More of Big Bend

Off to the Rangers Office this morning to change campsites.  Starting Sunday, we'll be at Paint Gap 1. Stopped for coffee at the Castolon Store before we head off to Chisos Basin by way of Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. 

Up Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive… stopped at Tuff Canyon for cereal and the hike and then onward to The Window Trail in Chisos Basin. 

Decided on the the Lost Mine Trail, it's a bit shorter and we did take our sweet time getting to Chisos Basin.  Lions and Bear .. Oh My!!

Lost Mine was 4.8 miles round trip great switchbacks and views. The last 1/2 mile was mostly up! The trail is really well constructed/maintained.  I'm sure it was the CCC!  Best hiking trails and campgrounds where made by the CCC. It was a great 1/2 day trail. Took under 3 hours and we spent 1/2 hour exploring around the top.

 

Went to check out the campground…small mostly tents nestled in the Chisos Basin (must be were the name came from 💡). 

Some sites are just big enough for a very small tent. On to the store and picked up some kind bars and lotion for our very dry skin. 

The night was spent at K-Bar 1, we had ribs, baked beans and beets for dinner. Temperature got down to only 57 last nite and 75 while climbing. 

We also took a desert shower…we haven't really used our shower in the van, much, but have used the outside shower a couple of times. Most of the time we use the campgrounds shower/ bathrooms. Last night we both showered with our outside shower, worked like a charm! Nice warm water too!

Good morning! Bacon, eggs and coffee and devotions! Great way to start! Stopped at Panther Junction to fix our dates. The dates we are camping in the park didn't match the dates on our campsite pass…
Got the dates corrected and watched a 20 minute video about the park and then walked the garden and learned the names of many of the plants we have been seeing.

Balanced Rock

Ok, Balanced Rock Trail is six miles or one hour van time on a gravel road from the main road! Then a beautiful 1 mile hike into a boulder strewn wash/canyon. There were two people at the top playing some kind of meditation/native American music and taking pictures. A guy and his son came up and complained about the music. They kept play it… 
Very cool area and climb. I loved the layered rock flow. We practiced our plant identification along the hike…we'll have to go back to a visitors center to straighten ourselves out about a couple of plants. On the way in (6 mile/1 hour drive, ugh), got pictures of a coyote, score!

Writing this as we head back on the gravel road, not easy. 

Heading back to camp.

Our driveway

Todays a day of getting some business taken care of.  Last time we got water and dumped the tanks was at Stillwell, almost 5 days ago. We are almost out of water and our tanks are full.  Time to find civiliation....Stopped in Terlingua, just north and outside of Big Bend, and paid $15 at an RV Campground to dump our tanks and fill with water. What a dismal place. They people were friendly but the campground was just off the main highway and not a tree, not even a small one. Nothing but gravel. But we're grateful to have gotten ourselves straightened out. 

We drove over to the ghost town and the back to KB 2 for burgers on the grill and s'mores!! Jim is one happy camper!

Last night Jim woke me up to see the "Javalinas". You'll have to ask him about them, haha.

 

A bit irritable today. Not sure why, did all the usual. Breakfast, coffee, devotions...anyway... 
Went to Window Trail and hiked along a dry river/wash to a "window", where, when the river is full of water, the water spills through the "window" into the valley below. The rock walls are very craggy and ragged but many places along the floor is smooth and glasslike. Great 4 mile round trip. All down hill out and up hill back. 
There is another trail that begins 1/4 mile before you get to the window, Oak Springs, hadn't read about it, I just know it's 2 miles out, up a cliff and down and 2 miles back. Didn't hike it, it's already going to be late and we were going to take showers and do laundry this afternoon. 

On the way to Rio Grande Village for showers and laundry we stopped at Panther Junction and walked through the plant garden again. Had to correct some of our plant naming we were doing. 
It is so frustrating to try and use the internet and have it be so slow and unresponsive. We were trying to plan our great next thing and there is supposed to be wifi, wellllllll, no. Just enough to frustrate! And that I was…guess we're going to go blind. We'll figure out camping and such as we go 😩😳 Just have to have faith that it will all work out. 
On to Paint Gap 1 for chicken, potatoes, carrots and onion foil wraps over charcoal.  Our last night in Big Bend!