I’ve now been in central Texas for two years. Not hiked any, just worked. Living in Montana for 10 years, hiking there, you tend to know that hiking is second nature there. For two years everyone, I mean EVERYONE keeps telling me, Tony you need to try this trail, you need to go hike that trail, go hike at this place, etc etc. I’m sorry to tell you Central Texas people, but hiking does not involve walking on a concrete trail with 400 other people. If this is what y’all call hiking, please let me take you to Montana and show you what peace and quite is really about, what the true meaning of hiking is. As usual everyone tells me, “Tony you need to go to Big Bend, you’ll love it out there etc etc”. Yea, well I do wanna go, but you cannot hike anywhere in the park with your dogs and that has stopped me dead in my tracks at the get go every time it comes up in a conversation with someone. Me and my little Sammie are used to running around the mountains of Montana trying to pick up sheds before the bears get ahold of them. Two, it’s a long drive from central Texas! Well low and behold a couple of my Montana friends were in town, one on her way back to Montana, the other one has been enjoying Big Bend for 30 years and is one of his favorite parks to go camp at. So they all talked me into driving out there to meet up with them and camp for four nights. Camping, friends, stories, away from central Texas, no crowds, and possibly another shot at giving Texas a chance, to tell me there is hiking in this state. I’m game, let’s do it. So off we go. 8 hrs, one way. First off, it’s desert mountains so I have to take that into account, not mountains with water and trees. But I’ll give anything a go. I’ve always heard how bright the stars were, how dark it is, how desolate it is and remote. Well you know me, I’m a sucker for seeing stars, early in the mornings when it seems like you can just pick one outta the sky with your fingers. Wellllllllll I was going to make the best of this trip no matter what. We set up a fortress of a tent. Lol! We finally bought a big ole ass car camping tent. We’ve slept in a van for 6 months in New Zealand, backpacked at 11,000 ft in small tents, had both dogs in our 2 man tent at numerous lakes in the high country, and slept in the back of the car in more places than I can count. So we thought we finally deserved to sleep in comfort for awhile. The first morning we all hiked down in “Santa Elena Canyon”, while the dogs slept in the car, it was only a couple miles but eye opening none the less. If they wanna build the “WALL” here, we are just plain stupid! Just go here, you’ll see why I say this. We had a nice little hike along the Rio Grande river on the border of Mexico, talking and having a good laugh at stories. Back at the camp we ate good, shared more stories and more laughs, NO FIRES GRRRRRR. Second morning I stayed back with the dogs(dogs aren’t allowed on the trails) which I knew. So me and the dogs go exploring some of the hundreds of dirt roads throughout the park. We see some beautiful scenery, walked along the road for about a mile, then kept driving to see more mountains. I believe we drove about 50 miles or so. Deja, Meggie, and Jerry went and hiked a few different trails in the Basin.Back at camp we shared more stories and laughed more. This is why you camp with friends, stories and laughter. Of course they break out the wine, like usual, them three. Before we went out to Big Bend, I told Deja that I at least wanted to do one hike, just to see how outta shape my ass was, So Sunday morning was Tony’s time to hike! Remember now, nobody likes hiking with me, don’t know why tho. Lol. While in Big Bend, I wanted to do three things, see the stars, stretch my legs and yes, you guessed it, hike a peak, a Texas size peak. So Emory Peak (highest peak in Big Bend) was mine for the taking. Sunday morning rolls around, alarm goes off at 3am. BAMM a hour drive up the hill to the trailhead. 4:45am I’m outta the car, looking up at the stars. From what I read about this peak it was a 2.5-3 hr one way up, about 5.5 miles, a little bit of exposure on the last 50 ft, with some scrambling on rocks. I’m game, let’s do it! I figured I wouldn’t be the only one hiking, since everything was short hikes, in the park. So I was expecting to see someone else at the trailhead. NOPE. A quick look in my pack, look up at the stars, turn the headlamp on and I’m off. Now Tony, let’s stretch those legs to see just how outta shape your farming ass is. Lol NOBODY except me was hiking, this early in morning. What a shame people!! You don’t know what your missing!! At 6:35am I’m staring at the peak, walked through ice, snow, cold, wind and darkness. Not too bad I say to myself, I thought I was getting outta shape. Guess I still have a little spunk left in me. I climb up to the top in the wee hours of the morning, put on my down jacket, scarf, sit down to think of life and why no one else is up here at this time in the morning. If you’ve never done it, sitting on a peak, watching the sunrise with a 360 degree view, you really are not giving a sunrise justice. You should try it! The alpine glow you see, you will never capture in a picture! Period! So I take my pictures, take a gander off in the distance at the beautiful scenery of Mexico, shot a video with no sound, and say my goodbyes. Now this is where I’m different than most NORMAL folks. I do my usual thing off a peak, I jog, yes I jog with my pack on down the trail. You know, gotta stay sexy and in shape! Lol. The first person I come across is about 9am, then a whole line of women that are headed to the south rim, to backpack for a few days. You Go Girls! While I was talking to them, I made a BAD mistake! I took a right instead of a left…… I’m jogging along, taking pictures saying hellos, then it hits me, “Tony, you came up in the dark but this part doesn’t feel familiar to your feet”. Stop, pull out my phone have a look see, yep, I took a wrong turn! Lol. Turn around and start jogging back the same way! Finally back at the trailhead around 11:15, what was supposed to be an easy 10 mile hike, out n back turned into a 15.5 mile hike/jog! Oops! Hence why nobody hikes with you Tony! Lol my legs where like jello! All in all Big Bend was exactly what I was expecting, it was beautiful in its own way. I can say that I hiked the tallest peak in Big Bend National Park also. 7,825 ft with 2600 ft of elevation gain. Deja even did a small nighttime hike, to take some pictures of the sunrise. I believe we all had a great time. Cold as crap one morning, Roxy and the coyote will always be enemies, Sam will always love rolling in the dirt and sleeping in the sunshine. Those things are for certain. Now I can say that I’ve been to Big Bend.
