The RMJGMR Trip

[mule ears]

there was horrible, miserable rain

sunrises were non-existent

sunsets and the moon (find the moon) were aweful

and the desert was very brown and dry

but other than that, it was ok

It's tough work but someone has to do it

I'm sure the rest of the trip report will be horrible too.

[bdann]

looks terrible.  sorry you had to deal with all that, better luck next time.   

[randell]

Thursday, Aug 7
My alarm went off at 2am. I quickly gathered my carry-on luggage for the drive and went to my neighbor's house. Greg and his friend Mitch were supposed to have packed the previous night. I kept telling Greg he needed to start packing days before the trip but he was convinced it would only take an hour. I walked to Greg's house to find him and Mitch watching TV and chugging coffee. They had never been to sleep. They had been packing until 1:30am and just stayed up until we left. I called John, my co-worker, who was originally going to spend Wednesday night at my house so he wouldn't have to make the 30 minute drive early in the morning but had not to cancel because his wife had to work at the hospital late into the night and he had stay home with the kids. John was now on his way. As soon as John arrived we jumped in the truck and were off at 2:30am. We flew through downtown Houston since there is no traffic at that hour. Once we were in Katy I called the other two in our group, Matt and Ramsey, who were leaving from the opposite side of town. They were within five miles of us. We drove on. John and Mitch fell asleep while I stayed awake to keep Greg company. For having no sleep, Greg did amazingly well. After just missing the traffic in San Antonio, we stopped in Kerrville for some McDonald's and drove on. Somewhere after Junction Greg had had enough and he pulled over so we could switch drivers. Mitch took over as driver. I called Matt and Ramsey. They had stopped at the same McDonalds as us and were still close, but not in sight. A few miles later they caught up to us.

We stopped in Ft Stockton at Town and Country and filled the gas tanks for $3.89. John got in the backseat of Matt's 4-runner so we had each vehicle with three people and the person in the backseat could stretch out. As we drove on into the mountains, Greg and Mitch, who had never been to Big Bend, were amazed at the mountains. Greg kept having me lean out the window to take pictures for him. We reached the park at 12:30pm and got out for the group shot.



We entered the park and everything was green. The sage and creosote were blooming profusely. We drove straight into the basin.



We ate some lunch at the restaurant. They were out of ground beef so I ordered a chicken fried steak. I got the ketchup and covered the the plate with it and knew what to expect when I looked up. All five of my cohorts were looking at my plate with a mixture of horror and digust. I just smiled and said "hey, that's how I roll". We rummaged around in the gift shop for a minute and got ready to clear out.



We went to the visitor center to reserve our site. NE4 was available! While in the visitor center it started sprinkling. We decided to set up camp in the basin later and make our way to Pine Canyon, the afternoon hike, in hopes that the rain would stop by the time we got there. As it sprinkled, the air filled with the wonderful smell of the desert. We threw a tarp over our gear in Greg's truck to keep it dry then stopped by the store so Greg could look for a rain poncho but had no luck, they were fresh out so he picked up a towel to dry off if he got too wet. We also picked up a few odds and ends for our dinner that we hadn't brought.



It stopped raining as we descended from the basin and into the desert. We made the long six-mile drive to the Pine Canyon trailhead. Greg announced that driving on Glenn Spring road was his favorite part of the trip so far. He kept saying he really wanted to see a snake. He drove down Glenn Springs road staring at the sides of the road hoping to see one. We reached the trailhead and loaded our daypacks and started walking.







Soon the desert was broken by the odd appearance of a pine tree. Then another. Then we entered the woodland of Pine Canyon. The air grew thick with humidity and the buzzing of insects and we suddenly felt like we were not in the desert anymore. In fact, with the cool breeze and fallen leaves, we felt like it was fall.





After a climb we heard the sound of Pine Canyon. We heard a rustling and saw an Alligator Lizard! I stalked him trying to get a good photo without being eaten. He was over a foot long.





A few seconds later we were under the spell of the 200 foot pouroff with a mist of water swirling through the air.



Greg and Matt climbed on the rocks to get cooled off in the spray. We all felt like 2 year olds in a playground. After frolicking for a bit we headed back to the trailhead. Halfway back to the car Mitch, who was in the lead, yelled "snake"! Greg ran up to get his first glimpse of a rattlesnake in real life. We all made a half circle a good six feet from the snake, who was in a sotol, and got out our zoom lenses. I zoomed out to 200mm to get the best shot I could, but the snake was pretty well hidden. I got one decent shot out of dozen. After marvelling for a minute we moved on to let the snake continue with its day. Greg was ecstatic to have seen a snake.





