Camping on the Chisos South Rim

 

We're very lucky to temporarily live in the Chisos Basin, one of the not-to-be-missed sections of Big Bend National Park. Every day, we look up at these beautiful mountains surrounding our home and dream about the adventures we'll have "up there." Earlier this winter, we backpacked up to Laguna Meadows and spent a night, and we did a long day hike to summit Emory Peak. But we hadn't yet made it to the rim.

A couple of weekends ago the weather was predicted to be perfect for such a venture, so we packed our backpacks with the tent, our sleeping bags/pads, cold weather layers, 10 pounds of food, and 40 pounds of water. (If you like numbers, my pack started at 33 pounds and ended at less than 17. Jasper's was almost 15 pounds, and Mike's went from 44 to 26 by the end). If we ever needed an excuse to snack and drink lots of water, we had one on this trip (to reduce the weight we were carrying!)

We hiked up the Laguna Meadows Trail and took a nice break at the top. For some reason, I recalled that the trail flattened out from there, but I was wrong. We gradually continued climbing pretty much the rest of the way (7+ miles that day) until our campsite. Once we hit the South Rim, the views were incredible. The cliff drops straight down to the desert, and there are layers upon layers of mountains wherever your gaze travels.

 

Our campsite was isolated, so we felt like we had the world to ourselves. We ate dinner on the rim, then watched the sun set, turning the sky pink, then orange, silhouetting the trees and grasses to the point that I felt like I was back in the Serengeti.

We were still sitting near the rim as darkness fell. Off toward the east, a pink blur began to highlight the cloudy sky. We kept watching, not knowing what was about to happen. Over the course of a few minutes, the clouds parted and a blood red moon appeared, spilling its hue onto the surrounding clouds. I've never seen anything like it, but we felt privileged to be there, in the wild, enjoying the moment. 

As we walked back to the tent, we saw eyes shining nearby, but this time (unlike in Africa) they belonged to harmless deer. We snuggled into the tent and I fell asleep within minutes. Strong gusts of wind buffeted the tent all night long. In the morning, we watched the sunrise in the chilly morning air, then ate oatmeal and muffins inside our warm tent. 

 

The remaining section of the loop trail led us along the rim for a couple of miles, every curve of the trail leading us to jaw-dropping viewpoints. We descended into Boot Canyon and found some lovely places to stop for rest breaks. Mike cooked up a simple lunch of couscous on our little stove in a dry creek bed, while the always energetic Jasper climbed all the boulders within sight. By the time we reached our home, we felt sore, tired and ... very blessed to have had this experience.