Friends of Big Bend National Park

 Enjoy our blog by Administrative Assistant and Marathon resident Arlene Griffis!

February 2010
The board of Friends of Big Bend meets three times per year, with two of those taking place in the park, while the third rotates among the major cities in Texas.  For each of the two meetings which take place in Big Bend, a ranger-guided hike is offered free of charge, and all FBBNP members are invited to participate.  On February 21 of this year, members had a choice of two awesome hikes:  an easier hike to Indian Head in Study Butte or a more challenging one to Mesa de Anguila on the west side of the park near Lajitas.  I was one of approximately twenty-five people who chose the Mesa hike, which was led by David Elkowitz, Chief of Interpretation and Visitor Services.

After parking at the trailhead directly behind the Lajitas golf course, David described the topography, geology, and history of the region, including the fact that the name “Mesa de Anguila” is Spanish for “Mesa of the Eel”.  I found this to be a bit strange since we were nowhere near any natural habitat for these wriggly ocean-dwelling creatures.  Perhaps anticipating a question regarding this anomaly, David explained that it is thought that some early explorers of the mesa thought that the Rio Grande, whose numerous twists and turns are visible from the top of the mesa, resembled eels in appearance.  Another possible explanation is that the maze of trails on the mesa appears similar to eels when viewed from the air or on a topographic map.  For those who don’t buy into the eel thing, the Handbook of Texas Online offers several alternative explanations:  “The name may have come from a Spanish ángel (“angel”) or águila (“eagle”). Yet another possibility occurs in a folk tale that claims the name referred to a Comanche, Angulo, who was allegedly the last of his people in the region. According to the tale, Angulo lived in caves on the mesa and in Santa Elena Canyon, which were known as las cuevas de Angulo.”

Mesa de Anguila is one of the least visited areas in the park, largely due to the scarcity of water, the confusing labyrinth of trails, and the fact that the trails in the area are not routinely maintained.  While more adventurous and experienced hikers may choose to make the Mesa de Anguila hike a 7.5 one-way hike to Tinaja Lujan (a natural rock pool which holds water during parts of the year) and perhaps camp overnight, many other hikes of various lengths and difficulties are also possible.  Our group climbed to the saddle on top of the mesa where we were able to enjoy breathtaking views of the mesa, the Rio Grande, and the mountains across the river in Mexico.  David expressed his continuing amazement at the vastness of the mesa itself, which offers 360 degree views almost as far as the eye can see.  I have been on a number of hikes with David, and although he has been at Big Bend for many years and has hiked most the trails dozens of times, it is obvious that he approaches each hike with the expectation of seeing something new and different each time.  His enthusiasm is contagious, to be sure, making those he guides share his reverence and appreciation of these natural wonders we are privileged to experience.

For those wishing to hike the Mesa de Anguila, be aware that even if you choose one of the shorter hikes available, the terrain is extremely rocky and many of the rocks are loose.  Also, the majority of the elevation gain is in the first 1.5 miles, over 1000 feet from the trailhead to the top of the mesa.  Although the hike we took was not one of great length, it was nonetheless quite strenuous.  This is not a hike for novices, nor is it one that you would want to take in warm weather.  Although we hiked this trail in February, it was probably around 80 degrees during the hottest part of the day.

It is a constant source of amusement within my family that I know the words to so many songs, many of which are quite obscure and that I will often break into song spontaneously without warning.  On this hike, for some reason as we rounded a bend and I saw all the members our group spread out and winding up the trail, I was suddenly moved to begin singing the song “The Happy Wanderer” which begins,

“I love to go a-wandering along the mountain track

And as I go, I love to sing, my knapsack on my back

Val-da-ree, val-da-rah

Val-da-ree, val-da-rah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

Val-da-ree, val-da-rah

My knapsack on my back.

Well, imagine my surprise and delight when a voice directly behind me joined in, also knowing all the words, and singing harmony, no less!  It was none other than Reine Wonite, wife of David Elkowitz.  It is so nice to have a kindred spirit on a glorious day under the blue skies of Big Bend!

Take a hike! 

