Big Bend - Hike to Laguna Meadow

Hi Blog!

It was a dark and stormy night. All the campers in Rio Grande Village were hunkered down in anticipation of the approaching winter storm. The wind was whipping down the Rio Grande Valley. Buster was rocking back and forth. Dave, Kathy, Baxter, Flip and Ruby all cuddle under the covers as the temperatures plummeted from 83 to 43!

We all awoke after a restless night. We were surprised to see that the campground was mostly dry. However, the winds were still gusting. We decided to wait out the remainder of the storm by going to the Panther Junction Visitor Center. It is a 20 Mile drive from Rio Grande to Panther Junction. It didn't take long to find the snow.

It's not often you get to see cactus covered in snow.

We watched the park video and used the free WiFi to catch up on our blogs. As the morning progressed, the snow lighted up. We decided to go ahead and drive up to the Chisos Basin for lunch and a short hike.

We were hoping to see more snow. As we drove up into the mountains, Mother Nature did not disappoint. The sage brush and live oak were dusted with a fine coating of snow.

We stopped to get a closer look.

After driving up the mountain in dense fog, we were surprised to see blue skies over the Chisos Basin.

After a filling lunch at Chisos Mountain Lodge, we set out on a short hike to Laguna Meadows. Here is Kathy at the trailhead.

As we began our hike, we were surround by oak, pine and juniper.

From the trail junction with the Pinnacle Trail, we could just make out Casa Grande peeking out from behind the clouds.

The view down the valley were ever changing, as the last of the storm clouds invaded the basin.

The view to the valley below was obscured once again.

As we worked out way up into the mountains, we got our first look at Emery Peak. This peak tops out at 7,825 feet. Aspen trees can be found on its high slopes.

We decided Emery Peak would be out turnaround point. On the way back down, we stopped to get another photo of Casa Grande. We never did see it without a shroud of clouds.

Just as we were heading back to the Jeep, the cloud ceiling lifted once again to show the valley below.

As we made our way back down from Chisos Basin, the clouds departed and we decided to stop for one more adventure. More on that in the next blog.