Off Trail Bucket List

[steelfrog]

So, what are you studying for off-trail explorations in BBNP and surrounds (including Christmas Mountains, nearby Mexico, BBRSP, etc).

Some of mine are:

The Punta
Chisos NW Rim & Maple Canyon
Sue Peaks
The Solitario
The Corazones
Crown
Panther
Mystery Ridge and Ward
Goat and Trap

[lsnead]

Every named peak in the park and every point, spire, peak in the Quemada..
I can dream big can't I?

[Homer67]

After doing the OML last Nov, I've had a bit of a "what next" feeling about the park.  We've seen the big sites, done some great cross-country hikes.  Our trip this past March was awesome!  But it was made up of multiple treks to different spots we've had in mind in our particular searches. I was surprised at my girl's want of "just going this way" on our hikes; she can haul a good bit of water, too. Some places we checked out were so magnificent, I won't post anything here, the others we saw were nice too, but a bust as far as what I'd hoped we'd find. I still enjoyed every moment in the desert though! Sometimes even if we come up short it still feels good!

At this stage I am into canvassing the east side of the park.  There are some very cool spots in the MV area, not just for the sights, but for what else may be found there! I am also intrigued by the idea of getting behind the Caballo Muerto on the far east side of the park where it seems few would go --- I dig the solitude!

So it's time for me to keep hitting the books and scouring topos/satellite views and trying to plan out what our next set of multi-nighters will be.

[TheWildWestGuy]

If your looking for a challenging route try parking at Mule Ears, hike to Smokey Creek Trail Junction on the main trail, then head X-country to Smokey Spring and go up and over Jacks Pass down to Dominquez Springs.  From there go up Fisk Canyon to the cut-off around Dominquez Mtn over to Elephant Tusk and follow it's rough trail up to the Dodson.  From there go down the Dodson to the Smokey Creek trail and route down back to Mule Ears and your vehicle.

This is a long 3-night backpack and you will be about 17 trail miles from your vehicle with no cell service or realistic hope of rescue.  Water conditions are not conducive to this hike right now, wait for rain and cooler temperatures!   The route between Smokey Spring and Dominquez Spring is rough and unmarked, slow going so be prepared.   If you have the chance spend the night on top of Jacks Pass above Dominquez Springs - there are several nice level spots slightly north of the pass crest.

You have several water sources along this route but right now the springs are unreliable and it is too hot now until ~October to attempt this hike.   TWWG

[steelfrog]

Dude--this is exactly what I have been planning!  Don't like the idear of parking the car at Domunguez Springs TH for 3 days, and the route from ME looks easier anyway; Picacho says that there is a signed trail where you describe; anyway, I may do exactly this in the Fall, although with some peak bagging in the Punta and Dominguez and Backbone thrown in.

[lsnead]

Yeah, that sounds fun TWWG..
Can someone tell me where Jack's Pass is exactly?

[Robert]

Jack's Pass: 29.134861,-103.327513

Coming from the west the hardest part is the short climb up to the pass. There is a small drainage that leads up to it but looked too brushy for me. Jack always said that he tried multiple tracks but all were equally difficult (going left or right of drainage). Coming from the east you have a BIG climb up. Several board members have done this.

Its easy to get to the saddle and to stay in the drainage. I've climbed out of the drainage to the saddle on the left side three times and on the right just once. Don't know what way you'll find easier, but I wouldn't go right. Tom lost his water bottle when he fell the first time, near the top coming down the east slope of the saddle heading to Dominquez Spring. Its one of those round jobs, with a dozen wraps of duct tape around it. The water in it should be good still.

[steelfrog]

I want that water bottle!

[Homer67]

My buddy Sean and I attempted the hike through ME, Smoky Spring up to Dominguez Spring back in '93. 

BiBe was a dark, far-away place back then as there was no easy info via the internet.  My buddy had been to BiBe several times before, but I had only been once, and that was a week-long base camp trip. So I just went with what my buddy had in mind.

