Last day of work at Rio Grande Village in Big Bend National Park

So today was our last day of work at Rio Grande Village in Big Bend National Park.

On our last 2018 hike in the Basin

It was bittersweet since we have just completed our first workamping assignment at a National Park, made very good friends in the park we would miss forever, managed a store in a National Park, got to spend 6 months in the Chihuahuan desert, kayaked the Rio Grande River, had a fun weekend at Lajitas Resort, fell in love with Terlingua, found our favorite National Park and on and on.

Last stop at the store to say Goodbye

Thank you Forever Resorts,
Chisos Basis Lodge,
Rio Grande Village Store,
and Gary and Maria!! 

and off we go one to our next adventure!

This has been a one-time event for us, and we will never forget it.

We have memories and good friends that will last a lifetime.

It's been an eye-opening and enlightening experience for both of us.

As we leave our favorite National Park, we look forward to good times and travels throughout our home state of Texas for the month of September 2018.

After stopping by Seminole Canyon State Park & Historic Site, we'll head to Enchanted Rock state park to spend the Winter via Austin of course! 

I'll (Bert) be a volunteer park host, and Lupe will work in Fredericksburg.

And here is our Google Photo album of every photo we've taken (and saved) from Big Bend since 2014.

Ernst Tinaja and the Dead horse Mountains

Ernst Tinaja, a series of rock watering holes, is reached by hiking up a half-mile into the amazing Boquillas formation created 90 million years ago. The difficult part is getting there.  The Tinaja (Spanish for "large earthen jar") is accessed from Old Ore Road, which is a 27.5-mile backcountry road in Big Bend National park connecting the RGV (Rio Grande Village) area to HWY 385, the park entry road coming in from Marathon.

And while we believe 'The Green Monster', our 1500 RAM, is the best truck in the world, it is not a 4x4 vehicle, however, since it IS a monster we decided we'd try the road anyway to see the tinajas.

We began our trip from the southern end of Old Ore road, so the side road to the Ernst Tinaja camping area was about 5 miles down that road. Along the way, we had amazing views of the Chisos Mountains as the morning began.  We started about 9 a.m. to avoid hiking in the hotter afternoon heat.

Along Old Ore Road you get many beautiful views of the Chisos

Along the way, we passed multiple camping areas, including Candellia, which was named after the very abundant Candellia plant, used to produce fine wax in Mexico

and the grave of Juan de Leon who was murdered at La Noria in 1933 following an argument with Joe Loftin, who was never convicted of the crime. I hope my grave looks this good when I'm put in the ground!!

Anyway, we arrived at the Ernst Tinaja camping parking lot and started our hike.  The weather was wonderfully cool and perfect for the hike.  We immediately started to notice all the water that had collected on the exposed bedrock probably still there from the 2.5 inches of rain RGV had received two-weeks prior.

As you begin the hike, up the wash, you walk on exposed, whitish limestone sheets uplifted and angled over time, each holding a little water full of tadpoles and small creatures.

hiking towards Ernst Tinaja

As noted in Falcon's Big Bend Hiking Guide, continuing up the wash you are walking back in geologic time.  The type of rock changes from large white limestone sheets to thinner and more colorful limestone and shale.  Fossil remnants indicate these beds were originally deposited on the ocean floor 90 million years ago.

entering the tinaja canyon

Walking into the Ernst Tinaja canyon, rocks become even more colorful, layered and more folded while the white limestone base rock that forms the tinaja, known as budda limestone, starts to appear.

Ernst Tinaja

Looking back from where we had hiked in, the shot of Ernst Tinaja shows the deep green color of the water; you can't see the bottom. The water level was higher than what I've seen in other photos probably due to the recent rains. Many references to this tinaja talk about how animals get trapped in its water and drown as the water level drops, with the sides slick with algae preventing them from escaping.

Just past the tinaja the horizontal, layered walls become twisted and pushed into cave-like structures.  Years of sand and rock-filled water traveling through the canyon and high speeds have also changed these formations smoothing the lower rocks like a rock tumbler would.

Smooth white budda limestone formations are abundant.

continuing into the canyon past the tinajas

We continued into the canyon another quarter mile, climbing up, over or under many of the smooth rock formations

eventually, stopping where we didn't have the climbing skills to pass. I call it the big hanging rock!

At the formation where we stopped, there was a bee-filled pool, where they could take a cool a drink.

We hiked back out of the canyon passing many flowering plants with birds fluttering around them.  The tinaja supports a small community of plants and animals all year long, an oasis that allows for life in the typically hot Chihuahuan desert.

