Epic 20 Year Anniversary Trip...Big Bend National Park...August 31 (Day 6)

(Kim's Perspective)
Today was the Epic part of the "Epic 20 Year Anniversary Trip".  This was the day I had been waiting for - in more ways than one.  First, it's a big deal to be married for 20 years.  Not too many people pull that off these days.  Has it been all sunshine and lollipops?  That would be an absolute, unequivocal no.  Like every couple, we've had plenty of ups and downs.  The difference is that we try to put the downs behind us and focus on all the ups.  At the end of the day, the ups matter a whole lot more than the downs.  Besides, "for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live" should mean something.  And so it does.  It also means that the "for better" is celebrating our 20 year anniversary doing something we love to do together - which today meant hiking to the top of Emory Peak.

The day dawned bright and beautiful.

The sun's first rays were warming the air and the clouds were slowly creeping in and around the mountain peaks. I was feeling so blessed to be out here enjoying the beauty of this place.  I mean, c'mon, just look at this!!  How this doesn't appeal to everyone, I will never be able to understand.  I walked around for a while taking photos (and of course had to include a shadow picture).  :)

Had you asked me ten years ago how I wanted to spend our 20 year anniversary, I would have said "in Hawaii".  While Hawaii is still on my list of places to see (50 States Bucket List along with all National Parks), it doesn't hold quite the appeal it once did.  I'm sure it's beautiful and amazing, but much of it is busy and crowded and jammed with tourists - which is about as far away from my idea of a dream vacation as one can get.  Beautiful, rugged, remote, pristine, and crowd free?  Now you're talking.  And Big Bend serves that up in spades.

We ate breakfast, ensured we had everything we needed stashed in our backpacks, and then headed to Chisos Basin.  We arrived in time to watch the park ranger unfurl Old Glory and I stood quietly while he raised her to her rightful place.

We were on the trail a little after 8:30 and, after a stop to make some pack adjustments, we trudged along enjoying the cool temps and the cloud cover.

We encountered a young couple returning from an overnight backpack trip on the South Rim.  We stopped and chatted for a bit and while we were conversing, another young guy walked up the trail and engaged in the conversation.  He was hiking alone and asked if we minded him tagging along for a bit.  We warned him we would be slow, but he didn't seem to mind and said if he needed to pick up the pace, he would part ways.  He never did.  :)

His name was David, a 25 year old mechanical engineer from Austin.  He was visiting the park by himself and, after several hours of conversation, we laughed when we found out he was a Boy Scout and the "never hike alone" philosophy had been fully ingrained in him so he just couldn't bring himself to break the #1 rule of hiking.  He was a very well spoken, polite guy so we enjoyed having him along.  Bill talked his ear off about camping and motorcycles (David rides as well) and, well, everything that Bill likes to talk about.  It worked out well.  Bill had someone to chat with THE WHOLE WAY (hahahahaha) and I listened with amusement  (and often chuckled to myself ) while they ceaselessly yapped like a bunch of teenage girls.  I would interject an occasional thought or observance, but I mostly hiked ahead and contented myself with capturing the hike through the eye of the camera.

The trail was amazing and, with so much diversity, every switchback and corner led to another "ooohhh" and "aahhhh" moment.

This by far, is one of the best hikes I've ever done.  After several miles on the Pinnacles Trail, we encountered the trail signs that pointed us to the spur trail that led to Emory Peak.

We stumbled upon a few other trail users.

We only saw one other human on the trail - a young, fit girl hiking by herself at a pretty fast clip.  Clearly, she was never a Girl Scout... Or maybe she was since I don't think they are taught how to do anything other than sell cookies and make crafts.  We told David this was his chance to ditch the old folks but he merely chuckled and continued climbing the trail with us.

From our research, we knew the last leg of the trail required a rock scramble to the top which excited me and concerned Bill.  He's not a big fan of heights.  The NPS trail description is:  "The last quarter mile or so climbs steeply, and the last 25 feet require a scramble up an exposed rock face, but the 360° view from Emory Peak, the highest point in the park, is superb. The antenna and equipment are part of Big Bend's two-way radio system."  Indeed, it was very much an exposed rock face and, indeed, the view was superb.

See the rocks on top?   That's the rock scramble to the peak.