Having driven in that first day, we camped at The Spot off the ME trail the first night, then made our way into the Smoky Creek drainage very near the north side of Mule Ears peaks.  There is a short drop off to get down with a slope that leads down to the bottom of the drainage. It was an easy hike until we had to make the climb into the Quemada.  We missed the right place to go and made a tough, tall climb up.  It was a long, hard climb! I recall there was a huge rock with a slight overhang.  This gave a small area of shade (it was April 13th and already very hot).  We chilled in that spot to get out of the heat for a bit.  We had naively only hauled 2.5 gals each in collapsible water jugs.  They worked fine, but we did not have enough water and ran out several miles from the car at the ME turnaround.  On the way back we did not take the ME trail for some reason and at one point were hiking a bit far north, just south of Goat Mountain.  It was an "I recognize that mountain" sort of deal, and fortunately I was right, Trap Mtn!  I don't how we got so lost, but we did.  We hiked and hiked, wondering of we were going in the right direction. It was really hot and I remembered I had 6 tangelos in the bottom of my pack.  My buddy had claimed these were dead weight and he would haul none of them when we were making our packs before the long drive out.  Shoot, we ate the rinds and all! Soon after we hogged these down, we crested the rise we had been climbing and there was the rented 4-banger mustang in the distance. When we reached it we indulged in luke-warm sodas and AC.  Man, they never tasted so good!

[sleepy]

It's lucky you're not dead.

[Geezer]

OK, TWWG, I read your report on that trip years ago. How about re-posting it for our benefit?

Some reminding about how to identify Jack's pass would help me also, but I think it's all in your trip report.

Geezer

[TheWildWestGuy]

Trying to identfy the cut off to Jacks Pass is not something to be taken lightly as you are already a LONG ways in at this point if coming from Smokey Spring.  A good topo (not the Trails Illustrated one) or a GPS or both would be preferable.  The route from Smokey Spring is rough and has several rough pour-off's that have to be navigated around.  Count on 3/4 MPH in this section and NO water.  Check it out on Google Earth first.  I have only made this route once and failed once also.  It's very easy to run out of water and underestimate the distances and obstacles.  When you finally reach the fork in the drainage to go up and over Jacks Pass it "should" be fairly apparent and 10 years ago there were some rock cairns on top of large boulders at the fork.  After recent rains you may find some tinajas holding water on the West flank of Jacks Pass about 1/2 way up to the crest but don't count on them. I know Championbaum and others on this site have made the route more recently than I have.  It's a great cool-weather challenge and it WILL test your metal.  Looks easy enough on the map but when you get in the drainage coming out of Smokey Spring you will find various obstacles (cats claw thickets, scree, pour-off's, etc.).  It literally seems like you will never get there.   I recommend staying at Smokey Spring for the 1st night but I don't know if it's got water in it this year or not.  Even during normal years it is little more than a mudhole with a few very shallow pools downstream and no shade.   TWWG

[steelfrog]

More beta please.  Can anyone post a screen shot of a topo?  Thanks.

I plan on spending at least 4 days wandering around the Dominguez Springs area; pack in, like a mule, a couple of dromedaries full of water; camp at the Fisk ranch and make that a base camp for further explorations.  Out of ME TH so I don't have to worry about the wheels at DS TH.

[dprather]

#1 on my bucket list is not to kick the bucket!

And then...

• Big Bend State Park Rancherias Loop
  Guadalupe Mountains
  Another OML with my sons

[Homer67]

Here's an online topo of that area, from the ME TH to the Springs near Dominguez Mtn:

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=29.13492,-103.32762&z=13&t=T&marker0=29.12982%2C-103.30770%2C12.9%20km%20S%20of%20Emory%20Peak%20TX&marker1=29.13492%2C-103.32762%2C12.5%20km%20S%20of%20Emory%20Peak%20TX


I dig the old topo this link leads to; some trails that I don't think are there anymore are shown! "B" is Jack's Pass, "A" just marks near the springs.