Playing Catch-up

Dear faithful reader,

As you may have noticed, we are not really "caught up" on the blog as compared to real life. Our map shows us in San Diego and LA, while the last post of note left us on the doorstep of Big Bend National Park. Have no fear! We fully intend to provided you with detailed blow-by-blow accounts of our activities. But for now, here's a brief outline of our recent activities:

Big Bend National Park
Potentially one of the most out-of-the-way national parks in the country, Big Bend offered a peaceful respite in the wilderness in the midst of some pretty hectic driving days. We spent our first night in a backcountry car campsite (oxymoron? it turns out they actually exist!) pretty much in the middle of the desert, with no one around for miles. The next day, we got a small taste of the desert when we hiked to a gigantic balanced rock, precariously perched on two other equally massive boulders. We ran into a retired couple from North Dakota who turned out to be much friendlier than they at first appeared. The hike left us dusty, hot, and a little tired, so we moved camp up to the mountains and hung out in the established campground cradled by the impressive peaks of the Chisos range. It was a little weird going from having no one around to being surrounded by RVs and retirees, but what can you do.

The following morning, we woke up extra early, packed our daypacks, and set out on a 12+ mile hike up to and along the South Rim of the Chisos Mountains. The hike was absolutely spectacular, and we were treated with perfect weather. The views of the Chisos Basin (where the campground is located) on the way up to the ridge were stunning, but we were wholly unprepared by the sheer grandeur of the view that met us at our lunch spot. Julia and Sara were ahead; Annie, Tara, and Rachel were a little farther behind. As the last three approached a trail junction, they noticed they were about to crest a rise in the hillside. The sky opened in front of them, and there were Sara and Julia sitting on a ledge overlooking fifty miles of desert flats, the Rio Grande, and Mexican mountains. Perigrine falcons and other birds surfed the thermals wafting up along the face of the immense cliff atop which we lunched. It was stunning, to say the least.

That night, those unwashed members of the troupe were treated to a glorious sunset seen through the notch in the range surrounding the Basin (see picture in previous post). We ate a hodge podge dinner of scrambled eggs, pancakes, Ramen noodles, and cereal as our sore muscles protested most positions we asked them to assume.

The Coldest Night
We realized that Big Bend to Vegas was quite a ridiculous trip to make in one day, so we decided to split it up and camp somewhere in New Mexico. At the previously mentioned rest area, we realized that we could press on to a much farther campsite, thus cutting the driving hours of the following day. What we didn't realize, however, was that pushing forward meant going higher. So when we were about 20 minutes away from our campground (Bluewater Lake State Park, about 40 miles east of Gallup, NM), and Tara radioed to Annie, Rachel, and Julia to "Guess the temperature," Annie replied, "45."

Tara: "Lower."
Rachel: "37?"
Julia: "34."
Tara: "Lower."
Annie: "27?"
Tara: "Lower."
Rachel, Julia, and Annie: "Crap."
It turned out that Sara's car read 23 degrees outside. And that was at 8pm. There was frozen snow on the ground as we turned into the state park.

We made a plan of attack and were fairly deliberate in our preparations. We camped as close to the bathroom as possible, and while everyone else worked on setting up the tent, Rachel boiled water from the showers to make everyone a hot water bottle for their sleeping bags. We bundled in all of our warm clothes, fished out sleeping bag liners and extra sleeping bags. In fact, we were as prepared as we could hope without having specific winter gear. It was a cold night, and some were definitely colder than others, but we lived to tell the tale.

The next morning we treated ourselves to a delicious breakfast at El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, where Sara ordered "water and hot water," making it clear that the warmth of the tea she actually wanted was all she cared about.

From New Mexico we ventured to Vegas via the Hoover Dam, but more on that later. Rantings on the Hoover Dam deserve their very own post.

Adventurously yours,

Us.