Brandon and I took a vacation in Big Bend, which is a huge national park on the West side of Texas. It's about a 6 1/2 hour drive from San Antonio, so we wanted to make it worthwhile by staying for several days.We planned on doing some canoeing, some hiking and some camping.
We arrived on the first day at 2AM and slept in the car. When the sun came up, we were able to go into the visitor's center to get our permits for camping and river use.
The first day, we canoed down the Rio Grande for 13 miles from Lajitas toward a gorgeous canyon called Santa Elena. There were mountains and cliffs on either side of the river as we paddled.
Quick disclaimer: our camera was in a protective casing while we were on the water, and sometimes the housing around the lens frames the shot.
Can you spot the horse? We think it belonged to a Mexican rancher.
Then we finally hit the mouth of the canyon. We stopped for lunch, but I started showing symptoms of heat exhaustion (spoilers: I'M FINE) so we decided to camp at the mouth of the canyon overnight. It was pretty epic ^_^
I badly needed rest, so Brandon set up the camp, cooked dinner and cleaned up all on his own. If you've ever camped before, you know that those are supposed to be shared duties. He did a phenomenal job of caring for me while I slept off the heat exhaustion.
The next morning I woke up sleepy, but recovered. And with a really bad sunburn on my face that required constant attention for the rest of the week (it's just now healing up the last bit.)
This was our bed. No tent, just a mosquito net over our heads.
We wanted a nice photo to print before we left the campsite.
Packing up the canoe.
I was mostly recovered and pumped to hit the canyon.
Brandon, as usual, was a little more classy about his excitement.
Toward the beginning of the Santa Elena canyon there is a set of rapids called the Rock Slide that rates a 4 on the rapids scale (it goes up to 6 I think?) So, it required some strategizing. We beached the canoe on the Mexico side and scouted ahead to decide which path we would take through the rapids.
There was 12 feet of water the week before we arrived. This kind of debris was not uncommon.
Brandon climbed up on a rock to get a better vantage point. I wish I could've gotten a picture of him up there, he looked awesome. But he had the camera, for obvious reasons. Here is one of the pretty scouting photos he took:
While deciding on a path through the rapids, we stopped to pose by the rocks. It was a very pretty part of the canyon.
We actually had to carry the canoe through this lagoon due to water levels being so low. The water beyond it, despite looking calm, was quite difficult and Brandon had to pull us into position, then jump in the boat at the last minute. It was very tricky.
After the rapids, the river was easy peasy, and the canyon was gorgeous.
Lamenting the damage to his shoes.
Brandon specifically requested photos of the cave behind him. Apparently it is the quintessential Santa Elena photo opp.
After the canoe trip, we did some camping and hiking, which I post soon. I promise! ^_^