Dead horse Mountains pouroff

We decided to continue down Old Ore Road toward 385 which we found out was the more challenging part of the backcountry road, especially for the truck.  To the East, we were blessed with beautiful views of the Dead horse Mountains and high mountain pouroffs along the way.

And to the west, we again had the distant Chisos Mountains to watch for between the undulating McKinney Hills

where we also found remnants of the McKinney ranch.

Along with more beautiful, flowering plants along the road.

Here's our Google Photo Album of all photos from this trip.

Window View Trail, Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National park

The Windows View Trail starts in the Chisos Basin just behind the Basin General store. This hike is considered easy as it is only .3 miles round trip. The trail is also paved making it handicap accessible. 

start of trail

The first plaque you come across is dedicated to Stephen Tyng Mather who led a publicity campaign to promote the creation of a unified federal agency to oversee National Park Administration, which was established in 1916. In 1917, Mather was appointed as the first director of the National Park Service. He served until 1929, during his tenure Mather created a professional civil service organization, increased the numbers of parks and national monuments, and established systematic criteria for adding new properties to the federal system.

Stephen Tyng Mather

The Windows View Trail is relatively short compared to the many Basin trails that can be started from it. 

Once you get to the center of the trail you can read about the Volcanic origin of the Chisos mountains around you and also use the marker to help put a name to each of them.

Once you have read about them you can take as much time as you like to just sit and be with the area.

 The view is amazing and you can hear so many different things if you just take the time to slow down and enjoy. 

Here's our Google Photo Album of this hike. 

Still Happy two years later in our Airstream - the two-year experiment is complete

New Experiences living the RV Life 

It was two years ago last month, July 23rd, 2016 to be exact, that we picked up our new Airstream in Tampa Florida.  With two years to experience the RV lifestyle on the road and living out decisions made before and after that date, we are both very happy we decided to do this and we are exactly where we want to be.

The trip back from Tampa, our Maiden Voyage, our first time to pull a large trailer, was an experience in itself.  We began learning what living in an RV would be like, how it would permanently change our lives and cause new and exciting adventures in our lives every day.

A Comfortable and Happy Life 

We approach life as if every moment is a lesson, an opportunity to learn.  And we have learned that we can be comfortable and happy living in the Airstream.  It was definitely not like that at the beginning.  Over these two years, we've learned that a propane detector going off at night is not an emergency; it means we check the propane appliances (stove & refrigerator) for problems and leaks, and then turn on the exhaust fans and reset the detector.

There are innumerable small issues with RVs that come up and you learn to solve them yourself or you go to an expert to get them resolved.  They are all problems that can be dealt with and very few are life-threatening emergencies like they seemed at the beginning.

In 2016 when I retired, we had a 2-year plan, an agreement, to try out RV life.  We bought a trailer that we believed would keep its value for the long-term.  The 2-year experiment is complete and was a success.  We're continuing with the RV life and expect to do this for the long-term.

Looking back at our dream

Some of what we've learned 

Things happen even with a brand-new RV

'Airstreaming' I believe is similar and different from traveling in any trailer.  How would we know?  I'm just guessing, but one thing I do know is that Airstream trailers come with a 2-year warranty.  That warranty is really important; luckily we got most of our out-of-the-factory issues corrected in the 1st year. In the second year, we've used the warranty on smaller issues that we could resolve but needed a part or assistance from Airstream.

Many people may think a new trailer would come off the factory floor perfect, without flaws, and trouble-free (for a while at least).  That is simply not true, even for an Airstream, or a 2-million dollar class A motorhome.  I've heard story upon story about every version of RV and their (major and minor) problems the first year.  We had ours too, and I could list them, so everyone would really appreciate the work it took the first year, but I won't.  The point is we have them fixed, and that was the focus of all that work.  Get your RV working and continue on your adventure.

Schedule as little as you can, keep it flexible

It's obvious, I think, that as we travel we want to take advantage of where we are and where we want to be, right.  When we are working and on a tight schedule, we plan a trip end-to-end,; we book hotels, RV parks, and events and we go do that.  Great trip but not a lot of flexibility built-in.

We'll the new point-of-view now for me is not to do ANY OF THAT.  Flexibility/agility during a trip is key to taking advantage of what's in front of you and what you come upon next.  So, as we relocate ourselves, we don't plan much, leaving the agenda completely open.  If we plan to visit a park we'll go in the first day and check things out, hit the visitors center and THEN plan the next day. It may be that there's not a lot to do in that particular park at the time (like we though while visiting Mesa Verde NP in 2020).  As it happens, the more you explore the more you find in front of you that is also interesting.  So, plan as little as possible to get in the most impact.  In Mesa Verde, it turned out that even though the ranger-led hikes into the Cliff Dwellings were not operating when we were there in February, we still found a week's worth of valuable and exciting things to do in that park.

