S.Padre Island to Big Bend National Park
Trip Start
Jul 24, 2007
1
14
18
Trip End
Ongoing
Marathon,
Texas,
United States
Friday, March 28, 2008
We left S. Padre Island and started driving northwest along the Rio Grande"wild and scenic" river. We drove through cool sounding counties like "Hidalgo", "Jim Hogg", and "Dimmit". The Rio Grande ranges in size from very wide, to something you can step over. We also encountered several Homeland Security checkpoints manned be personnel of Mexican descent. That would be tough turning away your brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles. The Mexican side of the Rio Grande is sheer cliffs and the U.S. side is miles and miles of nothing. I think anyone with the determination to survive all that should be met by the welcome wagon.
Remembering the cowboy movies I used to watch, I thought this area was pretty flat. However, our little red pick-up had to drop into low gear to get our house over the top of some of the hills. We did an over night at Carrizo Springs, Texas before making it to Marathon, Texas the next day.
According to the tour books, Marathon is the last chance for gas before continuing down to Big Bend Nat. Park. Marathon looks more like a ghost town than a last chance for anything but the campground was very nice. They had a beautiful outdoor stone patio area with a water fountain, and chairs. There was also a covered area of the patio with rocking chairs and a huge stone fireplace you could relax in front of. They had the fire going each night although they didn't allow fires at individual campsites. The entire state of Texas is in ultra severe brush fire danger because of all the dry.
26 miles 5 hours
Lots and lots of dry. And brown. I don't build a fire anyway cause it interferes with my re-runs of Law and Order. There was a little cafe at the campground that had the best breakfast burritos with homemade salsa.. We stayed there for a couple of days then headed down to Big Bend. There is only one campground there with full hook-ups but no wi-fi or cable. We are soo spoiled. We got there early enough to get a spot.
Big Bend is HUGE with climates ranging from desert heat to alpine cool. Our campsite at Rio Grande Village is considered the desert. That would explain the 110 degree daytime and 85 degree night time temperatures. Boy, the things you learn on your trip through life.
Armed with a map of the park, we set out on a back road adventure. The roads are well marked but they require a four wheel drive with high clearance. Did they ever. Our 26 mile trip took about five hours and kept us from doing it again the next day.
Pre- 9/11, you could leave your campsite at Rio Grande Village and walk to the river. For a couple of dollars a nice Mexican gentleman would ride you across on his ferry. Then you could either walk or rent a burro for a couple more dollars and go into a quaint little Mexican village for dinner or what-have-you, spend the evening, then return the same way to the campground. No more, and it has cut deeply into the local economy. Also, if you do get over there, you better not get caught coming back as this is not an authorized crossing. Its a shame, and now they insist on building that stupid wall.
I read an article in the local paper about a woman that is a US citizen living on the US side of the border. However, sometimes the wall can't follow the border exactly and her house is going to end up on the Mexican side of the wall. Now, instead of her being able to walk into town for supplies, it will be a 40 mile trip. Without a car! Someone hose me down! Thanks.
The next day we drove up into the Chisos Basin. This is the Alpine area I mentioned earlier. Emory Peak is at 7825 ft. Back in the days when they used to run Poncha Villa out of his own country, this was his hiding spot. You can set up camp in this basin with your camp fires going and the surrounding mountain peaks will keep anyone from seeing you.
This is an incredably beautiful area, but if you want to camp up there, your camper cannot be more than 20 feet long. Anything longer is not allowed because they will not be able to negotiate the steep switchbacks. It was harry enough with just the truck.
stunning
We drove around different areas of the park and visited some of the old ranches that are still standing, thanks to the help of the park service. This area looks so harsh you wonder how anyone could survive, but from what we understand, cattle thrive and the ranchers were quite successful. 
