Jan. 17th-19th trip report

[chris]

Hi all, seeing as I'm still new to this forum it may take me a while to post pictures from my outing to BIBE this past weekend but I figured I'd share my experiences while I'm at work anyway.  I had previously posted inquiring insight about trying to do the Marufo Vega in a day hike or splitting it over two days; I ultimately decided against trying to cram it in in such a limited time as I would be arriving in the park mid-afternoon Saturday and be leaving in the early morning hours on Monday.  In addition, two of my four traveling companions had never been to BIBE and I didn't want to sour their impression of the park by forcing them into an excruciatingly long day at my insistance...

I decided to plan a brief weekend getaway of sorts as I realized I was not working on Saturday the 17th (I usually work every other one and had my schedule confused) and that the following Monday was the MLK Jr holiday-paid vacation!  Might as well get away while I could and before someone asked me to switch Saturdays...I realized I could've spent good portions of all 3 days riding 50+ miles on my bicycle by staying in Austin; I didn't feel up to form to do the annual Copperas Cove sufferfest road race on the 17th as my training has been kind of erratic.  Not riding at all during that time also didn't really help for the next two weekends of racing I've got ahead but I figured I might as well try to mix in another one of my passions of outdoor life by going to BIBE-what's life without balance anyway?

Anyway, my party embarked from Boerne (neutral meeting ground for 5 college age guys scattered across Hays and Travis counties as 4/5 of our parents still live there) at around 7:45.  We had a rather uneventful drive west on IH-10 in a light fog that finally lifted west of Ozona.  Took U.S. 67 to Alpine in hopes that the Edelweiss Brewery in the Holland Hotel would be open for lunch...unfortunately they weren't open until 5 and we weren't going to wait around for 4 hours so we took in lunch at the bakery whose name eludes me on the main drag.  They apparently do solely breakfast on Saturday which was fine; they also gave us a bag of baked goodies for the road that otherwise they were going to toss  I think people in Alpine are some of the nicest I've ever met based on time I've spent there...either that or they could just tell we were in college.  It was worth the slight detour to Alpine to enjoy the town's charms in that regard.  Also went by Ring Tail Records which I had never been into-I am a pretty big record and music nerd and was pretty damn impressed by some of the stuff I found there.  The prices were a little high on some things but I spent a bit anyway to help fund the lost art of the independent record shop in the age of the iPod.

After picking up some small necessities at the Thriftway (beer, pork chops, etc), we headed south on 118 to the western side of the park, picked up a vehicle permit and paid all of the other necessary fees at PJ and headed to the Chisos campsite I had booked, #56 just to the left of the Window trailhead.  With five people going and a limited time frame, we decided a developed campsite was probably the best bet as believe it or not, the seemingly vast storage space in Eurovan evaporates quickly when multiple people hit the road.  We set up camp and grilled the first night after exploring the Basin briefly and woke up at dawn the next morning.

We opted to do the Window trail over the Lost Mine (the two main Chisos hikes we talked about showing my two friends new to BIBE) as it was literally right there and headed down it to the pouroff before turning off to the connecting trail to the Oak Springs trail.  We ran into about 4 other people at the Window itself and 1 other guy on the descent towards Oak Springs...otherwise the trails were pretty much vacant for us.  After reaching the Oak Springs junction, we continued onward to Cattail Falls as I had never been and had been interested in seeing it, largely due to that mysterious aura it has of being "off the map" so to speak.  That being said, the fancy full color sign at the tie-down tree was kind of amusing to me for such a "secretive" area.  I guess people really just didn't mind earlier "no swimming" signs?

We stopped at the Falls for a good 20 minute or so rest and refueling although the water level was very low in the pool itself and the pouroff was just a trickle.  On the way back towards the Oak Springs trail, we interestingly saw far more people than at any other point on the hike...so much for the seclusion aspect of Cattail Falls.  I guess we got there right at the right moment  The hike back up into the Chisos was a bit of an effort although we had packed pretty light-I only had (at that point) about a half gallon of water, my camera and some trail mix in my daypack so I wasn't weighed down too much.  Our group still managed to split into three different groups based on pace and I was able to get a decent aerobic effort to keep my heart rate pretty high to make me not miss my bike too much.

We arrived back at our campsite in a little under 6 hours; I believe the hike we did was a little shy of 12 miles so I felt pretty good...a few of my buddies were feeling a bit sore in the legs so we made lunch and then decided to tackle the short Boquillas Canyon hike...after all, how could I feel right about taking friends to BIBE for their first time without letting them see at least ONE of the canyons?? 

Following that, we were pretty dusty and tired so we opted to soak a bit in the Hot Springs were we talked for a bit with a group of Boy Scouts from the Woodlands and their chaperones before leaving that area right around sundown.  One of the Boquillas men was waiting on the otherside with a donkey but unfortunately I don't think he received any business that afternoon...I'm still hesistant to give serious thought to crossing-I never have been across as most of my experiences in the park have been after May 2002 but I do sincerely hope one day I can cross without worry.  The Eurovan is 2WD but had high enough clearance that I didn't have any issues on the narrow part of road so long as I maintained a low speed.

