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Started By
Message
re: Our trip west (Big Bend, White Sands, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon)
Posted on 2/23/21 at 11:49 pm to DLauw
Posted on 2/23/21 at 11:49 pm to DLauw
We got off I10 in Marathon to head towards the park. There was no ice here. It was all powdery snow. I set the cruise at 50 and headed down 385 towards the park.
My daughter found a place to lodge for the night with after hours check-in and booked it. As we drove through the park under the cover of darkness (like really dark) on a road that was dry and clear, I looked up and saw the clouds had cleared.
I pulled over and killed the truck and lights. Alauw and I stood there with jaws agape, and just stared at the stars. My god, it was like being at a planetarium times a thousand. I don’t remember the last time that I saw so many stars. There was zero light pollution from the ground and the crescent moon was a just a sliver low on the dark horizon.
We got to our “la casita” around 10:00pm that rests just outside the park entrance in Terlingua.
Sunday 02/14
Up early, we hit the park. Alauw’s plans consisted of hiking one particular trail and then exploring the rest of the day.
Side story: when checking in at the ranger station, the ranger asked what part of Louisiana we were from. Come to find out, this ol’ boy was from Pineville. I asked how he ended up here and he said, “I came out here for a visit in the 90’s and just couldn’t leave.”
We hit the Santa Elena trail with zero traffic. Because this is the only trail we hiked here, I can’t say what trails have a better view in this park, but damn. It was a gorgeous 1.7 mile round trip hike.
After that hike, we found another trail that lead to the ruins of some the original settlers, farmers and ranchers in the area.
My daughter found a place to lodge for the night with after hours check-in and booked it. As we drove through the park under the cover of darkness (like really dark) on a road that was dry and clear, I looked up and saw the clouds had cleared.
I pulled over and killed the truck and lights. Alauw and I stood there with jaws agape, and just stared at the stars. My god, it was like being at a planetarium times a thousand. I don’t remember the last time that I saw so many stars. There was zero light pollution from the ground and the crescent moon was a just a sliver low on the dark horizon.
We got to our “la casita” around 10:00pm that rests just outside the park entrance in Terlingua.
Sunday 02/14
Up early, we hit the park. Alauw’s plans consisted of hiking one particular trail and then exploring the rest of the day.
Side story: when checking in at the ranger station, the ranger asked what part of Louisiana we were from. Come to find out, this ol’ boy was from Pineville. I asked how he ended up here and he said, “I came out here for a visit in the 90’s and just couldn’t leave.”
We hit the Santa Elena trail with zero traffic. Because this is the only trail we hiked here, I can’t say what trails have a better view in this park, but damn. It was a gorgeous 1.7 mile round trip hike.
After that hike, we found another trail that lead to the ruins of some the original settlers, farmers and ranchers in the area.
This post was edited on 2/24/21 at 9:40 am
1
Posted on 2/23/21 at 11:49 pm to DLauw
We drove from there and found River Road. The sign at the entrance tells you to have a full tank of gas before you enter. River Road is a maintained dirt, sand and rock road that runs for like 50 miles through the park. It connects to other roads and hiking trails. It’s a damn fun drive in a 4wd vehicle at 25-30mph. The views along the way are gorgeous.
There are also “unmaintained” connector roads that are four wheel drive only. We took one named Black Gap Pass and I was able to get in a some light rock crawling in the Jeep.
I didn’t take as many pictures as I should have at Big Bend. Once alauw goes through her photos, I may add some more.
Around 4pm we started heading back to the La Casita. As we drove, we could see the winter storm coming over the mountains. Damn, it was beautiful and scary at the same time. We didn’t get photos.
Being that we’re both newly (relatively) single, I made us valentines dinner. Ribeyes, asparagus and a salad. I grilled the ribeyes on my little pit that alauw got me a few Christmases ago and watched the storm come in.
Monday 02/15
The next morning, the roads were completely iced over and we received about 3” of snow.
Alauw made a call that morning to the owners to let them know we would be staying another night. The roads were impassable, but I kept an eye on them and the weather. Around noon, everything had begun to thaw. I walked to the road and determined that we were good to go.
The owners let us cancel our night and allow us a late checkout and we hit the road again. I still need to leave a review of their place.
We made a stop right past Marfa, Texas at the Prada Store.
Interesting, to say the least. Marfa is apparently some hippy artist town and the store is an exhibit put on by the local artist and backers. It’s actually filled with Prada shoes and bags. Art. Huh.
Because our itinerary was now skewed, alauw called ahead and cancelled our reservations at all stops for the rest of the week. We would now make them on the fly.
There are also “unmaintained” connector roads that are four wheel drive only. We took one named Black Gap Pass and I was able to get in a some light rock crawling in the Jeep.
I didn’t take as many pictures as I should have at Big Bend. Once alauw goes through her photos, I may add some more.
Around 4pm we started heading back to the La Casita. As we drove, we could see the winter storm coming over the mountains. Damn, it was beautiful and scary at the same time. We didn’t get photos.
Being that we’re both newly (relatively) single, I made us valentines dinner. Ribeyes, asparagus and a salad. I grilled the ribeyes on my little pit that alauw got me a few Christmases ago and watched the storm come in.
Monday 02/15
The next morning, the roads were completely iced over and we received about 3” of snow.
Alauw made a call that morning to the owners to let them know we would be staying another night. The roads were impassable, but I kept an eye on them and the weather. Around noon, everything had begun to thaw. I walked to the road and determined that we were good to go.
The owners let us cancel our night and allow us a late checkout and we hit the road again. I still need to leave a review of their place.
We made a stop right past Marfa, Texas at the Prada Store.
Interesting, to say the least. Marfa is apparently some hippy artist town and the store is an exhibit put on by the local artist and backers. It’s actually filled with Prada shoes and bags. Art. Huh.
Because our itinerary was now skewed, alauw called ahead and cancelled our reservations at all stops for the rest of the week. We would now make them on the fly.
This post was edited on 2/24/21 at 9:44 am
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