After doing a ton of research and planning for months my dad, two of my brothers (Brian & Ben), and myself embarked on our trip to Big Bend National Park to complete the Outer Mountain Loop with additional excursions to the South Rim and Emory Peak. Our goal was to complete the hike in 3 days but were prepared for it to take 4 days, particularly because my dad is 66 years old with less than perfect knees. www.bigbendchat.com was a wealth of information and aided in our research tremendously.
From where we live we had a roughly 24 hour drive to the park. With four of us and a suburban it made the driving easy and we drove straight through taking turns driving and sleeping. Of course we had to stop at Okahoma Joe’s BBQ in Tulsa, OK.
We arrived at the Panther Junction visitor center around 10:00 a.m. on 3/31/2017 to get our permits. From there we drove to the Homer Wilson ranch to start our trek and hit the trail around 11:00 a.m. From recent spring reports on the www.bigbendchat.com forum we were relatively confident there would be water both in boot canyon and also at Fresno creek and planned accordingly starting out with somewhere between 1 and 1.5 gallons of water each.
Day 1 (3/31/3017)
We had planned to hike counter clockwise, but since the first day was forecast to be the hottest one we decided to reverse our direction and go clockwise in order to try to avoid the heat of the day on the Dodson. Due to our late start though it didn’t really make any difference as we spent the hottest part of the day in the Blue Creek Canyon which I would guess was just as hot as if we had been on the Dodson……it was hot. Upper 90’s and dry with not a single cloud in the sky. A beautiful hike though. We also took time to go off trail to explore a few of the caves along the way. Day 1 saw us hike up the Blue Creek Canyon Trail, across Colima Trail, and a short (and steep) distance up Juniper Canyon Trail to the JC1 campsite which we had reserved for that night. Just before making the final ascent on Juniper Canyon we checked Boot Spring and found it dry, but a little walk further south confirmed there was plenty of water in the pools downstream. My favorite section of this hike was about halfway up the Blue Creek when you start getting into some of the Cedar and Juniper trees before you really start the climb up the mountain. Cactus and other vegetation in bloom, making for pretty flora. 9.14 miles and 8 hours later through the hottest part of the day and we were beat and glad to be at camp.
Day 2 (4/1/2017)
Got an early start right at sunrise and took day packs to hike the Southwest Rim and Emory Peak. Our route was back down the Colima Trail we had come across the day before, then taking the Southwest Rim Trail around to Boot Canyon Trail. Beautiful hike and well worth the extra time and miles. Great views of the Santa Elena Canyon, Elephant Tusk, Backbone Ridge, the Rio Grande, and much more. We even spotted the Dodson trail and Fresno creek from the rim, both of which we would travel over the next two days. On the way back up Boot Canyon Trail we stopped for about two hours to filter 6 gallons of water from one of the pools and enjoy a break. While filtering a few people hiked by, two of them particularly memorable. A couple came by where the wife was completely grossed out at the thought of drinking that nasty water and left with a parting “enjoy” in reference to the water. Moments later a family (dad, mom, and young boy – maybe 9 or 10) came by and the boy was completely wowed at the idea we could filter that water and drink it. He left telling us how “inspiring” we were. We then split and Brian & Ben took our filtered water back up Juniper Canyon Trail to JC1 to drop those off and pick up dad’s hat which he had forgotten in camp. Dad and I headed toward Emory Peak.
Pictures of the South Rim hike:
When nearing JC1 my brothers found a sizable black bear in our camp rifling through our tents. We had stored all food and food containers in the bear box, but left our tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, etc. on the ground. That was apparently a mistake. They scared the bear off and found it had ripped some holes in my tent (yeah the expensive Zpacks tent that was on it’s maiden trip) and tore up dad’s sleeping bag (also expensive and from Zpacks). Had they not happened upon it when they did, who knows what else it would have destroyed. They packed everything up and placed as much as possible in the bear box with the remainder going into their packs and setting up a bear hang from one of the trees. Then they high tailed it back up the trail to catch dad and I right at the top of Emory Peak. The rock scramble at the top is really cool and the 360 degree views are astounding! After leaving Emory peak we hoofed it back to the JC1 campsite to get our stuff and attempt to get down the mountain to zone camping on Juniper Canyon Trail but ran out of daylight and stayed in JC1 for the night. We had covered 11.11 miles. At this point we determined to make it a 4 day trip and essentially split the remaining distance across the next two days.
Emory Peak Pics:
Day 3 (4/2/2017)
The overnight turned out to be somewhat comical. Brian & Ben had decided to take only a bug net on the trip and my fully water proof tent now had holes in it from the bear. Of course we got a storm. On the way up Emory peak some rangers we passed had told us of a storm to the east. I covered the holes in my tent with some plastic and duct tape before turning in. It did sprinkle on us a few times through the night and the two times it seemed like it might really rain we all four crammed into my 2 person tent for a bit just in case. I thought when the four of us were in Philip’s 4 person tent in Pennsylvania we were crowded….this was like sardines. Fortunately it never really rained, just some light sprinkling and we were able to disperse to our separate tents.
Today we hiked down Juniper Canyon and a couple of miles down the Dodson before stopping for the night. Due to the storm the night before it was a perfect hiking day with cooler temps and a mostly overcast sky….starting out with quite a bit of fog up on the mountain. Along the way we stopped at Juniper spring which had some water in it, presumably from the rain the night before. Juniper spring is a great spot and we took the time to scramble around on the boulders a bit and find a nice flat sunny one for an afternoon nap before moving on. It was a perfectly clear night and out on the Dodson the sky was big and the stars were bright. We smelled a skunk, but fortunately never saw it. Only passed one group of 3 hikers today. Covered a leisurely 8.87 miles.
Lots of cactus variety
You have to get your rest on the trail!!
Day 4 (4/3/2017)
Hiked the remaining 10.33 miles across the Dodson back to our starting point at Homer Wilson Ranch. Dodson spring was a great oasis full of shade and the spring actually had water in it. The ranch ruins were fun too. Found it funny that the bed-frame was still there. We stopped at Fresno creek and went down the slick rock canyon a ways to find shade and filter more water. From there we continued the hike across the Dodson. There’s a great panoramic view of Elephant Tusk, Backbone Ridge, the Rio Grande, and the South Rim just west of Fresno creek. We only passed one large group of hikers who had been hiking in the area for 21 days beginning in the Big Bend Ranch State Park. After ascending the last significant climb on the Dodson and coming to the top of the saddle we were pleasantly surprised by a very rewarding view. One of the best of the entire hike and one that wasn’t exactly expected. Tremendous view of Mule Ears and other beautiful scenery. Very rewarding. From there it’s a pleasant downhill jaunt to the ranch.
Pics at Dodson Spring:
Misc shots along the Dodson Trail:
Finally back to Homer Wilson Ranch:
40 miles and 4 days later a wonderful time was had by everyone. After watching the sunset from Homer Wilson Ranch we hit the road. A brief stop at the visitor center to freshen up with a sink shower and then onto Midland to get a hot Whataburger!
The journey home of course led by Lamberts Cafe:
