We left the small town of Sanderson heading towards Big Bend, but had to stop to check out the amazing selection of lawn ornaments on display at the Z Bar Trading Company.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) they were not open this early, so we had to satisfy ourselves with taking pics of some of their wares.  Pretty awesome stuff! Oh, if only there was room in the van for one of these beauties!!!

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From Sanderson, we drove for about an hour before reaching Marathon.  Here we stopped for a coffee and to check out the famous Gage Hotel.  Its a pretty cool old hotel, first opened in 1927, that still offers, according to their website “not just a place to hang your hat-its a personal retreat that combines West Texas spirit with warm service and unique charm”.  Although we didn’t stay, we certainly enjoyed checking out their lobby area which was chock full of interesting decor!

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From Marathon, it was another hour to reach the entrance to Big Bend, where we again used our awesome Senior Lifetime Pass to not pay the $30.00 entrance fee – yay!  From the entrance, it was another hour before we came to the ranger station at Panther Junction.  Here we stopped in to find out about camping.  Most people make reservations (which I would highly recommend!) but since we were never sure of our exact itinerary, we were travelling on a wing and a prayer.  Coming so late in the day, both of the main campgrounds, Chisos Basin and Rio Grande Village, were full.  The last possibility, Cottonwood Campground, was 36 miles away and would take about an hour to drive to given the speed limits in the park.  They couldn’t tell us if there were any camp spots available and we had the choice of driving all the way out, only to be turned back, or to drive out to Terlingua, just outside the western boundary of the park, where we could camp in a commercial camp ground for the night.  We drove out, thinking we would head to Terlingua, but when the turnoff to Cottonwood came up, we made the last minute decision to drive out.  A long and beautiful drive took us through the Chisos Mountains and down into a desert valley filled with everything you expect from a West Texas scene – cactus, mesas and big big skies.  It was magical and we were sure excited to be rewarded with a spot to stay when we finally arrived at the Cottonwood Campground!  There were only 2 spots left when we drove in, so we quickly chose ours and paid for 2 nights.  Cottonwood is a smaller and more remote camping spot that doesn’t allow generators, which made us pretty happy.  A fire had burned through the area a year before, leaving much of the surrounding area black and burned, but the actual campground amazingly still had green trees, so we were set.  Having a place to camp set, we drove further along the road to check out Sante Elena Canyon from a viewpoint.  We planned to do the short (but steep) hike the next morning.  At the viewpoint, we found a way down to the river and being me, I wanted to put my feet in the water.  The bank looked pretty dry, so I ploughed along, not really thinking until all of a sudden I sunk ankle deep in what was now very clay-like mud – yikes!!!!  I managed to extricate myself without loosing my sandals and followed Jim, who had chosen a better route over to the water where I could clean them off – what a great introduction to the Rio Grande!!! It was odd to stand on the bank, knowing that the other side was Mexico – so close, but no need of a fence here – I’m pretty sure no one would want to attempt climbing down those rock faces!

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After a wonderful night’s sleep, we packed up our day pack with water and the camera and drove the short distance to Santa Elena Canyon.  As I mentioned, the hike is a short one (1.6 miles round trip) but has a pretty steep section at the beginning.  We crossed the little creek before climbing up the steep stairs and then finally walking along the canyon to the end where, unless you are a pretty good rock climber (I’m not!) you have to stop and turn around.  We enjoyed the fantastic views of rocks and sky, as well as the abundance of plant life along the water’s edge.  It was a delightful way to spend an hour.

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Having finished with the canyon and having quite a bit of day left, we decided to drive up to the Chisos Mountains to do another short hike there.  Along the way, we stopped off to check out the Sotol Vista where we had a clear view of a mesa that looked a lot like a birthday cake to me!

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We drove on up to the Chisos Basin Visitor’s Centre where we were able to use their wifi to check in on the world before heading off to do the Chisos Basin Loop (another short one – 1.8 miles), where we found some more amazing views.  We knew our daughter, Annie, would be up here hiking in few weeks, but her trip took her much further up than we were going today (and with a full pack no less!).  Our decision to hike this trail today was more weather related than anything.  A cold front was due to blow in the next day and we didn’t relish the idea of hiking this far up in the freezing cold.  We thoroughly enjoyed what we saw of this area, though, and would love to come back another year to explore more.

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Hiking for the day done, we made our way back to our campground, had an early dinner and had just finished packing up our things for the night when the rain began – great timing!  It was a pretty stormy night, but we were safe and warm in our comfy van.  What a great way to start our stay here in Big Bend!