Waking up this morning, I was greeted with the sun creeping up over the mountains. I threw on my hiking clothes and prepped my pack for a hike in the National Park. By 9:00 I was headed to Big Bend which was only about 30 miles or so from where I am staying. Once I reached the park and spoke to the man in the booth I drove to Chiso's Visitor center to acquire some information on the hike I was interested in doing. I don't think I can emphasize enough the raw beauty of this area. At the visitor center, I started talking to the man who worked there, Bob, and he informed me that I don't want to do the Window Trail like I was planning on doing. I was taken aback by what he said thinking to myself now how do you know what I want. So I asked him why he thought that and he told me that I could just step out of the building and see the window from here and that the hike itself was all out in the open and the view just isn't that spectacular. Now, he said if I really want to see something special and have a good hike that I should try the Lost Mine Trail. After talking a bit more I decided to take his advice.
Since there was no parking at the trail head for my camper and the roads were steep and the corners tight he said I could keep my camper in the visitor parking lot until I came back. So that is what I did and let me tell you every time I leave my camper I feel a slight pang of sadness.
Lost Mine Trail is 5 miles round trip with the first 2.5 miles being completely uphill. At the trail head there were multiple signs warning about black bears and noting that a mountain lion was recently spotted in the area. I will admit I was a tad afraid of being attacked though I know the odds/chances are low and I feel like a have a pretty good handle at being aware of my surroundings. Continuing on the trail was in great shape; however, this girl was not in great shape in the slightest. HaHa. The nice thing about this hike is that it is 10 degrees cooler up here then down below which put it at around 84 degrees. The man from the visitor center was correct for the views on the hike were spectacular. When I was almost to the top the rain started...of course it did I mean why wouldn't it rain when I am trying to do something. I kept going but it just started coming down harder and harder. I met a family and asked how much further to the top to which they replied I had maybe two switchbacks left. I was determined to reach the top plus I was already soaking wet so what difference would it make. Unfortunately, as I turned the corner to continue on, the path had turned literally into a river and although I desperately wanted to reach the top after busting my ass I was also not naive and knew it just wasn't safe to continue on. So with reluctance I turned around and caught up to the family so I wasn't alone hiking down in the freezing rain on a path that is now a small river. It did not stop raining until I was a quarter mile from the trail head and then the sun came out and it was like it never happened. I was half tempted to turn around and go back up but I knew with my clothes and shoes soaking wet that that would be a very bad idea.
Back at the visitor center while I was hitching my camper back up a man asked if my camper was for a dog. I laughed and replied no it is for me. He then apologized multiple times and I could see he was embarrassed so I just laughed and said I could see how it would be perfect for a dog and it is small for even me to try to make him feel better. At this point, it was 14:00 about so I headed back to where I stayed last night for Brian and I had made plans for the evening. I changed into some dry clothes and we took off on the bike again to town. He took me back to the porch so I could buy a sticker for my cooler. We got another six pack and looked at stickers till I found one I wanted. We then decided to head back to the restaurant we were at last night and have their pizza again since it was so good. This time we ordered a few beers, texas toothpicks and then after the pizza had an ice cream sundae.
When dinner was done we rode back to pick up our swimsuits and drove in the truck to the local swimming pool. The road to the pool was a dirt road and everywhere you looked there were jackrabbits, lizards, and large millipedes. Arriving at the pool it was situated right below a mountain and in the evening the bats would swoop down to catch the bugs off of the water!
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