I didn't sleep much. The rain-fly on my tent was flapping in the wind with extreme fury and my sleeping pad had a slow leak. I finally got up and removed the rain-fly at some point. It wasn't actually that windy, it was just perfectly noisy with each constant flap in the breeze. And I won't be using that sleeping pad anymore. I was pretty much done attempting any rest and the Super Moon was about to set to the West. It was sooo bright. I caught some shots of my campsite, packed up my tent and waited for the sunrise to come over El Pico. 

Time to hike out! I had two liters of water, plenty of energy, and was ready to boogie! Maybe 100 yards after I got back on the trail I came across a really nice flat and open pad site at a big split rock. It's well known as the split rock campsite. The only other reasonably easy place to camp would probably be down  on the beach at the river below. That's where Mark, Molly, and I stayed 4 years ago. 

I made excellent time on my hike out. 5.2 miles in about an hour and 45 minutes with a gulp of water to spare. My GPS watch died before the end but I got in touch with my parents using the walkie-talkie about 1.5 miles out and gave them a perfect ETA. I was happy to finish the hike, it was an amazing experience. I'll give it some time, but I'll probably be back.

My dad waited for me to come down the wash and caught videos of me. They make me happy. Reliving those final steps.

I rinsed off in the RV, checked in at the ranger station to let them know I was out and then said farewell to our adventure. Mom, Dad, I love you and am really happy we were able to spend time with each other in a place truly dear to me.

The time had finally come. In late December 2011 I experienced Marufo Vega for the first time. It was on a very spontaneous trip with two dear friends Mark and Molly, and you can read about that adventure here. I've been wanting to return to this trail for a long time and it just so happened to fall perfectly on a rare super moon total lunar eclipse!!! Marufo Vega is 14-mile lollipop loop in the rugged Sierra del Caballo Muerto (Dead Horse Mountains) downstream of Boquillas Canyon. There aren't any trees, minimal shade in the dead of the day, high heat, and no water (drinking from the Rio Grande is strongly discouraged.) 

We packed up the RV, left the Chisos Basin and stopped by Panther Junction to get my backcountry permit. I was going in alone. The park ranger did his very best to discourage and warn me from doing this trail. "You know we don't recommend this trail at this time of year." "What type of map do you have?" "You know there isn't any water out there, right?". He figured since I was getting a late start I'd only be able to make it about five miles in and pointed to the area I had actually intended to camp at (I had already planned where to shoot night photography). Well, my plan was to take the long way in and the short way out. His cautions started to wear on me.

With 6 liters of water, my little tent, blanket and pad, three lenses (tough choice), a bunch of cherry tomatoes, an RV made fajita taco, and some other rations I began my trip.

It's hard to pack light with water rations for a hot desert hike and a night full of photography but the weight didn't slow me down. I was making great time. I had a radio to communicate with my parents for the first 1.5 miles of the trail. Before our last communication I relayed that I'd be taking the long loop, because otherwise I'd get to my campsite and be bored the rest of the day waiting for the eclipse. We had also made evacuation plans, to come by the trailhead in the evening in case I had to bail. I cancelled those plans.
Even with over 500 ft of elevation change during the second mile I was moving at a 24:18/mi pace (thanks to my new GPS watch!) so I was feeling GREAT!

3.5 miles in and I make it to the fork in the loop. Go long way or short way to my camp. LONG WAY IT IS! Mile 4 through 6 is a long 900ft descent through a canyon down towards the Rio Grande. I took my first real break on this stretch. I ate a carrot in a tiny cave.

The next two miles follow the river upstream and have some of the most spectacular desert views I've ever seen in my life. Looking up the Rio Grande with the Sierra del Carmens in the backdrop is really a sight to see. The photos I got here are by far my absolute favorite from the trip and worth every drop of sweat. I took another break on this stretch. It started to get REALLY hot down there. The heat was radiating off the sand and my dad said it got near 100F. I also took that time to pick cactus out of my fingers. And then right after dealing with the cactus I had to inch my way through a few catclaw acacia trees (or similar) that were completely crowding the trail. I was really starting to be pushed mentally and physically. The next encounter was an ominous Road Runner perched up on a rock. It didn't move. It just stared at me as I hiked past. Next were the burros, in retrospect these donkeys probably would have loved some company but I wasn't having any of it and shouted "NOT UH, NOT TODAY DONKEYS" as they made their way towards me. They too just stopped and stared as I made my way past. I had to keep looking behind my back to make sure they weren't planning anything fishy. It also turns out these were the same donkeys we saw 4 years ago!