Slow and easy vs. fast-paced is a no-brainer

Similar to the above point, when we get to a location we plan to stay for a while. Since we want to get the most out of our visit we usually don't plan an end date.  We stay as long as needed and leave when ready for the next adventure.

A system the Living in Beauty blog talks about is the 4-3-2 rule!   That is: drive no more than 4 hours, stop by 3 pm and stay for 2 weeks.

Expand your horizons as you travel

The idea is that we try different types of stays, including boondocking, state/national park campgrounds, using private parks, Harvest Host wineries, and moochdocking at Walmarts and Cabelas.  We have RV friends, for example, Xscapers, that like to boondock all the time.  They love that experience of being in the desert on solar.  Other's we met, like some Escapees, like to stay in RV parks all the time.

We've found that changing things up from time-to-time can really make full-time RV living work and keep us happy.  Hey, we've even looked at the beautiful Fort Wilderness park at Disney World in Florida as a place to say.  That experience would be wonderful and (finally) get Lupe to Disney World so he stops complaining :)

Working together (at paid or volunteer jobs) will grow your relationship

We CAN work together at a real job, we hadn't done this before and have learned so much about each other and our relationship by doing this at Big Bend.  After a few weeks of figuring out who is in charge (no one as it turns out), Lupe and I have settled into our jobs and understand each other just a little bit better.

What we're doing now and why it works

We are currently in Big Bend National Park working for Forever Resorts.  As I'll post in the future I bet, this will be one of the best experiences we've ever had.  Not only have we learned more about each other with our relationship growing by leaps and bounds, but also we have learned that we can do things that we never thought we could.

I didn't think I would ever do retail in my life.  But, I've learned the price of EVERY ITEM in our store at Rio Grande Village, and I found I love working with people and making their park experience a great one.

Of course, this works because we are willing to make it work.  We had no idea what this job would be like, or what we would face during the job, but we were willing to try it and work as hard as we could to make it work.  So, to me that is a work ethic and why we can workcamp now and in the future.  We can get through almost anything if we are committed to the job.

even when it's 94 inside and 113 outside, in the shade

Bert 

Pine Canyon Hike 2018

Pine Canyon Trail is listed as a moderate hike in our favorite Big Bend Hiking Guide, the Falcon Guide to Hiking Big Bend. And even on a Summer day, like the day we hiked in July, if you start early enough you can still have a pleasant hike at Big Bend National Park.

Lupe on the trail

Pine Canyon trail is a high desert trail starting at about 2500 feet in elevation and ending at about 5400 feet (based on my phone).  On this trail, you're climbing up into the high desert mountains about 2.5 miles (the book says 2 miles but it's more) and it gets cooler as you go.

You get to the trailhead from the Panther Junction Visitors center by turning South towards Glen Springs Road, an improved off-road trail, turning right on Glen Springs Road and then right on Pine Canyon Road where you'll pass five Pine canyon campsites along the way.

After a roughly 7 mile off-road drive, you'll get to Pine Canyon trailhead which has its own parking lot.

Trail marker describing the hike

As the Guide describes, heading west towards the Chisos Mountains the trail follows an old dirt road, which is a continuation of Pine Canyon Road, into a densely wooded pine canyon.

Sotol agave grasslands

The uphill hike starts in sotol grasslands and after a mile enters the canyon.  As the elevation increases the plant life changes into a dense forest of Mexican pinyon pine, junipers and oaks.

After another mile, we found ourselves in a creek bed thinking that this was the end of the trail, however, continuing another 1/2 mile, we found ourselves at the base of the 200-foot pouroff, which becomes a waterfall after heavy rains.

pouroff

The hike was exhilarating and had an exciting ending at the beautiful pouroff.  The surrounding, tranquil space created there provided a place to sit and chillax after the hike.

If we can, we'll head back in just after a heavy rain to see the waterfall.

The hike out was equally beautiful as we passed Texas Madrone, Arizona pine and bigtooth maple as well as the always-present Harvard agave.

Since Microsoft recently upgraded their Photos app to make it super easy to create videos, I had to try it and made this short video of this hike.  Sorry for the silly animations, I had to try them.  Let me know what you think.   And - here's a link to our Google Photo Album for this hike.