Back at camp, we made sloppy joes and called it a night pretty early.  We packed up at dawn and were on the road by 8:30, taking 118 north to Alpine for breakfast after stopping at Many Stones on the way to chat with Ring Huggins and so my fellow BIBE/desert landscape enthusiast traveling buddy Taylor could stock up on cacti.  I picked up a copy of the "Joined at the River" DVD that he had for sale and finally got around to watching it last night and was thoroughly impressed.  I certainly hope more people who aren't immediately familiar with the area get a chance to set it in addition to those who already are.  We took U.S. 90 to TX 173 to 16 to 46  back as traditionally my dad always did on the return from the park...I kind of regretted going that way as it is a bit longer and wished we had taken that route to the park itself and I had to drop everybody off at their parents' in Boerne before heading back to Austin to go to work at 6:30 on Tuesday morning, all in all amounting to around over 10 hours behind the wheel...talk about a long day but quite worth it.  Not a groundbreaking trip for me (I will try to find time for Marufo Vega and other long overnight efforts soon though) but certainly an enjoyable getaway, which was exactly what I needed.

[westtex]

Took U.S. 67 to Alpine in hopes that the Edelweiss Brewery in the Holland Hotel would be open for lunch...unfortunately they weren't open until 5 and we weren't going to wait around for 4 hours so we took in lunch at the bakery whose name eludes me on the main drag. 

You didn't miss anything at the Edelweiss, the beer there has gone wayyyy down hill in the past year.  The breakfast place you stopped at is called the Bread and Breakfast.  Probably one of the better food choices in Alpine. 

[riverrat]

Sounds like a great get away! Thanks for sharing!

[mule ears]

We opted to do the Window trail over the Lost Mine (the two main Chisos hikes we talked about showing my two friends new to BIBE) as it was literally right there and headed down it to the pouroff before turning off to the connecting trail to the Oak Springs trail.  We ran into about 4 other people at the Window itself and 1 other guy on the descent towards Oak Springs...otherwise the trails were pretty much vacant for us.  After reaching the Oak Springs junction, we continued onward to Cattail Falls as I had never been and had been interested in seeing it, largely due to that mysterious aura it has of being "off the map" so to speak.  That being said, the fancy full color sign at the tie-down tree was kind of amusing to me for such a "secretive" area.  I guess people really just didn't mind earlier "no swimming" signs?

We stopped at the Falls for a good 20 minute or so rest and refueling although the water level was very low in the pool itself and the pouroff was just a trickle.  On the way back towards the Oak Springs trail, we interestingly saw far more people than at any other point on the hike...so much for the seclusion aspect of Cattail Falls.  I guess we got there right at the right moment  The hike back up into the Chisos was a bit of an effort although we had packed pretty light-I only had (at that point) about a half gallon of water, my camera and some trail mix in my daypack so I wasn't weighed down too much.  Our group still managed to split into three different groups based on pace and I was able to get a decent aerobic effort to keep my heart rate pretty high to make me not miss my bike too much.

We arrived back at our campsite in a little under 6 hours; I believe the hike we did was a little shy of 12 miles so I felt pretty good...a few of my buddies were feeling a bit sore in the legs so we made lunch...

  for most folks that would be the whole day! Yes I am afraid that Cattail Falls is no longer a secret. Thanks for the report, I look forward to the pictures.

[RichardM]

Hi all, seeing as I'm still new to this forum it may take me a while to post pictures from my outing to BIBE this past weekend

Homero is waiting...

[homerboy2u]

 

[chris]

Seems like "a little while" by my standard is pretty bad!  My laptop died around early March so I've had to re-upload these at school in the library in between 20-30 page papers over the past semester or so and I apologize for the serious, serious delays it's taken in getting these onto the interwebs.. 

Anyway, here are the pictures I promised back in January.  The first 15 in the album are for the Jan. 17-19 trip, and the remainder of the shots that start in Girvin are from March '08.  Maybe after finishing my senior thesis this semester I'll get a good report written for those as it was a longer trip 

http://s764.photobucket.com/albums/xx285/clea_015/

By the way, I will be the first to admit that many of these shots are generic park scenes and I can, in no way, compete with some of the wonderful shots that many, many of the other users here have uploaded!

[Al]

Chris, Hey, that took long enough . . . but worth the wait.  You've got some real nice shots.  Thanks!

Al

[txhiker]

Nice shots, looks like you guys had a good time! Was the animal a fox or a coyote? I couldn't tell.

[chris]

Nice shots, looks like you guys had a good time! Was the animal a fox or a coyote? I couldn't tell.

I believe it was a fox due to the size and that we saw him/her around 8:30 on the PJ road.  It seems the best wildlife I see is from my car on these short trips...