The 8th mile was the worst. So. Brutal. 837ft straight up. I was exhausted now, and on edge from the sharp things and gazing critters. Then I heard rock fall. It was SO eerie. Those rocks just kept tumbling but I couldn't see anything. I scanned and finally spotted two bighorn sheep far in the distance at the base of a high cliff.

I made it to the top, where I wanted to camp and shoot. Those rugged 8 miles took me 4.5 hours including all stops. It was very difficult to find a spot to pitch my tent. Basically there are sharp things everywhere and hardly any flat spots but I finally settled on the best I could find. Right next a wonderful vista facing El Pico, a prominent peak of the Sierra del Carmen. 
My 3-liter water pouch was sucked dry and I had two liters hanging in the side pockets of my bag. Shit. I was still so thirsty but I needed that water for the hike out. I had a headache so I tried to nap it off a little bit but it was too hot and couldn't get a good breeze in the tent. I found my bag of tomatoes which I popped one at time to savor every ounce of juice I could. It started to help but man I was having a rough evening. I went through the last few things in my pack and NO WAY! I forgot the liter of water buried at the bottom of my bag. WOOO! You bet your bottom dollar I finished that fourth liter by the end of the night. My brain had already accepted only having two liters on the way back so it felt like bonus water and it helped so much. Night came. I did a timelapse of the sunset and waited for the moonrise. 

I first saw a glow behind the mountains and then the moon quickly started to peak over. Once it fully came above the mountain I thought it was still blocked by a peak but it was the shadow of the earth!! It really took my breathe away. It looked so big on the horizon and the eclipse was already underway. Really fantastic. I watched the whole progression of the total eclipse and did my best to photograph it in different ways. The best part was during the total eclipse stage when the stars came out!! The rest of our trip was drowned out by such a bright moon but I could clearly see the Milky Way at last! I thought about my mom, hoping that she was also looking at the stars. She had been so excited to come out to Big Bend and see them but the first two nights were a bust. She did indeed see the stars that night. 
After I was satisfied on the photos I set up a little lounge with a couple spare clothes to lay my head and my hat to sit on. I just laid back and gazed until I lost track of time. It was a truly amazing experience to be out there, so isolated and alone, and experiencing that beautiful phenomenon. I'll never forget it.

Here is the timelpase

Here are a few bonus pictures from my first trip out there. Courtesy of Molly.

And here is the elevation profile of my hike.

Waking up in the RV was followed by delicious breakfast tacos courtesy of my dad. Glamping is a new term to me (Glamorous-camping) and though I don't think we were bathing in the lap of luxury, it sure was a treat to have the RV amenities on this trip (I don't eat tuna on cinnamon-raisin bread because it's good).
We wrapped up our morning meal and Mom piloted the RV to the first of our day's adventures. The Lost Mine trail. I had never hiked it, but from what I gathered, it was a nice sampler to cover the vistas and habitat of the high Chisos without making a brutal journey to the South Rim or Emory Peak. Its trailhead located at the top of the pass is a nice head start on the elevation. This was one of the most legitimate hikes my parent's had done in quite some time, and through the sweat and fatigue they made it to the top. We took about 2 hours to get up and 1 hour back down. Roughly 5 miles. Way to go parents!! Too bad they didn't have any restrooms at the trailhead. Oh wait. We had one in the RV. And a shower. And snacks. Lots of snacks. I didn't use the facilities but I ate to my heart's content every chance I had.

Major hike complete! Onward to Santa Elena Canyon! I kept describing to my parents how majestic and beautiful it was, and that we'd just do a little hike into the canyon and hang out and it'd be great. But first we had to drive through the Ross Maxwell Scenic.. drive. Mom and Dad up front. Sailor Stephen in the back. I figured out how to open the screen windows on both sides of the RV and I went crazy taking pictures in every direction. I had been through these drives several times before but NEVER had the opportunity to photograph everything around me. Not like this. It was amazing, I had two cameras ready. One long lens, one wide-medium lens, and I was all over that RV changing windows, changing stances, changing cameras, snapping so many shots. I felt like I was on a ship in a moment of all hands on deck. So here are a bunch of pictures that were too hard not to share. It's basically a geologist's heaven all the way through.

