Window Trail Hike in the Chisos Mountains

Today we had one last chance to get in a decent hike, and we chose another popular hike - the Window Trail, which leads from the campground in the Chisos Basin, out to a ledge in the Chisos Mountains at which Oak Creek pours over in a huge waterfall to the desert floor below.  Of course, the pourover only occurs if there is flooding water - which there currently is not - so we didn't get to see the pourover "in action."  Nevertheless, this was a dramatic hike.

Our hike set out downhill from the campground, and early along the trail we spotted Carter Peak, the most distinctive mountain in this direction, with its forked peaks:

Looking directly behind us on the trail, in the morning sun, we could see Casa Grande looming over the Chisos Basin:

The mountains, buttes and rocks in Big Bend National Park never cease to amaze.  Everywhere we looked were massive outcroppings and igneous upthrusts:

After continuing down the Basin slope on a gently descending trail, we finally hit a canyon through which Oak Creek runs to get to the Window pourover.  If you look very closely in the photo below, you'll see Kathy, dwarfed by the canyon walls:

As we approached the Window, we had the option to hike first about a quarter mile up to an overlook giving a sweeping panoramic view of the desert floor to the northwest of the Chisos Mountains.  Here is Kathy (again dwarfed), working her way up the Oak Springs Trail toward the overlook:

The overlook was spectacular, with views dozens of miles out to the horizon.  The drop-off was so sheer that it gave us vertigo just to peer down:

We returned down the Oak Springs Trail and made our way out to the Window, where, through a narrow slot and over stone polished to a slippery smoothness by unimaginably strong, rushing floodwaters, we could catch a glimpse of the desert we had seen from the overlook.  It was dangerous working our way down the gray rock toward the notch, because the rock was so slippery.

The total hike was almost 4.5 miles, and we worked our way back to the trailhead quickly and easilly, eager to get over to Terlingua for the 10th Annual Terlingua Desert Chihuahua Challenge!  More on that in the next blog entry.