We were headed into Big Bend National Park on Saturday 3^rd January. All much happier as the sun was out and it seemed a bit warmer. We had been warned about how ‘remote’ Big Bend was and to make sure we had all necessary supplies before entering the park. Including water as due to water shortages they were only allowing visitors to ‘take’ 5 gallons from the parks supplies. So all we had to do was fill up with fuel and we were on our way – ha!

We knew the power was out all over town (Alpine) but didn’t click that this would make for any problems for us until we saw the huge line outside one of the two petrol stations in town. Quickly headed to the other station and were delighted to be only 3^rd in line for the diesel pump. Except there was no fuel being pumped due to there being no power! Unfortunately we had no choice but to wait for the power to come back on as we didn’t have enough fuel to get down into Big Bend let alone to get us ‘around’ the vast park!

So we sat in line for 2 hours. John made some friends. I cooked lunch. We even called some other fuel stations in the immediate area (well the nearest ones to Alpine being about 60 miles away) and they all had the same problem although some of them had also run out of fuel!!

We spoke to the booking line for the campsite at Big Bend (worried we were now going to turn up too late to get a site that night) who told me they had no fuel or power so the park was effectively ‘closed’ till Tuesday. At which state we had a complete sense of humour failure. Determined that we would not miss this incredible sounding park we waited patiently in line and eventually the power came back on. Filled up the van. Filled up our canister for fuel for the generator and thought we would take our chances and head into the park!

We are so very very glad that we did. What an amazing park. In the 30 miles we drove through to get to the campsite (which was open – so glad I didn’t listen to the woman on the phone) we went through very different landscapes, mountains, desert, hills, woods! It is known as “Three Parks in one” and it was easy to see why.

The campsite we were heading for had no working power (like the rest of the park from the looks of all the closed visitor centres etc) although normally would have ‘hook ups’ so we opted for the park run campsite with no power (even when power is on) but which is set in a lovely open woodland with views of the mountains and the Rio Grande just below us. We used our generator to give us some power but as it had to be off by 8pm each night we used it as a natural curfew and all had lots of early nights which we needed.

As the forecast had predicted we then had several days of clear blue skies and sunshine. We dug out our shorts again and dusted off the sun loungers and had a lovely few days. Big Bend National Park is situated on the boundary with Mexico along the Rio Grande. The park covers 801,000 acres of very different environments from desert to mountains at a place where the Rio Grande makes a sharp turn – The ‘Big Bend’ – and is the largest protected area of the Chihuahuan Desert. One of the reasons for the huge diversity is the contrast in the elevation within the park – from only 1800’ along the river to nearly 8000’ in the Chisos Mountains.

Sunday we woke up to clear blue skies once again!! So warm that I could sit outside and drink my coffee and read my book. End of having to shout “Shut the door!” to anyone going in or out of the van! No jackets required. Woop de woo! We couldn’t believe just 2 days before we were in freezing rain and minus temperatures!!  We headed out in shorts and t shirts – very exciting! – on the Hot springs Trail. A really lovely hike that took in the canyon, rocky outcrops, cottonwood forests and finally led down to the river and the hot springs. This natural spring fills up a small bricked in ‘pool’ on the edge of the river. At 105 degrees it was lovely to have a ‘bath’.

Very strange to see Mexico just on the other side of the river. For 118 miles the Rio Grande acts as the border between the 2 countries. A ranger we met warned us that people wander over from Mexico to sell their ‘crafts’ and that to buy from them would be illegal… We saw a pile of beautiful wooden walking sticks on the side of the trail with a money jar but managed to persuade the kids NOT to buy one. We pointed out that they were really just like the sticks they’d found and had been using for the last couple of weeks and suggested they could even paint their own. Hmmm, might regret that little burst of creative parenting as we then spent days being nagged at to buy paints and varnish etc so we could recreate said sticks!

There was still no power and therefore fuel expected until Tuesday so we planned on making the most of being ‘marooned’ in this beautiful place and enjoying the forecast sunshine.  William was in heaven in this world renowned destination for Bird Enthusiasts. Having spent hours desperately trying to spot a Vermillion Fly catcher back in Arizona we were able to sit outside the van and watch literally dozens of them flying in and out of the trees above our heads. Road runners and javellina wandered around the campsite which was great too.

We spent a couple more days exploring just a small part of this vast National Park. Highlights included Boquillas Canyon & Santa Elena Canyon. Both areas where the river cuts through the rocks to form incredible dramatic canyons. We saw the odd canoe heading down the river and thought (as with the Grand Canyon) how on the water would really be the best way to experience the park. But maybe not at this time of year…

At Santa Elena the formation of the rocks are so pronounced you can see very clearly the uplift that took place millions of years ago. Almost made us feel dizzy it was so ‘steep’. We wandered to the end of the trail and there ahead of us was a beaver. We think he was blind in one eye and he must have been deaf as we got to about 6’ from him and he ignored us completely and continued to eat his way through a tree stump. He stank! But other than that it was truly incredible to be up so close to him. Watching how he was tearing through the tree I don’t think you’d want to be bitten by one.

No exciting wildlife to report at Boquillas Canyon but we did end up befriending a Mexican chap on a horse who was over on the US side to check on his fishing nets and to sell his wife’s crafts. We chatted to him for a bit then weren’t able to shake him off. He must have followed us for half a mile trying to persuade us to visit Mexico at the border point within the park. Evidently the terrible weather and power being out had meant that the crossing had been closed and the town of Boquillas had been suffering from the lack of tourists.

We saw the Big Bend Mosquito Fish, which only live here in Big Bend. Tuesday night we fell asleep to the hoots of a great horned owl that positioned itself in a tree directly above our bed. And the saddest of ‘near misses’ was as we got hooked up in our site on Tuesday we were told a bobcat had spent the afternoon hanging out in our very site and had run off just minutes before we arrived!

We really enjoyed Big Bend and our only regret was that we weren’t able to stay longer. But with the bad weather forecast to return by mid week we decided the best thing to do would be to leave and at least get back to some civilization again. Also due to the size of Frankie we weren’t able to go into the Chisos Mountains area of the park, which looked incredible.

The lovely Jones family that we had met in Alpine a few days before had invited us to visit them on their ranch just south of Dallas so we were headed there and planned to spend the next week or so exploring San Antonio and the Hill Country before we got to them. So we left Big Bend on Wednesday 7^th January.