Don't be fooled....if you slip, you will likely fall to your death.  :)

The top of the peak is very narrow and is more like a line of jagged, connected spires.

David took the route to the left and climbed the lower portion.  I think he just wanted to give us some time to ourselves.  ;)

There he is far across the chasm.

 I have an awesome zoom.  :)

We sat for a bit and enjoyed the views....

The clouds were interesting because they were moving so quickly that if you simply waited a moment, they would blow through and you could get a perfectly good view of the valley or the mountains in the distance.  Within moments of clearing, the clouds would roll back in and obscure the view while another spectacular view opened nearby.  We were never able to see a full 360 degrees fully unobstructed, but that added an element of anticipation and appeal.  After all,  you don't get to dictate nature, and I was just happy to be there enjoying the moment after months of anxiously awaiting this hike.

See?  That's me being happy.

We climbed about (always careful to avoid stepping on the gads of ladybugs clustered on the rocks)...

 ...and then exchanged cards by the radio antenna.  That's our version of romance.  :P

We took our annual tradition anniversary photo...

...and poked around a bit more.  Bill found this weird little frog hiding in the crevice between the rocks.

Now that's some good camouflage.

 David came over to join us and then we eventually made our way back down.

We had stashed our backpacks at the bottom of the climb and had (a terrible) lunch.  I had packed two bags of the Seeds of Change organic quinoa and brown rice blend that is normally just heated in a microwave for 90 seconds to produce a tasty and nutritious meal.  Apparently, those 90 seconds of nuking are critical to the tasty part.  I figured cold rice and quinoa would be fine for hiking.  I didn't realize the 90 seconds in the microwave is what actually finishes COOKING the rice.  Ow, my teeth. 

 The views from our lunch spot were pretty cool.

From below, you could see the solar panel on the left side peak David had climbed.  We never did make it over to that side.  We figured climbing to the highest point was sufficient, why risk our death a second time?  :)

The hike back down was just as magnificent as the hike to the top.  Different direction, different perspective. 

 

We returned to the Emory Peak spur junction...

but didn't want to backtrack and return on the Pinnacles Trail, so we turned right on the Boot Canyon Trail (trail name self-explanatory)...

and hiked the mile or so to the Colima Trail junction which connects to the Laguna Meadows Trail on the other side of the loop.

 See?  :)


The hike back was really interesting from a geological standpoint.  The trail, which was mostly packed dirt and rock, suddenly turned into a course, hard, sandy texture that was black as asphalt.

 As I was plodding along, I stopped dead in my tracks to investigate this...thing...alongside the trail.

It was very Sci-Fi.  And huge.  Creepy huge.  Having never encountered one before, I wasn't even sure what I was seeing.  At first I said, "Hey!  A scorpion!", but then I noticed it's weird tail and, admittedly, was a bit confused.  "That's not a scorpion tail...what is that thing???"  I looked it up later and learned it was a Vinegaroon, a type of whip scorpion that can shoot (harmless) acid (that smells like vinegar, thus the name) out of it's tail.  Ummm....that's cool. 

We continued along the Laguna Meadow Trail which had a lot more trees and shrubs than the Pinnacles Trail.

At the lower elevations on the trail, the view opened up and we could look back to where we had just hiked. 

We returned to the truck around 6pm and chatted with David a little longer before we said our goodbyes.  I was tired but felt really accomplished.  We hadn't trained at all for this hike, so I was happy that the 12.2 miles and the 5,000' elevation change didn't kick my butt too terribly bad.  I am also happy that I'm still young enough (using the word "fit" would be inaccurate) to tackle hikes ill-prepared without suffering too greatly for it.  ;)

It was a fantastic day and one of the best anniversary celebrations we've ever had.  No, it didn't involve motorcycles like it usually does, but if felt far more rewarding somehow.  This hike has made me love this park even more.  It's quickly climbing to my list of top five - maybe three - best parks.  This is definitely not an anniversary I'm likely to ever forget.  Thanks, Babe, for humoring me and spending our anniversary on an "Epic Hike in Big Bend National Park".  I love our vacations.  And, like the card says, I love our life.  XOXOXO.

P.S. Let's retire soon so we can travel about for months on end and keep doing cool stuff before we die.