Back at the cars we chatted for a minute. We had seen some thunderheads as soon as we were half a mile down the trail and realized we had left the truck bed unprotected by the tarp. Fortunately the rain had never reached the vehicles and our stuff was still dry. Halfway back to the pavement Greg stopped the truck and jumped out to run around in the desert for a while. The sun was behind Nugent mountain and the shade was nice. Greg and Mitch marvelled at the open desert. We decided we should car camp at a backcountry site on our last night instead of the basin campground.





Back in the basin we ran into Matt, Ramsey, and John. They were a little annoyed that we had taken so long. They were hungry and grumpy. We quickly found a campsite (sites 59 and 60) and started grilling burgers and drinking some beer. I threw the tarp on the ground for John and I to sleep on while everyone else set up tents. Matt came over and looked at my sleeping bag on the tarp and said, "man, you are really roughing it". Soon the burgers were ready and we devoured the six pounds of burgers. Everyone had two burgers and there was one left so I ate it for a grand total to 1.5 pound of beef for dinner. John, who it bigger than I am, was amazed I could eat that much and still stand up. I was pretty full but the burgers were too good to let one go to waste.

I had lent Mitch, John, and Greg sleeping bags and I was trying out an experimental "emergency bivy", the Adventure Medical Kits bivy, which is basically a headless mummy sleeping bag made out of survival blanket material. It is reusable and rated to 50 degrees and I had read that it was comfortable except for a "little" condensation around the head area. I mainly brought it as a lightweight 6.9 oz alternative to a traditional bag thinking it would be plenty for desert in the summer. It turned out to be a nightmare. A few minutes after I got in the "little" bit of condenstation turned out to mean the entire inside of the bag was coated in condensation which kept me cold. Every time I turned the velcro strips holding the upper portion together ripped apart. Even when the velcro didn't come loose, it was too sparse to keep drafts out. I spent the night cold and wet. I had also read the bag was NOT noisy, which was a concern of mine. It WAS noisy. In the morning the other guys were saying they kept hearing it crinkle as I turned and they kept thinking it was a bear in the underbrush coming to eat them. Everyone else slept nicely except me, who was kicking myself lending out 3 real sleeping bags and not bringing one for myself.

I did see 4 meteors in my tossing and turning on the tarp, which was nice. I have never slept without a tent in the summer, but had no problems. I head one mosquito but it never bit me. I did wake up with what I think was a bug in my mouth at one point. I just took a drink of water to wash it down and went back to my fitful sleep. John, who was also on the tarp, slept like a baby. In fact, between him on one side of me and Greg and Mitch on the other side of me the tent, I had snoring in stereo the entire night. My earplugs helped some, but I found it hard to believe they thought my crappy sleeping bag was a bear when their snoring sounded like a pack of bears. The meteors and great stars were very nice, though.

Moderator note: I think Randell just set a new record for most instances.

[jeffblaylock]

I was trying out an experimental "emergency bivy", the Adventure Medical Kits bivy, which is basically a headless mummy sleeping bag made out of survival blanket material.  It is reusable and rated to 50 degrees and I had read that it was comfortable except for a "little" condensation around the head area.  I mainly brought it as a lightweight 6.9 oz alternative to a traditional bag thinking it would be plenty for desert in the summer.

 

Prolly should've tried that out at home first ..... I use a Mountain Hardwear Phantom +45 for such occasions. Weighs 17 ounces. Packs down to the size of a 1 liter cook pot.

Pine Canyon waterfall -- that is awesome. I would be running around like a kid, too. 

Rattler -- glad you didn't do a spectacular, dive-bombing, trekking pole-throwing, little girl-squealing peal out like last time .... 

Looking forward to the next chapter -- especially the newbies' reactions and pics.

[mule ears]

Wow! I have never seen pictures of Pine Canyon like those before, and with water down the falls.

Everyone else slept nicely except me, who was kicking myself lending out 3 real sleeping bags and not bringing one for myself.

This could be a long sleepless trip, have to wait and see.

[randell]

I was trying out an experimental "emergency bivy", the Adventure Medical Kits bivy, which is basically a headless mummy sleeping bag made out of survival blanket material.  It is reusable and rated to 50 degrees and I had read that it was comfortable except for a "little" condensation around the head area.  I mainly brought it as a lightweight 6.9 oz alternative to a traditional bag thinking it would be plenty for desert in the summer.

