise out of the Texas desert just gets me every time. This is my 7th trip to Big Bend over 29 years. My first trip was in 1988 with a canoe trip through Santa Elena Canyon. Every other time I had spent plenty of time in the Chisos. This time, I could barely see them for the fog. At first I was disappointed and then I realized the fog just added another level of beauty and mystery to these mountains.

We made our first stop at Sam Nail Ranch and once-again marveled at the fact that people farmed and ranched this desert at one point.

We climbed back in our Cruisers and wound our way up Ross Maxwell to Sotol Vista and took in the grand views

From here the road begins a steep decent into the Rio Grande Valley near Castolon. We grabbed the mandatory shot of Mule Ears and hiked to the edge of Tuff Canyon before stopping in Castolon Store to grab some souvenirs and a coke.

 

[wngrog]

Santa Elena Canyon is superb. We took our time and hiked all of the way to the end of the canyon and marveled at the power of the water that carved it and the massive boulders that have fallen from the canyon walls.

Bomar showed off a bit for us.......

We took off about an hour behind schedule for Big Bend Ranch National Park via the evil washboard of Old Maverick Road. We stopped once to check out Luna's Jacal. Luna raised a family of 12 in this house.....

 

[under_psi]

great report so far........next......

 

[wngrog]

great report so far........next......

Headed up FM170 to the State Park to meet you.

Tomorrow.

 

[ntsaint]

Moar

 

[wngrog]

So we were running a bit behind schedule at this point so after a quick stop in Terlingua we dropped the hammer up FM170 to the park.

FM170 is one of the most beautiful drives in the United States. It passes along two incredible canyons cut by the Rio Grande.

It's hard to not stop every mile to gawk. We pulled over 2-3 times to take in the grand views and put our hands in the river.

 

[wngrog]

We turned into the state park via a terrible rough shortcut road 4 miles shy of Ft Leighton called Bofecillos Rd. This shaves off a few minutes getting to the main road into the State Park.

I may or may not have just used this as a prop for a picture when we exited the road into the park.....

Tip of the day.....at this point, go ahead and air down. You will be very happy you did. I did not until camp and the drive out was WAY WAY better on 20 PSI that the 35 PSI that I drove in on.

The road into the park has some fantastic views and the road, for the most part is good but it is washboarded in places so be prepared for that.

You have to check in at the main State Park HQ before you head out on any trails that are off the main road and before you camp. You also have to be there before 5:00 pm.

We rolled into the HQ at 4:00 which is 4 hours from Lajitas with stops.

Campsites can be reserved well in advance at the State Park Ranch versus the 48 hours and in-person reservations in the National Park.

They have upgraded road graders, but they still have this beauty on display.....

 

[wngrog]

Only 4 of the 7 of us had ever been to the State Park Ranch before so we repeated our campsite from last year, Tres Papalotes. From the HQ camp is over an hour east so we grabbed up our lone non-100 series Land Cruiser driver and his nasty electric blue 1st gen Tundra and took off for camp.

Tres Papalotes is on the edge of the amazing formation called El Solitario, a sunken ancient volcano. This rock gives you an idea of the type of volcanic rock in the area

Once again, we were blessed with beautiful weather and at last, a great camp fire. We broke out the Skottles and camp stoves and had Louisiana gumbo and pork chops

 

[OGBeno]

Soiid.

 

[spressomon]

Nice post up Nolan! Would like to roll through BB with yous someday.

 

[nissanh]

Why I didn't see this? I am not too far from Big bend (2 hr drive).

 

[rrv333]

Great photos and great story

 

[wngrog]

Nice post up Nolan! Would like to roll through BB with yous someday.

I was beginning to wonder if anyone used this forum.....one of the guys on the trip writes like Cam and he's writing up the colorful version in the club forum.

You would love it. Big views. No people.

 

[wngrog]

We woke up the next morning and fired up the skottles, wandered around Tres Papalotes, took pictures and had a leisurely morning.

 

[wngrog]

We finally split out of camp around 9:30 am. We had a couple of dead-end destinations with small turn arounds at the end so we left 3 of our 7 vehicles at camp. First spot was the Uranium mine. This is a beautiful climb that takes you to a high point on the eastern edge of Big Bend Ranch. Views are outstanding and the trail is great. Not to mention that you get to drive over a 1940's era Uranium mine......

After we drove up to the top, we took the south fork and drove to the end of the road. This was a nice trail down the wash to the southern end of El Solitairo

 

[mervo]

Awesome report, and great pics. Thanks for sharing.