The Divot Diva: Connie Pays Big Time for Being HUA

Sheila, being the highly structured person that she is, planned our hike for Monday on Sunday evening. At my request, she selected 2 easy hikes and 2 moderate hikes. I wanted to do an easy one first, then Santa Elena (moderate, a real understatement if you ask me), then see how I felt about another moderate or easy hike. She mapped it out. She also drove, since I had driven the day before.

We enter the park and wait our turn for the Park Employee to let us in. OH CRAP! We are in Sheila's car, and we don't have a sticker to get in. We decide we will just get another one, and we hoped that Mr. Sanchez wasn't on duty. As luck would have it, he was. We go into our story about we were there with him yesterday and he have us a "get out of jail free" sticker yesterday but were in a different car. We said we were sorry, and to make it easy on him we'd just buy one. Naturally, I couldn't find my drivers license so Sheila said she'd get one. Well, she is NOT 62 so that was out.... but he looked me up again in the computer and was giving us another sticker then he asked how many cars I had. We explained Sheila was just visiting me, yada yada, he was so nice but just started shaking his head. There were now about four cars behind us. He gave us the sticker and asked if we thought we could stay out of trouble for a few days. We promised we would. Bam.... we're on our way. THANK YOU MR SANCHEZ. (He really is quite good looking in that Park Ranger uniform.)

I am looking at the map, taking pictures, talking (I know you find that hard to believe) and I find the spot on the map that Sheila has check marked. I tell her to take the first turn off that says Burrow Mesa. Sheila spotted this little creature. It is not a very clear picture, but I missed my good opportunity because I was studying the map. Sheila was screaming at me to hurry up cause we were on a hill and she was stopped. I did the best I could. We both agreed I would do more picture taking and less studying since we knew the turn off.

I was doing really well with the pictures, then we both saw the turn off. We are really excited to start our hike. Notice who is leading the hike.... danged sure not me. Ms. Aerobics 2016 is in front.

I start whining that I hate going down hill at the first part of the trip. Sheila says not to worry, it's only .5 miles. Well, I could handle that. We continue on down hill. The rain we got the day before Sheila arrived was not that heavy at the RV park, but maybe it was heavier in the park. The cactus leaves were holding water.

This is Sheila's favorite cactus.... I thought it looked like a heart but she thought of Mickey Mouse.

Sheila thought it was lots of fun to get ahead of me. I believe she had been in this small cave taking a crap, and I caught her just coming out. Not to worry, she knows to bury it at least 6 inches deep.

Have you noticed that there is a lot of different scenery? Well, I am really whining now because we have now been hiking up and down and up and down. We decided the book must be wrong on the part that says it is fairly level. I know for damned sure it's wrong about the .5 miles. We continue on because Sheila refuses to go back and she has the car key in her pocket. I thought about killing her and stealing her damned key, but she told me she put it under a special rock and I would just have to wait on her. I thought of going back to the potty cave, but was afraid it would not be safe because of dung detecting critters. I follow the chief.

Wait.... there is no more trail. We have FINALLY ended up on an overlook. It was a little too steep for me to go the last 20 yards down and I am really not part mountain goat like Sheila, so I stayed above while she went down to see what was there.
A pour off.

I am exhausted, we turn around and hike up, and Up and UP and UP !

We finally made it back to the car. I was pooped, to put it mildly. Well, that was sorta of expected. We went to our next stop. While looking at the trail sign, we realized that I had selected the wrong frigging trail on the first stop. We were supposed to do the LOWER Mesa Pour off trail. That was a big mistake. Instead of a .5 mile easy trail, I had selected .......

Upper Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail, Big Bend National Park

Towards the west side of Big Bend National Park at the foot of the Chisos Mountains,Burro Mesa is a low, gently sloping volcanic plateau bordered on the east side by a straight escarpment and to the west by a more uneven line of cliffs and slopes, broken up by many small canyons. One of the larger drainages is Javelina Wash, which crosses the south end of the mesa and at one point falls over a sheer, 100 foot pouroff, at the end of a short enclosed section. The half mile trail that leads to the base of the pouroff is easy and relatively popular, but not so many people walk to the top of the pouroff, a hike of 1.8 miles, somewhat more strenuous due to rougher terrain and a few minor obstacles along the way.

Well crap, no wonder I was having so much trouble. Unfortunately, I cannot blame Sheila. Well yes I can, she chewed me out for having my nose stuck in the hiking map and not watching scenery. Yup, it was all her fault.