Santa Elena Canyon! Again, I told my parents so much about it, told my mom to wear her sandals for the sandy beach and get ready to relax, but what I completely forgot was the long, steep and exposed climb. Whoops! Sorry Mom! You can see the improved ramp climb that you have to go up and over to get into the canyon. Many parets were completely exposed without railing and had significant drops to the paths below. Mom wasn't thrilled. And before that, the water was over the usual dry-stream crossing so we had to whack through a willow forest detour. We made it to the end of the trail where a tiny sand bar was waiting. It was probably 6 times bigger when I was there 3.5 years ago. Another let down for my parents, I guess. Whatever, I was so happy to be there, and I went for a swim. I swam to Mexico, actually. It was covered in rat poop and I thought of my friend Jill and her Hantavirus scare so I didn't make myself comfortable. The river was surprisingly very shallow, never more than 3 feet or so. 100% refreshing though. That's one badass canyon. I would spend a whole day sitting in there if I could. 

We made it out of the canyon and got to drive back through the beautiful road that brought us there. I had already snapped as many pictures as possible on the first run but I managed to get a couple more shots with some nice light. We stopped to try on some Mule Ears too. It was cool to get some shots looking UP the Window Canyon as we drove past the western edge of the Chisos Mountains.

We made it back to the Chisos Basin to our lovely campsite/parking spot and in time to catch another moonrise. At the end are some bonus pictures from my Dad's camera. The image with my mom was a HUUUUUGE rock in Santa Elena Canyon that had fallen from the canyon walls some time long long ago. It made me think about the amount of energy that thing carried down with it. Unfathomable. Thanks for reading, y'all!!

Day 1!! Friday morning I hit the road with my parents in their still-new-to-them RV. Our destination? Big Bend National Park. I have been through many parts of the park before but neither one of my parents had ever been. Due to circumstances my mom and I were the sole drivers on this mission but it turned out great for everyone. This was my mom's 55th birthday weekend and we were all eager for a memorable trip.
Several hundred miles later we're climbing up into the Chisos Basin after I poorly described what type of technical grades and turns my mom was up for. She traversed those mountains flawlessly. I caught a little video of the experience and I love the delight in my mom's face as we make the final descent to the campgrounds.

We found a decent campsite with a shade shelter and enough space to park the RV on a level plane. Dad and I only managed to complain about the overhead powerlines. Travelling in an RV was a new experience for me.
Evening was approaching and I had plans to shoot the sunset through the Window which I had never seen before. I wasn't sure how much hiking my parents would be able to enjoy with me but the camp host appropriately talked them down from joining me on this late hike that would total a little over 5 miles. The host also suggested the trail that spurs from the Window trail to gain a vantage of the entire valley below.

The Window is basically a funnel of the basin's watershed. It's an unusual trail because you start at the top and work your way down. It's about 650 ft in elevation change to the edge of the Window. The trail starts in the open valley but quickly begins to narrow as it becomes a more defined stream channel.

​I kept an eye out for large predators, the trail started to dip into the dry stream bed and under large trees. Perfect for a hungry mountain lion to wait for a drive-through meal. Suddenly the canyon gets very narrow and almost complete changes directions. After that, the rock gets very smooth and some stairs are added for easier hiking. After another corner or so you're there. The window. It just sort of appears. It's shiny and polished rock from what must be both thousands of travelers and ages of natural weathering. It's really quite an impressive slot and I'm surprised there aren't more obstructions. The large turn in the canyon may act as a strainer that keeps the lower section from getting jammed. I was quite impressed with the view, I had expectations that it might be overrated but I was overjoyed by the beauty. And I had the place to myself! 

I knew the view at the window would be considerably narrow so it wouldn't make for the best sunset vistas. I continued on my plan to check out the adjacent trail that the camp host recommended. I backtracked up the trail to find the spur trailhead. The trail climbed up and above the canyon right away and gave me nice views up and down the canyon. I turned around one moment to look up the canyon and the Moon popped out!! It was a nice surprise and very beautiful. It sure wouldn't be the last I'd see of the moon on this trip.

I loved the wacky Dr. Seuss-esque ocotillo plant and had more with great views than I knew what to do with. It was really hard to narrow down all of the shots I took.

Many many pictures later the Sun finally faded away and I knew I had to make it back to camp before it got too late. I had a two-way radio but couldn't reach my dad so far down the canyon. I didn't want him to worry and I didn't want to get mauled. So I booked it (I literally ran up the trail for a fair chunk. And as my mom would later criticize, running is not the wisest thing to do if you're trying to avoid mountain lions. Oh well, I would have given a mountain lion a run for their money! Just kidding. I would be terrified if I saw one.

Great way to start an adventure and I was so glad to get in this nice hike on the first day. As night fell the moon overpowered the sky and nearly washed out all the stars. Headlamps weren't necessary. I was really hoping for my mom to see the great dark skies of West Texas but there was none of that. Not on this night.