Big Bend National Park (Part 1): Mule Ears and Santa Elena canyon

 Big Bend National Park (Part 1): Mule Ears and Santa Elena canyon

Wednesday April 12, 2023 

We left Enchanted Rock State Park in the dark, knowing that we had a long drive to Big Bend National Park.  The drive took us 440 miles across Texas over eight hours.  After arriving at the park entry, we still had some sixty miles inside the park to reach our campground near the Rio Grande.   It was about 3:30 pm when we got to our site.  The car was registering 92 F.  Much to our dismay, the area all around our site was flooded with water.  (We were having flashbacks to Lake Fausse Point!) There was just about enough dry territory for us to pitch our tent.  After some time, a fellow camper came over to explain that the flooding was an irrigation method and the water would subside eventually. We were stunned by a combination of hours in the car and the heat.  Other than cooking dinner and taking a walk down to the river once the sun had set, we did very little. 

We did chat to a lovely Canadian woman who had some recommendations for walks.

Thursday April 13, 2023

We thought we got an early start on the Mule Ears Spring trail, setting out on the two-mile hike at 9 am.  The trail leads up over a number of ridges and down into various ‘washes’. Overall there’s little elevation gain but no shade.  Stopping to listen for birds did slow us down a bit, however, we were hard pressed to explain how the two mile trip to the spring took nearly two hours! When we arrived we found a small puddle of water and the sound of water trickling down the rock.  While the amount of water currently present was small the lush vegetation demonstrated that at some times significant volumes of water must flow in this area.  

By the time we were heading back to the car, the temperature was climbing significantly.  The birds seemed a LOT less interesting.  We returned to our campsite for lunch and some resting in the shade.  In mid–afternoon, we drove to the start of the St. Elena Canyon hike. This canyon feeds into the Rio Grande a few miles west of our campground.  In order to walk up into the Canyon you have to wade a stream that runs into the Rio Grande.  We approached this with some trepidation and much clearing of pockets.  Fortunately we both had shoes that could get wet.  It’s fairly clear that the temperature played a role in making the wading seem more attractive.  The water was pleasantly cool but quite deep, definitely over my waist.  

On the far side of the stream, a paved trail leads steeply uphill into the canyon.  The walk takes you back into this deeply cut canyon with towering walls on each side. It’s very atmospheric and breezy.  Several massive rocks have fallen from the walls, dwarfing the hikers.  Eventually the path ends at even more gigantic rocks.  Further progress would involve more wading. We elected to turn back!  The second wading was a tad more difficult as one of Mike’s flip-flops had become detached from the sole.  We were glad that our clothing bags were in the car allowing us to change out of the wet gear. 

After returning to the campsite, we prepared some dinner, and later we actually sat up reading until after dark.  I think it’s the first time we’ve both been up after dark since Trap Pond in Delaware! The one piece of equipment that we brought with us, but have yet to use, is our kerosene lantern. By the time it gets dark we are both exhausted and happy to retire to our cozy tent.

Gloria

The view across the flooded area around our campsite. By morning it was completely dry and over the course of the following days we saw other areas flooded to help irrigate the shade trees.

Mule Ears seen in the evening light. The photos taken during our midday hike look rather washed out!

Looking back across the Rio Grande as we enter the mouth of the Santa Elena Canyon. With so many dams and so much water extracted for irrigation upstream of this point, the river that flows down the Santa Elena Canyon actually provides the majority of the water that flows downstream along the Rio Grande

The Santa Elena Canyon walls are probably 1000 feet high. The extremes of light make it difficult for photography.

A panorama from near the Cottonwoods campsite at the west end of the park, looking back towards the Chisos mountains