Last week we ventured to Big Bend for a four night camping trip (plus another night each way).
Since we're about a 10 hour drive away, we split the drive into two days, stopping the first night near Junction at South Llano River State Park. We managed to get there just as some big storms finished passing through. It was already pretty late in the day, so we just set up camp and milled around awhile. Matilda kept asking for her friends (specifically Garrett, Feffyn, and Baby Sal). I guess she expected that since we had driven so far, that we were going to see family or friends.
At one point Matilda's hands broke out in hives (super randomly), so we headed up to the front office to see if they had any ideas on what could have caused it. Luckily, it was fluke, and dissipated pretty quickly. We also hung out for a bit with another couple that had a little girl just a few months younger than Matilda.
The next morning, we ate breakfast and did a quick 1.5 mile hike up the Overlook Trail before getting back on the road.
The second day's drive seemed longer than the first, but maybe it was just the landscape of West Texas that made it seem that way. We stopped for lunch at a packed Dairy Queen in Fort Stockton where Matilda proceeded to eat the biggest and longest meal of her life. For being such a grazer, we couldn't believe the amount of food she downed at one time. Then we had a quick stop for gas in Marathon before heading further south into the park.
Matilda was such a good trooper the whole time in the car. She mostly just entertained herself with toys or books. Plus, she got a pretty good car nap in both days.
When we finally got to Big Bend around 4 pm, we were surprised to see a huge line of cars waiting to get into the park. We were fortunate enough to have gotten reservations ahead of time. The park only allows a certain number of reservations for the three campgrounds, and the others are on a first-come-first-serve basis. By the time we had gotten there on Saturday, all campsites (including backcountry) were full. I still don't understand why they didn't hire more than one person to man the entrance booth during peak Spring Break hours. It took us over an hour to get in. Matilda and Jason left me in the car and walked up to the Persimmon Gap Visitor Center (which was oddly closed).
Once in, we checked out the two campsites we had reserved at the Chiso Basin campground and figured out how to best coordinate tents and setup and such. Another one of our camping family of friends was meeting us there late that night. Matilda and I headed to bed before they got there.
The next morning, Matilda was ecstatic to learn that our friends had joined us. I had been suffering from allergies and asthmas for about two days in a row, and had a pretty bad asthma attack mid-day, so I wasn't able to join everyone on the first Big Bend hike. After a lunch of what Matilda referred to as "camp pizza" (aka cheese quesadillas), they all went on the 4 mile Window Hike (800 feet elevation gain).
We basically didn't worry about formal naptimes during the trip and relied on Matilda either napping in the car or in the backpack on hikes, which actually worked out pretty well.
The next morning, we got somewhat of an earlier start and drove to the other side of the park. We quickly stopped at the Castolon Visitor Center before heading to the Rio Grande River to hike the Santa Elena Canyon Trail. It was a quick 2.9 mile hike, but had pretty views of the river.
The girls had fun playing in the river after our hike. We stopped at the Cottonwood campground for a picnic lunch and also managed to squeeze in a short hike on the 1.3 mile Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail on our way back to our side of the park.
That evening, Matilda enjoyed playing in the dirt before bath and bedtime. She loved her nightly baths, which everyone else found quite amusing.
The next morning, Jason and Lee went on a 12.5 mile run along the South Rim Trail (2,400 elevation gain).
Then we all headed to hike the 4.5 mile Lost Mine Trail (1,000 elevation gain). I actually thought this hike was kind of tough, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. We all enjoyed the views at the top (and Matilda continued her quest of rearranging every rock in Big Bend).
That evening we enjoyed a cooked meal at the Chisos Basin Lodge.
The next morning we packed up fairly quickly, and were on the road by 9:30 am. We quickly stopped back by the Panther Junction and Persimmon Gap Visitor Centers to add more stamps to Matilda's National Park Passport book. (I think we only missed one stamp location since we didn't make it down to the Rio Grande Village Visitor Center.)
Our stay at Big Bend was great. Having the older girls there to help entertain Matilda was a godsend. I asked Matilda what her favorite part of the trip was, and she said "stars, nice", and I couldn't agree more. Our tent has a mesh ceiling, and we had panoramic views of the night sky.
We couldn't believe how chilly the nights were compared to the bright, warm days. We definitely loaded up on sunblock during the days. I would not want to visit the park during the middle of summer.
We didn't see any black bears or mountain lions while we were there, but we did see plenty of rabbits and roadrunners, a few deer and javelinas, and even a coyote on our way out of the park.
On our way out of West Texas, we stopped at a BBQ joint in Iraan, which was pretty good.
We stayed our last night at a AirBnB in Helotes called Casa Lejana. We loved it, and considering we hadn't showered in five days, it was just what we needed. We had pizza delivered which we ate in a cute outside dining area, before calling it a night.
The next morning, the owners were sweet enough to let Matilda crash a play date they had arranged for their baby and friends. Then we were able to meet my parents, who were passing through San Antonio, for lunch. It was nice that the timing worked out so well.
Other than my asthma, we really had no complaints about this trip. Matilda was disappointed to be home. She kept asking for more "camping" and "hike, hike, hike". Hiking up and down our driveway just isn't the same. :)
P.S. The pictures from the Window Trail and Lost Mine Trail were taken by our friends.
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