One of the classic hikes in Big Bend National Park is the loop from Chisos Basin to the South Rim, where one has a spectacular view south over Mexico. I was fortunate to be able to do this hike in 2014. This time the 12 plus miles it entailed was deemed too much for my still recovering body. But I wanted The LovedOne to experience the diverse forest (including Douglas fir, Aspen, Arizona cypress, Maple, Ponderosa pine, and Madrone) found high in the Chisos Mountains. So calling on my ever reliable tough and stupid ethos, I sketched out a shorter loop (only 9 miles with 2,000 feet of gain 🙄 ) up the Pinnacles Trail, along the Boot Canyon Trail, over the Colima Trail, and down the Laguna Meadow Trail.
I realized that this loop was stretching the hiking is good for your recovery thing to its limits (and possibly beyond) but I figured I could ask for forgiveness (and more pain meds) later. Fortunately, this hike went off without any issues for me and it was immensely enjoyable for The LovedOne – so win, win! We didn’t get the big southern view but we did enjoy the forest and encountered several Carmen white-tailed deer, a colorful rock squirrel, a roadrunner, and two black bears (a mother and yearling) on our journey. It proved the perfect (and unexpectedly exciting) way to wrap-up our visit to Big Bend. 🙂
BOOTS on the TRAIL 
Well, I did push the envelope a bit with this one. I had a doctor appointment the day after we got back. I was admonished to “dial it back” for 2 more weeks. 😦 So back to small steps & short hikes. Then I’ll be allowed to run rampant in the woods again. 🙂 Beat the roadrunner? No way. It stayed in the middle of the trail and 50 feet ahead at all times. Now we know how that poor coyote felt… 😉
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Good to hear that you still had no problems with what appears to be a longer and tougher hike. Also seems like your yearly bear count is hitting record levels no mater where you hike! So I have to ask, did the roadrunner win the race back to the lodge, or did you beat him?
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