Big Bend Nat'l Park, Day 1/6 - planning, and out to Texas

Monday, Feb. 3, 2020 - On my August 2017 road trip I listened to Terry Tempest Williams The Hour of Land, 2016:

It is a collection of very nicely written stories of some of our National Parks - both personal stories, and historical/scientific background. I like it. August 20th I listened to a selection dealing with Effigy Mounds National Monument (Iowa) and Big Bend National Park (Texas).

Two quotes from this selection of the book:
"Restraint is its own prayer."

"I could walk forever with beauty."

That all sounds PRETTY COOL! So I tried to schedule a visit in September 2018 when I was going through Texas. Unfortunately, Big Bend National Park is NOT NEAR ANYWHERE, and would have taken an extra 6 hours just to get down there and back:


Which brings me up to 2020 - I was getting itchy and antsy, and been reading about "hikes in Big Bend National Park". So, as a birthday present, Wendy allowed me to fly out Feb 3 (my birthday!) and go hiking there for 4 days, returning Saturday Feb. 8! I made reservations on Southwest out of Manchester, NH (to San Antonio), and figured out my driving/hotels in Texas:


The main attraction that kept cropping up is the Outer Mountain Loop:

A 3-day/2-night hike. Start at the top, go clockwise 10 miles down to the right corner. Camp night 1. Go west along the bottom 10 miles, and camp night 2 at the left corner. (Pick up stashed water here). Day 3 hike back out. Sounds great, and I won't be doing it in the heat-of-the-summer, when it is impossible to do it. Recommended is 1-gallon-per-day, so I would carry (a little more than) 2 gallons, which would be about 17 pounds. Hey, I'm a good hiker - maybe I can turn "10 miles a day" into "15 miles a day", and only spend 1 night in a tent.

Well, those were the thoughts.

I did my research and figured out some other hikes:

Balanced Rock (Grapevine Hills Trail)

Devils Den/Dog Canyon

Lost Mine Trail

Cattail Falls

So today I found myself up at Gate 14 at the Manchester, NH airport:



I changed planes in Chicago:

and landed in San Antonio at 9:40 PM Central Time (right on time!). Thrifty Rent-a-Car, and I got to the Days Inn in Uvalde, Texas by midnight. Thank You God for safe travels!

Driving Music:

The rental car was preset to KONO 101.1 San Antonio's Greatest Hits:

'70s and '80s music, and it was perfect for my drive through the Texas night.