Big Bend and Carlsbad

I recently escaped for a week and we went hiking in Big Bend National Park in west Texas. We had an awesome time, Big Bend was in full springtime bloom, and we did some amazing hikes.  I've probably been to Big Bend 9 or 10 times over the last twenty years, and I never get tired of it.

If you want to do more pictures, I have about 45-50 of my shots here: Picasa Web Album: BB&Carlsbad

We hiked the Window the first day. We started at the Chisos basin lodge, and actually hiked out of the basin (there is a side trail close to the end of the hike that lets you sneak out on the outside of the basin along a ledge):

The next day we did the Chimney trail..., the cactus blooms were amazing:


And the Ocotillo was also ablaze:

We also did Lost Mines trail. Such a nice hike, not too hard, but amazing views:

The next day we did a new hike, Red Rock Canyon. It is at the bottom of the Blue Creek trail by the Homer Wilson Ranch, which we were also able to check out. The hiking was a bit sloggy, hiking through gravel beds is slow... but the rock landscape was really interesting and unique:

After fueling up on Terlingua chili the night before at Starlight Theater, we tackled the big hike.... South Rim. 13 miles, and 2000 foot elevation change. Challenging hike that takes you up to a 2500 foot cliff overlooking the desert into Mexico.  Exhilarating. My only complaint was not having a polarizing filter for my camera. Guess that means we'll just need to go back and do it again. :) 

 We also stopped in Carlsbad. Wow, that was fun, it was like being dropped on another planet and wandering around a bizarre landscape:

An extremely good trip, and reminded both Sarah and I of just how much we loooove Big Bend.