Recommend me a nice long route for next week....

[mule ears]

brendan, looks pretty good, the MYOG helps make for lighter options.  You must be smaller than me for those clothing weights.  You must also be a bit warmer than me, I usually need one more top layer at night.  No spare/sleep socks?  That one light fleece cap is enough for quilt use? (by the way your clothing carried subtotal is off by 5.2 oz.)

Like Al said, no navigation materials?  Maps, compass, gps?  Do not rely on the Trails Illustrated map for finding your way in the Sierra Quemada.  You could get by with just the Emory Peak quad but might want the Cerro Castolon.  Both are available at the visitor center.

The cooking set up is for both of you?  Not cooks I see, just heat water and rehydrate something.  Are you using the steripen in the Fosters can and then pouring it into the platy's?  Can't get the steripen into a platy opening can you?

I would be leery of the Kooka bay pad in this spiny/sharp rock country but if you are really careful...

Likewise, I would be careful with those carbon fiber poles unless you really don't put much stress or weight on them and just use them for pacing and tarp support.  The volcanic rock in Big Bend can eat that kind of thing.  The Native Americans said Big Bend was the place the Great Spirit put all the rock left over from making the earth, you will see what they meant!

No repair stuff, even duct tape?  Only one mini bic? No sunscreen?

[trtlrock]

My $0.02...

While I'm a big fan of breathable trail-runner style footwear, I don't think it's appropriate in BiBe unless you're solely hiking in washes and on trails. If you do any x-country, you're going to run into lots of dog cholla & tasajillo parts. They're difficult to see & avoid, and most of the time you're made aware once you've impaled yourself in the foot.

I wouldn't go on this type of trek without a GPS. Others would substitute topos & compass, if that's their style.

BiBe's pretty photogenic -- I'd take another cam battery, at least.

While not common, temps in the high teens are not unusual -- be prepared

Personally, I don't think gaiters are much use in BiBe. The taller, industrial ones are too heavy & hot. The shorties are too fragile to be much good.

Have a great trip!

[brendan]

I do sleep pretty warm and wear size small clothes.  I print topos and plan my trips from the excellent hillmap.com and cary one of several compasses depending on the trip, as well as a garmin foretrex 301 depending on the trip.

I do carry sleep socks.  I haven't looked at that gear list in a long time...looks like it's time to go through it. 

As for the steripen, i prefilter with the bandana into the fosters can where it gets zapped.  In areas where i know it will be really nasty water I've carried coffee filters or a 1 micron duda diesel filter to prefilter.  I'm very used to not-so-clear water and would much prefer the steripen to a filter in those situations.  I always carry a couple micropur tabs as backup but have never needed them.

Cooking set up is for both of us.  We dehydrate our own meals that we cook ahead of time and rehydrate in freezer bags.  I usually carry 1.4 lbs/day and my wife a bit less.

I probably won't take the kooka bay pad for the reason you mentioned.  Probably replace with a ridgerest or take an extra grounsheet and/or 1/8" ccf to put under it.  I do carry duct tape and sunscreen as well as a book of matches in a ziplock (my wife ususally carries a lighter as well).  These are all in the the not-very-specific "1st aide and other essentials" bag.  Also includes small toothbrush, baking soda, a bit of leukotape, small tube of superglue, some meds, etc.   Some of that is often shared with my wife. 

I'm considering taking a canister stove (snow peak giga) rather than the alcohol for quicker boils due to the shorter days.  Having coffee done faster is always welcome

We're going to have the entire week available so feel free to offer any other recommendations for parts of the park to check out other than the backpacking route.  Other good spots worth camping a night or two? 



 

[mule ears]

brendan, thanks for that hillmap.com link, somehow I had never run across that.  The side by side with topo/terrain and satellite image is interesting.

You will be fine with the bandana and steripen, all the water sources we found last month had fairly clear pools and we didn't have to use any green or cloudy sources (the Rio was the most cloudy).

We're going to have the entire week available so feel free to offer any other recommendations for parts of the park to check out other than the backpacking route.  Other good spots worth camping a night or two? 

Not sure how much time you will have in the park and the route I suggested is probably best done as at least a 6 day, 5 night trip.  (off the top of my head- 1st night SW Rim, 2nd night probably around the middle Smoky Creek trail or as far as Mule Ears spring, 3rd night Dominguez spring, 4th night along the Dodson probably near where it crosses Fresno creek, 5th night NE/SE rim)  Any faster and you probably won't enjoy it as much.

Not sure what kind of vehicle you will have but there are a lot of backcountry roadside campsites that make good places to dayhike from like Nine Point draw (near Dog Canyon and Devils Den) or Grapevine Hills.  If you wanted another overnight hike you probably would like Marufo Vega and camp on the river.

I have also left you a PM with some other details.  Have fun and make sure to give us report (including water) when you get home.

[brendan]

Thanks everyone for the help, it's much appreciated.  I'll definitely post a trip report when we return.

On hillmap, you might have figured this out by playing around, but the ArcGisUsa are usually the best looking quads (compared to mytopo or MSR-USGS).   Great site and he keeps adding features.

[mule ears]

brendan, wanted to clarify one bit of the route/trails down near the Mule Ears.  Most of the old maps have the location of the eastern end of the Mule Ears trail wrong and a section of the Smoky Creek trail north of there wrong also.   Their incorrect locations have caught many folks looking for trails that don't exist.

Some of the online maps now have corrected the Smoky Creek trail change (in the 7.5 minute scale) but the Trails Illustrated is still wrong but it does have the Mule Ears trail correct.

In the map below, the yellow sections are no longer there.  Also if you do go cross country from the Mule Ears trail to Smoky spring and beyond, you will just want to go  east from the end of the red Mule Ears trail directly over to Smoky spring and disregard the trail shown on the map coming up from the south.

[TheWildWestGuy]

Good Catch ME's,  the old trails marked on the map are not even trails anymore and you are much better off staying on the main trail and not trying to bushwacke on these old routes.  I have been to this area and can't even see much evidence of these trails ever existing - like someone made a mistake and it has been carried forward on maps for decades.  Maybe they did exist at one time.   The Smokey Creek drainage usually has water at the Blackrock Spring about 4 miles past Mule Ears Spring and at 2-3 other locations along the route but it's unreliable right now due to the drought.

Good Luck and Please post a trip report and water report when you get done, it's hard to get reliable water reports from the remote backcountry and the NPS Rangers are usually not up-to-date on their advice.  TWWG

[Jimbow]

A couple of front country things to do in and around the back country trips mentioned. . .

Ice cream at Castalon
Cold beverage of your choice in Terlingua on the porch at the general store
Hot shower at Rio Grande Village
Short hike to the hot springs in the early evening

Gone only a few days and want to be back.