 

Prolly should've tried that out at home first ..... I use a Mountain Hardwear Phantom +45 for such occasions. Weighs 17 ounces. Packs down to the size of a 1 liter cook pot.

I figured with the positive reviews the bag would be good.  I've learned my lesson, though.  I have a 19 ounce 40 degree bag but I didn't use it since I had the 6.9 oz disaster.

[randell]

Friday, Aug 8
I crawled out of my bag as the sum was still behind Casa Grande and woke everyone so we could star getting ready for the hike to NE4 on the rim.





We packed, ate breakfast, and started hiking up Pinnacles at about 10am. We took a lot of breaks and enjoyed the cool breezes that hit us every few minutes. John had worn a cotton shirt which proved to be a mistake. He was cool enough but the shirt became completely drenched and was weighing him down. For newbies to backpacking, they did surprisingly well. Everyone was making guy jokes, marveling at the scenery, and having a good time. The previous night's burgers were slowly working their way through our system making us walk quickly to keep downwind. We survived the Pinnacles, though.



We stopped at the rest stop overlooking the quaking aspen and rested for a minute.



At last we came to TM1. We climbed on the rocks near the trail to eat lunch. We didnt know if anyone was camped at the site but there was a food bag tied to a tree and hanging over the edge of the boulders. I noticed that the madrone tree that had a lot of pealing bark last August was now bare of bark and someone had carved their initial into the trunk. There were lots of Mexican Jays hanging out to keep us company.





After soaking the the views and resting we started off again. I visited the composting toilet near the site. I found that the toilet seat that had been in great shape a year ago was no broken into four parts with one quarter of it missing. I still used it...carefully. Greg declined vowing to wait until the next toilet in Boot Canyon. A few minutes later we were at the Emory Peak trailhead. I didn't really want to make the climb as I had done so twice in the past, but Greg and Matt did. I told them not to blame me for the pain they were about to go through. We stashed our packs in the bear boxes, grabbed water bottles, and started climbing...and climbing...and climbing. There were many interesting flowers along the way. We even found some agave in bloom, one with a hummingbird feeding.



Finally we arrived at the last climb. We dropped out water and hiking poles and started up.



The last bit is tough.



But worth it.



Once up we snapped photos and marveled at a storm over Casa Grande that was dropping sheet of rain. There were lots of oohs and aahs and other exclamations of amazement. After spending most of an hour soaking up the scenery we started back down.



On the trail again we at last came to Boot Spring. The cabin was opened up and there were a number of tents set up near the stables. Trail crew. We went to the spring and topped off our water supply and enjoyed the small waterfall.





After relaxing for a while we started hiking again. We passed random trail crew members occasionally all the way up to near camp. We talked to one and he said he had been out for 18 days. He said the flash flooding had been a sight to see. We were within eye and earshot of the water for a full half mile.



After much climbing we finally reached flatter terrain and started passing campsites. Soon we were at NE4. We had made it. I threw down my pack started searching for an opening as the site is very wooded. Behind the site I found some rocks with a nice view of Elephant Tusk. It wasn't the location I was expecting but it would work for now. The rest of the crew arrived and we made dinner and sat on the rocks looking out at the great beyond. Greg kept telling us how good his "Mountain Man" meal was. No matter how many times someone told him it was Moutain HOUSE, he kept saying, "yeah, that's what I said, Mountain Man is good stuff."

After dinner we set up camp. John and I strung up our poncho/tarps over our sleeping bags as it sprinkled a few drops and we could hear distant thunder.







After setting up I took off in search of the rocky outcrop I had seen on topos and from Toll Mountain last year. No one joined me in my search. They were all too tired to move. After a short scout I found what I was looking for. I set up my camera and took a self portrait and some other shots.









I started whistling to hear the echo and I guess the guys got curious because one-by-one they made their way to the sound and we all sat and looked in amazement at the scene spread before us. We sat there until it got dark and then made our way back to camp. I spaced my sleeping area away from the rest of the group hoping to avoid the snoring. I could not avoid my aweful sleeping bag, though. Within minutes I was getting wet from the condensation. I heard Greg and Mitch talking then one of them said "I'm going to sleep". Six seconds later they started snoring.

[randell]

Saturday, Aug 9: The South Rim
At 7am my watch alarm went off. I had not hardly slept at all but I was ready to go watch the sunset. I heard Matt's alarm go off but he went back to sleep. I scrambled onto the rock outcrop and watched the sunrise. I was just in time.