DAMN.... there went my hope of doing anything more than maybe seeing the start of Santa Elena. We continue on......

I decided that Sheila was more than welcome to walk any of the trails she wanted, but if I had any strength left, I was saving what little I had left for Santa Elena. I did wait in the car while she checked out Lower Mesa Pour-off. Off we head for Santa Elena. The drive was so beautiful.

I did see that per the hiking guide that Tuff Canyon was only a 100 yard hike to a scenic balcony. I "~~manned~~ Sheila'd up" and decided to try it. Honestly, I amazed myself. I saw a second balcony overlook about an additional 50 yards and added that to my hike. Goodness, I am in better shape than I thought.

So worth it. One bathroom break, then we were there..... our big hike of the day. The drive was again amazing.

TADA!

Santa Elena
Canyon, Big Bend National Park

The majestic Santa Elena Canyon is the most impressive in Big Bend National Park - it is visible for over 10 miles away, as the Rio Grande changes direction abruptly after following beneath the straight Sierra Ponce cliffs for several miles and heads due west, cutting through the mountains via a deep, narrow gorge. This sharp bend in the river was formed by movement along the Terlingua fault zone that crosses the park. For many miles upstream the river is trapped beneath the high walls, eventually emerging into a wider valley at the small town of Lajitas. A 0.7 mile path follows the river up the north side of the canyon, and walking further is possible when the water level is low.
The canyon is quite a long distance from the main Big Bend National Park visitor center and reached by the 30 mile Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, some of which is quite winding and steep, and the journey takes about one hour. The route from the trailhead is initially across the course of Terlingua Creek, a minor Rio Grande tributary, dry for much of the year but several feet deep during rainy periods - the path is sometimes closed if conditions are too dangerous. There is then a steep ascent to pass above a sheer cliff at the start of the canyon, followed by a more gradual descent back to water level, then a flat section of several hundred yards through bushes to a beach, beyond which the water covers the gorge from wall to wall.

Upstream along the Rio Grande River

Above the cliffs rise vertically for over 1,000 feet and the purposefully trickling waters help make this a very pleasant setting, especially if no other people are present. The water is always cloudy, flows quickly and looks rather deep in places but at some times of year the depth is no more than 2 feet and so the canyon may be explored upstream on foot, either by crossing channels between exposed sandbanks or simply walking directly up the river. These low water levels can prevent rafting along the canyon - normally a very popular activity. Even a short distance is worthwhile - the canyon feels much more remote and undisturbed once around the first bend when the entrance is out of view. The experience is a little like being at the foot of the Grand Canyon but better in one way as walking in the Colorado is never possible.

I have never been here right after a rain, so all we did was walk across the dry Terlingua Creek bed. Since it had rained, it was full of water. See the picture below?

The people with the umbrella are attempting to cross the creek where someone had piled trees, anywhere from 1 to 5 inches in diameter, creating a very unstable path across the river. I enlarged the picture and cropped it below to show that once you get across the shaky home made path, you then must get up the muddy clay steps that are left of center in the picture.

Looks easy enough, but wet clay is nothing you can walk up. Some of the trees that were used in making the path were cut down at the top of the clay steps, and they did provide enough of a hand hold that even I was able to get up. The hike was on. It started at approximately 2 pm.

It is about 80 feet from the ground to the top of the “handicap accessible” (yeah, as long as you do cardio step machines daily) stair-ramp configuration. I made it to the top without too very much risk of heart attack. I took a few minutes for a breather, and I was determined to make it to the end. Sheila had one camera, I had another…. The new HEAVY camera.

We got within what appeared to be maybe 50 yards to two huge boulders that I thought (based on info from a fellow bikefest friend) was the end. I told Sheila she should go the rest of the way by herself and I would catch my breath. If she never came back, once I got to the car I would call for help. We started our walk approximately. I took what could possibly be the last pictures ever taken of Sheila in one piece, still able to walk.

It was about 2:30, and I caught my breath for I don't know how long, but decided I'd go back. Sheila was still out on the trail....taking these pictures.

She then started back. It was about 3pm. She saw me and took a picture....

We finally made it back. The clay steps we came up to start our trek appeared to be dry. I started down and realized only the top was dry, I could not get a good footing. I ended up sliding down on my rear. Sheila figured out that she could back down the stairs by holding one of the tops of the roots of a tree that had been cut down to make the crossing. We were set to go back.