BiBe May 18-23

[cookch1]

Pics to come...

Sunday May 18:
Got a good night's sleep and headed out of Austin around 9:30...no early starts during vacation, I'm sleeping late whenver I get a chance. Took 290>I-10>385 and made it to PJ around 5:00. Secured our permit for LM4 and headed to the Basin to find a site. Ended up in #52 which is in the "No Generator" zone and had a fantastic tent site and a great view of the Window. The only downside is that we could smell the sewage lagoon the following morning. We cooked up some steaks and enjoyed the view from our campsite before retiring (fairly early by my standards) at around 10:00.

Monday May 19:
This is the day we had planned to head up to LM4. This was to be my girlfriend's first backpacking adventure. A little background info...on our prevous BiBe excursion we did Emory Peak in one day via the Pinnacles Trail. That was my gf's first real hiking experience and her memories of the Pinnacles trail and it's switchbacks are not favorable. There was not a chance in hell I was going to convince her to hike up that trail carrying a heavy pack...however, I did talk her into taking the Laguna Meadows Trail to LM4, which was as far as she was willing to carry a pack.

So, we rolled out of our sleeping bags around 8:30 and proceeded to make some waffles, pack up our tent, and load up our packs. We weren’t in too big of a hurry and finally ended up at the trailhead around noon. I’m not used to packing all of my water so my pack was a little bit heavier than I’m accustomed to. The previous day when we obtained our permit the ranger informed us that there had been heavy rain on Saturday and there should be plenty of water available to filter. I decided to not bother with any filtering and just take all of our water with us.  In all we took 5 gallons of water with us, I carried 3 of these.  We maintained a slow but steady pace on the trail and only encountered a few other hikers, mostly on their way down. We arrived at LM4 around 2:30, had lunch, and set up camp. We opted for a short nap to ease our now aching muscles. LM4 was quite peaceful and provided ample shade and a nice soundtrack for a mid-afternoon siesta. We awoke and headed for the Blue Creek Trail to do some sightseeing. We ambled down the trail for a short time before reaching a significant downhill section that we did not want to climb back up. Nonetheless, the view here was spectacular and we sat for a while and enjoyed the solitude before heading back to camp. We consumed our tuna fish dinner and shared the evening with the deer and rabbit that wandered through our site.  There was no one camped in any of the adjacent sites and we didn’t hear a human voice for the rest of the night. The full moon lit up the surrounding landscape like a giant lantern in the sky and was eerily bright. The temps got down to the low 60’s and made for a great night’s sleep (the flask of bourbon didn’t hurt either).

...To Be Continued

[mule ears]

Can't wait for the rest, a flask of bourbon never hurts  .  It's also great to hear about the heavy rain report.

[cookch1]

View from site #52


LM4

[cookch1]

From our Blue Creek stopping point

[TheWildWestGuy]

Thanks for posting, we are eager for Part 2.   Sounds like a great trip so far but you will have to convince the GF to do the South Rim hike someday, it's the best hike in Texas..TWWG

[cookch1]

Tuesday May 20:
Hit the trail around 9:30. The planned route was to take the South Rim Trail around to the Boot Canyon Trail then cut back across on the Colima Trail to our site at LM4. This was a spectacular hike as it was our first time to see the views from the Rim. We stopped at the overlook near SW4 and ate some granola bars while enjoying the scenery.  Continued on down the Boot Canyon Trail and encountered one of the few groups of hikers we came across that day at around 11:00. There was a lot of water in the canyon and we saw quite a few snakes and lizards getting a drink along the way. Boot Canyon was absolutely beautiful and such a stark contrast to the views we had taken in at the South Rim. The Colima Trail was equally as rewarding as we stopped and enjoyed a short lunch on a nice big rock. Upon return to camp we opted for another short nap as the temperature was still rather pleasant with a nice breeze cooling things off. Afterwards we packed up our belongings, which included nearly 2 gallons of water.
 We started the downhill trek which landed us at the trailhead in a little over an hour. Our first stop was the store where we promptly purchased some ice cream bars which were enjoyed while sitting in the chairs outside of the store. That was the best Klondike Bar I’ve ever tasted. We returned to the Basin campground to claim a site and ended up with #19 which was isolated and very shady from morning until evening, a fine site. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing, drinking beer, and grilling up the ribeyes we had brought.

Stay tuned, there will be yet another installment...