Chow, Bert

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A little about recycling here at Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park's Landfill

Every day here at Big Bend National Park (BBNP) we work to keep single-use plastic and all recyclables out of the trash headed to our landfill.  Big Bend is one of the few National Parks that has its own landfill and there is real concern about it filling up. At the current pace, park management believes it will be full in 10 years.

Big Bend's Landfill, hidden from public view.
NPS Photo/Lori Michelowski

Even though we have large recycling bins next to our trash cans at most trailheads, all stores, and visitor centers, many people still miss them.

Trash and recycling cans at Rio Grande Village

Or visitors don't care, or don't understand the problem they create NOT putting recycling in trash cans here at Big Bend.

Big Bend National Park's Recycling Program

Big Bend is known to have one of the most comprehensive recycling programs in the national park service and in the State of Texas.  The National Park Service's Your Dollars at Work page shows how park entry fees have been used beginning in the 90's to enhance the park's recycling program to the point where 40% of total waste is recycled!!

Recycling bundled with trash

However, I still am finding recycling and single-use plastic bundled together with regular trash and thrown into the trash can together.

Reusable Albertson's grocery bag filled with recycling

So, I spend a little time each morning at the store pulling recyclables, mostly single-use plastic bottles, out of the trash and putting them into the appropriate recycling bin.  And when I'm doing that, my thoughts always go to WHY we have to even do this.

Trash can at our gas station 

This coke bottle is NOT returnable
Thanks, Coca Cola

The trash bins at our gas station collect a lot of recycling because it's easier to dump it than walk over to the bins :(

Returning this beer bottle would get you a small refund if returned in one of the states listed.  

How recycling began

After reading recent articles on how recycling got to this point and why we have recyclables in the first place (see Coca-Cola and deposit systems, Pick Up Your Shit Day, and  Sustainable design strategies), I realized it is basically because big companies like Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Pepsi switched from reusable/returnable glass containers to recyclable plastic in the 60's and 70's - mainly because it was cheaper and simpler to not deal with returnables and the public liked the 'new' idea.  Then, those same companies helped create recycling programs, and the Keep American Beautiful program, passing responsibility for dealing with this new waste problem on to the consumers.

Enhancing recycling at Big Bend National park

Here at Big Bend National Park, we can also do better.  The park stores do sell lots of plastic bottles and aluminum cans. After talking with a manager, we know there are companies that sell water in (compostable) cardboard boxes (kind of like drink boxes). We just need to find a vendor here that will make them available to the concessionaire, the company that manages the stores, restaurant, and lodge.

Eliminating as many plastic bottles from our shelves would also, automatically, reduce what gets put in the National Park landfill.  The park, vendors and the concessionaire would need to take the steps necessary to start reducing the volume of recyclables sold by

• replacing single-use plastic bottles with cardboard boxes, 
• encouraging visitors to use refillable, BPA-free bottles and 
• making drinking fountains available at every store in the park

One thing we do here at BBNP that is positive and environmentally friendly is that we only use paper bags and don't use the single-use, plastic bags you get at most grocery and convenience stores.  Plastic cups and styrofoam coolers are not sold or used at the park.

A sustainability Initiative to end the use of single-use plastic

As an example of making huge strides in this area, IKEA, from Sweden, is now taking a stand against this problem and recently updated their sustainability initiatives to a "people and planet-positive" commitment.  One of those commitments is to completely end their use of single-use plastic in Ikea stores and restaurants by 2020.  This article shows how Ikea is leading the way and showing us how large companies and organizations like National Parks can become planet positive and take us back to the days when there was no recycling to worry about.

More kayaking from the Hot springs Historic Area

Lupe didn't get enough kayaking on his trip two weeks ago (AusTexGuys Blog: Our first adventure with the new Kayak on the Rio), so this week he was on the Rio Grande again kayaking a little further away, putting in at the Hot Springs Historic Area.

On the way to Hot Springs put-in

The drive from Rio Grande village (RGV), where he would get out, to the historic hot springs area is about 3 miles. So we thought this would be a better test of the new inflatable kayak and his skills.

The first run was from the RGV Daniel's ranch area to the RGV boat launch which was only a mile.

Headed to Daniels Ranch put-in on the Rio Grande, from the first trip

This attempt was 3 or more miles from the Hot springs to Daniel's ranch.

Where Lupe put-in

Getting Started

kayaking by the Hot Springs.

And getting ready to hit the 'rapids', where he lost his glasses :(

The trip was very successful with a lesson learned.  Lupe got back, sans his glasses, but was happy to make it through hot springs canyon and see some wildlife too. Here's the entire photo album.

See the local 'wildlife'? 

One side of Hot Springs Canyon