Wanted-New Pair of Shoes and Wind Fence
5/5/2014 – If I only had a day here-I was considering extending-what should I do? I decided on one hike, with possibly a second depending how I felt. I split six miles before and after lunch at Big Bend and thought I might do the same here. Of course there was a catch. The hikes originating from Pine Springs start at 5800 feet elevation. I thought I would start and just see how it felt. The trail to a slot canyon called Devil’s Hall starts easy enough, but about half its 4.2 mile round trip length is in that same limestone rock filled dry wash I had seen the day before. I almost gave up a few times, especially when I ran into two people who didn’t make it all the way. One got very close, and he helped direct me. In the parts where I had a hard time, I left stones to try to help others. Picking a route in a rocky-sometimes boulders-wash added to the advertised length, and even coming back I had to move up and back, side to side, to find the route. The “stairs” of sedimentary rock were really neat and I spent a few minutes there after making the final scramble over some boulders to “the hall”. There’s actually a sign marking the end of the trail, because the wash continues of course. Working my way back, I’m sure I walked that rough path for more than 4.2 miles. I was pretty proud of myself when I got back to the campsite for a lunch of cheese on mini-bagel sandwiches and carrots.
After sitting around in mid 80’s heat, I decided to attempt a second hike. One of the units of the park has an old ranch and there are trails to three of the area’s springs which farmers and ranchers used. The first is Manzanita, which was dammed by the ranchers here to irrigate gardens. It looks like a tiny pond in the desert but is crystal clear. The second, named after the Smiths (no, not the band) who ranched here was quite a challenge. So there I was, walking a mile and a half up a hill to a notch at the base of the mountains. I have to say it was boring, but a great workout and the actual spring was really something to see. Unfortunately a couple of hikers were there ahead of me and I really had to go to the bathroom-not in the way an easy stop along the trail would solve, either. I didn’t stay long at the spring and double timed it down to the parking lot and its vault toilet-pretty clean, probably from lack of use. I found out from the employee cleaning up that the preserved ranch homestead there was not and is rarely open, so I headed back to camp. I arrived to find the afternoon’s gusty winds had severely tested my tent’s capabilities and two of the four flexible poles had bent over like a double jointed gymnast. The looked OK, though, so I put them back into place and waited until the wind died down to put the tent back up.
After dinner, I checked the forecast. I was pretty determined to get one more long hike in before heading to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, but the weather looked bad. With 50-60 mph gusts predicted for tomorrow, I packed up everything I didn’t need and will be heading north tomorrow. I really enjoyed my camping/hiking (six nights/18 miles) experiences in West Texas, seeing family-first time in three years-and old friends-first time in 11 years, eating crawfish, San Antonio’s Fiesta, two nice state parks, two amazingly gorgeous and rugged if way too windy national parks, and little stops and discoveries along the way during my month in Texas.