Shortly I heard a noise in the trees and Matt appeared.



I had not brought my breakfast because I was worried I would miss something, but Matt brought his. A few minutes later Ramsey appeared with his breakfast. We heard a buzzing and thought we were under attack from bees when we realized it was just beetles. They were everywhere buzzing around like bombers. Then the sparrows appeared. An entire squadron of them whipping everywhere eating the beetles. Sitting on the edge of the rock I could feel the shockwave from a few who flew very close to me. It was quite a show to watch. Then a golden eagle appeared soaring below us. He kept going around the cliff face to the west of us, reappearing, then disappearing again. I'm not sure if it was looking for something or just showing off for us.



The views just got got better and better. Slowly the rest of the guys appeared. The views acted as morning coffee and made everyone's eyes wide. We started doing echo tests.



After an hour or so I went back to camp to eat breakfast. The rest of the party trickled in and after coffee and lots of "man, this is the best trip ever", we started packing up for our hike along the South Rim. There were some stiff joints but nobody was overly sore. The newbies and even Matt agreed that the previous days hike had been the hardest thing they had ever done. I assured them it wasn't over yet. There was more fun to be had for all their had work. Soon we were on the trail and in for many views. At one point we found a nice canyon and started doing echo tests. We counted up to 4 echos from one yell.







Along the way across the South Rim we came across a roadrunner. We were trying to get his photo and he appeared to leap over the South Rim. I went over to investigate and saw him running along the edge inches from a huge dropoff. We kept hiking and seeing him and trying to get his picture. We eventually came to an area where there were dragonflies flying everywhere. The roadrunner stopped his retreat and started doing acrobatic jumps to catch them. Not letting us deter him he would keep one eye on us the crouch and flip in the air to catch a dragonfly. It was amazing to watch. He literally did flips. I didn't catch a flip on film but I caught a good jump. He has a dragonfly in his mouth but it hard to see.



After watching him for about 15 minutes we the trail veered off away from his show and we went on our way. I got one parting shot of him standing on the edge of the rim.



We walked on and the views just kept on coming, as is expected on the rim. The classic shot:



The "Hey, Greg, you've gone far enough!" shot:







Another classic shot:


We looked to our right and saw Emory Peak. It was hard to believe that we had been atop it's rocky point the day before, it seemed so far away.



Finally we came to the end of the rim. We followed what we thought was the trail but it was just a dead-end social trail. Ramsey and I consulted our gps units and struck out cross country. We started descending a slope and realized we were just going into a drainage and had to turn east and uphill again to find the trail again. We passed through several water seeps and some muddy areas which was neat to find in the desert. On area had more century plants than I have ever seen in one place. It was a forest of century plants. Unfortunately I did not take any photos. After about 20 minutes we came to the trail again. Greg admitted he had been nervous that we were going to be lost for eternity. I was kind of happy we had done a little off-trail exporation to give the newbies the full experience. Just after we got back on the trail we came upon some deer who did not appear to be scared of us. We rested a minute and watched them eat and watch us.

[Al]

Most excellent!  I WAS going to give you a hard time for setting your alarm . . .

What did you use for a sleeping pad?

Al

[randell]

Most excellent!  I WAS going to give you a hard time for setting your alarm . . .

What did you use for a sleeping pad?

Al

The guys on the trip gave me a hard time about that at first, but then Matt wound up doing it and the rest of them got mad at me for not waking them up when when they arrived late to the show.

I used my usual Thermarest 3/4 ultralite.  I sleep well on that when I use a real sleeping bag.

[russco]

Great report and pics! That outcrop NW of NE4 is my all time favorite! I too took the "social trail" east off the rim...Ended up going Northerly off trail down to some slickrock with some pools...FUN! Thanks for posting. Cheers!

[Al]

Stark contrast to the most famous GuMo trip in terms of gear.  Did you drill holes in your earplugs to save weight or what!?

Al

[mule ears]

Randell,
great photos, what camera are you using now?  Sounds like a great starter trip for the newbies.

[randell]

Did you drill holes in your earplugs to save weight or what!?

Al

Dang, maybe that's why I could still hear their snoring!  I was going to put holes in my underwear but they were already there.

Randell,
great photos, what camera are you using now?  Sounds like a great starter trip for the newbies.

Thanks! I was using the black camera. 

just kidding, it is a Nikon D80

[jeffblaylock]

Great shots, especially the hummer and paisano. Rain from Emory -- what a great moment! Glad you did not break the newbies.