My wife and I spent last week hanging out in Big Bend and the state park next to it. We got to hike, paddle, and horseback ride over the wildest and most scenic landscape you can imagine. We tent camped the whole time except for the ride home. For the most part the weather was absolutely beautiful, but a few days the wind and cold destroyed us and our gear. On the second day there we came back to camp and out tent was blown off the pad, along with our cots and everything else. The tent survived but we had to sleep in the truck that night as the wind was so bad we could not set the tent back up. Besides those few hiccups we had a great trip and were awestruck by the landscape and it’s beauty. If you ever get the chance you need to go. A majority of the trails are located off of black top roads and anything you need such as gas and food is available. We arrived on Sunday and set up camp. On Monday we did the Window View Trail (6 miles round trip) and then did Balanced Rock Trail (2 miles Round Trip)
On Tuesday we did the St Elena Canyon Hike (2.5 miles) and the hot springs (1.0 mile) and a scenic drive to St. Elena Canyon (20 miles)
On Wednesday we did a horseback ride around the state park(4hrs) and then did a short paddle (1.5 hrs)down the Rio Grand River in a canoe.
On Thursday we did the longest hike of the trip (11 miles round trip) to the top of Emory Peak (7000 feet. It took 7.5 hours to hike this trail. Even though we crammed a lot of activities in each day we still had ample time to get back to camp and cook and have a few beers. I really enjoyed the hot springs as the water was 105 degrees and the river was much colder so you could go back and forth between them. You can also swim across the river and buy a taco from a very nice Mexican family that sets up shop over there on certain days. They were there that day so we acquired us a big plate of tacos and ate them in the hot springs. I also really enjoyed the hike to Emory Peak. It was something I really wanted to do for the challenge and it did not disappoint. We were beat when we got back from the hike, but the views were spectacular.
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On Tuesday we did the St Elena Canyon Hike (2.5 miles) and the hot springs (1.0 mile) and a scenic drive to St. Elena Canyon (20 miles)
On Wednesday we did a horseback ride around the state park(4hrs) and then did a short paddle (1.5 hrs)down the Rio Grand River in a canoe.
On Thursday we did the longest hike of the trip (11 miles round trip) to the top of Emory Peak (7000 feet. It took 7.5 hours to hike this trail. Even though we crammed a lot of activities in each day we still had ample time to get back to camp and cook and have a few beers. I really enjoyed the hot springs as the water was 105 degrees and the river was much colder so you could go back and forth between them. You can also swim across the river and buy a taco from a very nice Mexican family that sets up shop over there on certain days. They were there that day so we acquired us a big plate of tacos and ate them in the hot springs. I also really enjoyed the hike to Emory Peak. It was something I really wanted to do for the challenge and it did not disappoint. We were beat when we got back from the hike, but the views were spectacular.
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