Big Bend Trip - Labor Day Weekend (2 Viewers)

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Joined
May 8, 2019
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2
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Location
Dallas
Hi all, I am planning a labor day trek to Big Bend from Dallas over the labor day weekend. If anyone will be out there that weekend or wants to join let me know. The plan is to scout out some of the notable attractions and roads, do some stargazing, hiking, and drink some good beer. I will probably leave for Moab on August 28 and return on Labor day but haven't locked anything down yet.

I just picked up my LC about a month ago and broke it in with a trip to the San Juans and Moab for July 4th (after doing all the necessary PM). Excited to go on more big trips and create reasons to buy more fun gear. Picture below is on Fins n Things in Moab, where I left some of my hitch behind as a warning to future cruisers.


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Have you ever been to Big Bend? If not I can give you a "first timer's" guide that I wrote for coworkers. I've been out there a dozen or more times and while I haven't seen it all by any means I can probably make your trip more productive. PM me if your interested. I'm currently living in the 4 Corners but still have a place in TX as this is hopefully a temporary gig
 
I go out a few times a year. September will be very hot unless you are up in the Chisos. Are you hitting the state park?
 
Hi Mike I haven't been to Big Bend, a first timers guide would be wonderful! Feel free to PM me, thanks.

Have you ever been to Big Bend? If not I can give you a "first timer's" guide that I wrote for coworkers. I've been out there a dozen or more times and while I haven't seen it all by any means I can probably make your trip more productive. PM me if your interested. I'm currently living in the 4 Corners but still have a place in TX as this is hopefully a temporary gig
 
Yeah it is definitely early in the year, looks like 90/70 which I could handle but will be hot. I was planning on keeping it to the national park as I will only have a few days out there.

I go out a few times a year. September will be very hot unless you are up in the Chisos. Are you hitting the state park?
 
I would be on temps in the 100s in September with possible monsoons in the afternoons. Are you camping or staying outside the park? I was there in March and camped in Terlingua. In November we camped in the state park and last year we camped in the state park a few times. I will be working that weekend but I look forward to your report.
 
Hi Mike I haven't been to Big Bend, a first timers guide would be wonderful! Feel free to PM me, thanks.

PM'd yesterday. I was able to attach the PDF. It's basically a PDF that I have sent to coworkers. There's a lot to see in the park and the PDF highlights the more interesting places to see (like the waterfall at Cattail Falls). Sadly, the Castolan store burned down this year. It was a traditional stop for ice cream when coming back for Santa Elena Canyon (gorgeous and very accessible). The I've been going there for a very long time and I haven't seen anywhere near all of it. On my first overnight backpack to the South Rim I didn't take a tent (I like sleeping out when I can) and I woke up with frost on my sleeping bag. That was in September.

Hot is relative in BiBe. it's a dry heat so you lose a lot of water and don't really feel dehydrated until it's a problem. Personally speaking I carry a cooler, with ice, full of water. I also DO NOT drain my cooler until I'm on my way home (typically I water the plants at a little roadside park area that is a little south of the USBP checkpoint with it). When I hike I have a Camelbak full of water and two liters, one in each side pocket. There are some places that are simply off limits in July / August, like the Marufo-Vega trail on the east side of the park. The Big Bend Chat forum lost our moderator and friend last month because he tried to hike out to Randall's Overlook at the wrong time of the year. He almost made it back :frown:

The River Road is a nice trip. I've done that a dozen or more times. I did most of the trips with just a spare, no compressor, no tire kit. Then one afternoon in August, when the temp gauge said 112, almost to Mariscal Mine, a friend of mine said "what's that sound". I told him I didn't hear anything. He said "it sounds like air" :cautious: about that time I got a low, right front tire, air pressure warning. I was driving an '08' 2500HD Silverado back then and I had just put brand new KO2's on it. I didn't air down like I should have. A rock went into the thickest part of the outside lug in the tire and cut all the way through. If I would have had a compressor and a repair kit I could have stuffed a bunch of plugs in it and aired it up. Instead I had to change the tire in 112 degree heat and abort the planned trip to Mariscal Mine for night photography. I have on board air, tire repair kit, and high lift jack now. That said, I've seen a lot of rental cars out there.

The desert isn't a place to be feared. It simply needs to be respected.

There are no technical trails in BiBe. Some will argue that point. I live in the Four Corners (for now). I have the mountains to the north, Utah (where they invented technical trails), and the canyons around Farmington. BiBe has one trail, Black Gap Road, that simply isn't that impressive. It's pretty, just not difficult. The last time I went through Black Gap a guy in a brand new Toyota long bed pickup went through with me.

If you stay in the Basin, make sure you go outside at night and check out the stars. The central bulge of the Milky Way (Andromeda Galaxy) is up early enough in September that you aren't out at 3am to see it. More like 10pm. If you don't stay in the Basin at least drive up, check out the restaurant, visitor center, hotel rooms, and cabins up the hill behind the hotel rooms. I haven't been able to get it to work out but I have a goal of being in the Basin when it snows and shuts the road leaving down.

Try to make a trip into old Terlingua and check out the ghost town.

Photos below (maybe one timelapse)

South Rim. The loop is about 14 miles. I've done the loop 3 or 4 times. and up the Pinnacles / down the Pinnacles, a little shorter, more than that. Either work. I'm fond of up/down the Pinnacles. It's a long day hike.

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Sotol Vista sunset. Sunsets are a thing at Sotol Vista. Great place to take in the view, sit in the lawn chair, and relax. They are never the same.

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The Mule Ears. A friend and I hiked out to the spring last May starting at around 10am (a little too late really). It was amazing to me how many people we met on the trail with no water... crazy

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East side of the park, Boquillas Canyon but no bandits will come get you. You're literally a short walk across the river (don't do that) and I've never felt threatened.

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The Hot Springs
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The West side of the park. Santa Elena Canyon by moonlight

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Cattail Falls (caveat, this was an extra special time. The falls had good flow. Normally it's just a trickle BUT it's always a cool oasis no matter what time you go in the summer.

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Old Terlingua Cemetary
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Almost forgot the timelapse

 
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