Take a Hike: December 2009

For the past several years it has been a tradition for my husband Steve and me to hike in Big Bend on New Year’s Day. My brother Dennis and his wife Ruth like to join us whenever possible. After having hiked the South Rim of the Chisos several times, we decided that on January 1, 2009 we would hike to the top of Emory Peak, the highest point in the Chisos Mountains (elevation 7825 feet). Steve and I had done it the previous October and we knew that Ruth and Dennis would love it as much as we did, so on a gloriously sunny New Year’s morning we left Marathon for the drive down Highway 385 to the park, a scenic trek which still takes my breath away despite the fact that we have made it more times than I can remember.

We arrived at the Chisos Basin, where we parked our van and embarked on the hike at 9:35 AM. The first part of the trail is fairly easy, with the terrain being crushed rock, which provides a comfortable walking surface. The incline is at first gradual, giving hikers a chance to adjust hiking gait and breathing patterns. When we had hiked the trail in October, Steve and I did not see another single person, neither going up nor coming down. In contrast, on New Year’s Day, with more tourists in the park, the traffic was moderately heavy, while the mood was light, with frequent greetings of “Happy New Year” being heard throughout the day as hikers met each other on the trail or as faster groups overtook those who did not make the ascent as rapidly.

There are a number of primitive campsites along the length of the entire trail, and some of the more adventurous prefer to make the summiting of Emory Peak an overnight affair. Campsites are labeled according to the portion of the trail on which they are located and as we approached the area known as the Pinnacles, and passed campsite P1,

Dennis, who was in the lead of our foursome, suddenly turned around to the rest of us with a look on his face that I had never seen in the almost forty-nine years he has been my brother. He pointed around the bend to an area on the trail that Ruth, Steve and I could not yet see, and quietly intoned, “There is a bear right in the middle of the trail.” Now although all of us knew that black bears had returned to the Chisos Basin back in the late 1980’s after an absence of nearly fifty years, none of us had ever seen one in all of our trips to the park. On this day, however, we were treated to the sight of four of the magnificent creatures feasting on the numerous berries which lay along the path. Knowing that black bears are omnivores (eaters of both meat and vegetation), I was relieved to find that at this particular time we observed them eating berries instead of gnawing on the leg bone of some fellow hiker.

As a frequent visitor and a fan of all things relating to Big Bend National Park, I have heard all the warnings, especially the admonitions regarding proper storage of food items and disposal of food scraps. What park rangers warn us about is that if humans feed the bears, whether intentionally or not, the bears will lose their natural fear of humans and make aggressive attempts to get more “people food”, possibly resulting in a horrific, unthinkable scenario which would involve park rangers having to kill bears who have lost their fear of humans.

This bear sighting really brought home this fact because these four bears were not afraid of us in the least; in fact, we had quite a bit of trouble shooing them off the foot path. Ruth had a whistle that she blew and while one of the bears did not like this at all and ran away, the other three seemed to be fazed not at all by the shrill sound. Steve tried clicking his aluminum hiking poles against each other and waving them in the air, which spooked one of the young cubs, but there were still two more who continued to follow the trail ahead of us, calmly eating berries. Just as we were about to decide that we should abandon the Emory Peak experience for the time being, all four of the bears disappeared into the bushes, allowing us to continue our ascent unmolested.

It was such a perfect day…perfect weather…wildlife sighting…awesome visibility from the top…endorphins flowing freely…that Steve and I got caught up in it all and decided right then and there that we would make the Emory Peak ascent once a month during the year 2009. Although we experienced extreme cold, extreme heat, and even a July thunderstorm, I am proud to say that on Christmas Day we made our twelfth Emory Peak climb of the year!

This year our New Year’s resolution is to NOT hike Emory Peak (or any other) twelve times! In 2010 we are going more for variety. We have already hiked Pine Canyon and Croton Springs together and I hiked Mesa de Anguila with the Friends group in February. It is my plan to write about each of these as well as others we choose to do.

For those of you who have never attempted Emory Peak, it will be of note that BBNP’s trail crew is in the process of rerouting the final portion of the Emory Peak trail, making it more accessible to all hikers. According to “The Paisano”, the park’s official newsletter, the present trail traverses grades of up to 40%, making it prone to erosion, difficult for hikers to navigate, and impractical to maintain. Park sources claim that “the rerouted trail will be one mile longer than the existing nine-mile round trip, but will be an easier, more rewarding experience, and a sustainable trail for future visitors climbing to Big Bend’s highest point”.

Take a hike!