Friday Feb 24, 2023 - Today we hiked the Chimneys trail, which is only 400 ft elevation and 4.8 miles round trip. We left around 10 and finished at 1:00. To get to the trailhead we had to drive back on the Maxwell scenic drive, which we enjoyed yet again. After the hike we hung out at the visitor center in the shade enjoying the view and the day’s crossword puzzle. It was a beautiful evening at the campground, sitting outside enjoying the views and the quiet.
Mule Ears from the scenic drive
Starting our hike to the chimneys
Mule ears from the trail
Getting close to the chimneys and a view of Santa Elena canyon (the big crack in the wall in the distance) in between the chimneys. We’re headed to that hike tomorrow morning on our way to Guadalupe Mountains NP
We hiked up to the base of the left chimney for some shade and found this Native American rock art
Lunch under the shade of the chimney
I climbed up to the base of the other group of chimneys to get a look through this hole in the wall
Kevin watched from below
A pretty cactus heart
Another shot of Santa Elena canyon
We’re almost back to the car. It got hot in all that sun!
Saturday Feb 25, 2023 - we got up early today since we have a 4.5 hour drive to Guadalupe Mts and we want to hike the Santa Elena trail before we leave Big Bend. We drove to the trailhead just before sunrise and on the way there found a pull-out with the most beautiful sunrise we’ve ever seen. We were the first to the trailhead and headed out for our hike. You have to cross the creek to get to the trail but if you walk down a bit to the right the creek ends and you don’t have to get your feet wet. This was a little goat path to the main trail and we were really happy to have our trekking poles with us because the trail was a bit precarious with 15 foot drop offs. The main trail was quite easy and the whole hike was only 3.2 miles round trip. The trail takes you back into the narrow part of the canyon alongside the Rio Grande river. Once again it was wonderful to have the trail to ourselves and we didn’t see anyone til we were halfway back to the car. The drive to Guadalupe Mts was uneventful, just a quick stop in Marfa for a few groceries and a quick lunch.
Cottonwood site
Be ready for lots of sunrise shots, it was amazing!
It looked like the world was on fire
The Santa Elena canyon in the distance
The start of the trail
Figuring out how to get across the creek
The hike into the canyon
Lots of huge rocks fell from the other side of the canyon during an ancient earthquake
The end of the trail
Heading back
The eroded goat trail along the creek
Breakfast (eggs and sausage) at another lookout
We’ve been seeing more and more lupines one of my favorite wildflowers
Kev’s favorite section on the scenic drive. An area with huge rocks on top of volcanic ash
Last view of Mule Ears, a different view with a little fog this morning
More volcano debris
A long and winding (scenic) road
Another of many border patrol stations we have to go through since we’re so close to the Mexican border
Outside of Marfa an homage to the James Dean movie the Giant. It even had music playing from the movie
First views of Guadalupe Mountain!