[cookch1]

Wednesday May 21:
This was a day for taking it easy. In desperate need of a shower we decided we would make it a day in the desert and hit up the showers at RGV. We started the day at around 10:30 with a hike to Cattail Falls. This was our first visit to this location and proved to be one of the highlights of the trip. The transition from harsh desert to tropical oasis is truly something to behold. It honestly looked like a set out of a movie. We were the only ones at the falls and stayed for close to an hour.
At this point we were getting hungry and decided to head over to Dugout Wells and cook up some hot dogs at the picnic tables. The shade of the cottonwoods was nice as the temperatures continued to rise into the 100’s. There were many colorful birds to occupy our attention and a few roadrunners on the hunt as well. After lunch it was clear that there would be no more desert hikes this day as the thermometer in the car was reading 108. We continued on to the deserted RGV for an intensely refreshing shower.  On our return trip we ventured down Glenn Springs Road a bit and found that someone was camping at Nugent Mtn. Holy cow, too hot for me!
We stopped at the PJ gas station on the way back and bought gas for a mere $4.26 a gallon, I actually expected it to be higher.  The pull out in front of the “Bear and Mountain Lion Country” sign was our designated cell phone spot for the week as we both got excellent reception there.  We checked in with those in the real world and continued on to the lodge restaurant for dinner. The food was moderately priced and pretty good. I fully expected to pay an outrageous amount of money for the meal but was pleasantly surprised.  The chicken fried steak and pork ribs were both tasty. Not the best I’ve ever had, but good by my standards.  We walked out just in time to catch the sunset from the Window View Trail.


Thursday May 22:
   Apparently a belly full of beer, pork ribs, and chicken fried steak is the perfect fuel for hiking because we flew up the Lost Mine Trail. The wind was absolutely crazy at the top and I could barely peek over the large rock outcropping at the end of the trail without being blown silly. We had lunch in a relatively sheltered area and admired the view for a good hour. Unlike previous days, we shared the trail with quite a few hikers. The park was becoming more crowded as we neared the Memorial Day weekend. With no other plans for the day, we returned to site #19 and lounged around staring at Casa Grande for most of the afternoon…there was beer involved.
   Around 6:00 we set out on the Window Trail. This hike felt different in that much of the surrounding area was dense with plant life. I knew we would see some wildlife on this hike. The stroll was pleasant in the evening sun and I particularly enjoyed the last portion of the hike through the slickrock canyon. The man made stairs made me think of an MC Escher drawing as they guided us to the Window. The view from the Window was nice but my fear of heights kept me from venturing too close to the edge. Another couple arrived shortly and were much more bold in their quest for a good view. The gentleman was far too close to the edge by my estimation and we beat a hasty retreat out of there for  fear of witnessing a man fall to his death.
   We headed back to the Oak Springs junction and started up towards this fantastic view I’d read about. When we got there it sure lived up to the hype, what a great view looking down from above the Window! The wind was still blowing at a fierce pace so we didn’t tarry too long. On the way back we saw several deer and a couple of skunk…no bears. We did pass a couple who were quite confused. They thought they had made it to the end of the trail and were flabbergasted as to where we could have come from. “How do you know where the end of the trail is? It’s at the creek bed, right?” They were so close.
   We were sad that this would be our last evening in this magical place and wanted to hold on as long as we could. The full moon rose a little later this evening and provided us an opportunity to see just how many stars are in the sky. What a sight!
Friday May 23:
Long drive back to Austin. Checkpoint Charlie was closed at approximately 12:15 when we passed through.
   
 

[RichardM]

The view from the Window was nice but my fear of heights kept me from venturing too close to the edge. Another couple arrived shortly and were much more bold in their quest for a good view. The gentleman was far too close to the edge by my estimation and we beat a hasty retreat out of there for  fear of witnessing a man fall to his death.
   We headed back to the Oak Springs junction and started up towards this fantastic view I’d read about. When we got there it sure lived up to the hype, what a great view looking down from above the Window!

The problem with the Window is that there is no edge!  People venture as far out onto the curved slickrock as far as they feel comfortable.  Haven't heard of anyone going over the edge lately, so I guess it isn't a big problem.  Glad to hear you took the Oak Springs Cutoff.  I've been preaching that for years.

[cookch1]

[cookch1]

Boot Canyon Trail

[cookch1]

Cattail

[cookch1]

Lost Mine Trail

[Al]

Most excellent pictures and trip report.  Thanks!

Al

[mule ears]

Looks like the wind cleared out all the haze, great pictures.  I hope you didn't carry those two gallons of water back down hill 

[chisos_muse]

Really beautiful photos and a great report indeed!