Big Bend National Park - Hike to the Hot Springs!

In 2013, when we visited Big Bend National Park last, we visited the Hot Springs along the Rio Grande River.  You can learn all about the history of the Hot Springs in our 2013 blog entry about the Big Bend of Big Bend.  We enjoyed it so much that we resolved to visit the Hot Springs on our next visit.  Here, seven years later, we have the chance.

We decided to see the Hot Springs in a different way this time -- at the end of a four mile hike over from our campground in Rio Grande Village.  We got up early on Tuesday February 4, 2020, made coffee and sandwiches, gobbled a banana, and set off walking down the road to Daniels Ranch, where the Hot Springs Canyon Trail starts:

 We had to take an obligatory trailhead photo!

From the trailhead, we climbed steeply for 0.3 mile to a Rio Grande Viewpoint.  Along the way, we got a foretaste of the cactus and rock formations we would be seeing today:

 As we reached elevation, we caught sight of some unique rock formations along the river:

  At the viewpoint, we got spectacular views downstream to the east --

-- and upstream to the west:

At several points along the way, Kathy noticed hunks of petrified wood buried in the surounding mudstone.  The wood had been replaced by gorgeous quartz of purple and red hues:

 About 2 miles in, we came to a long canyon with basalt formations down at the end of it near the river.  We wondered if we would be hiking down to them:

 Instead, we climbed the canyon wall and out to another height of land where we got a view of the river upstream toward the Hot Springs:

The hike presented us with many surprised, including this pothole-eroded limestone formation in the middle of a lush drainage near the river:

We climbed from the pothole canyon and turned the corner of a point over the river to get an even grander view of the river.  You'll have to wait to see that view on the hike back, because we were too eager to get down to soak in the warm water to get a photo on our way out.  Needless to say, Dave was the first into the hot springs, which is the remaining foundation of a stone building that contained the hot springs pools.  Even today, the hot spring water mixes with the colder river water just behind the rock wall in the photo below:

 Kathy jumped in right after Dave.  We soaked for about 30 minutes, and then Kathy scooted over to sit on the old foundation wall and soak her tootsies in the cold river water.  Refreshing!

 Near the spring, we spotted an informal display of hiking sticks and other chachkas for sale (on the honor system) by some enterprising merchange from across the river in Boquillas, Mexico.  Illegal, but winked at by the Park rangers and admired by the tourists.

 We ate a satisfying lunch of peanut butter and jelly bagels, washed down by cool water, and rested before starting our hike back to Rio Grande Village.  We took one look back upstream toward the spring to admire the green water and riverside grasses:

Here is the view we saw earlier but didn't photograph because of our eagerness to soak.  This is looking into a canyon downriver:

Our hike back was much hotter than the hike to the springs.  We dispensed with layers other than our swimming trunks and t-shirts (and hiking shoes and socks).  In the hot sun, new rock formations jumped out at us and sat, as a dumb audience, asking if we planned to complete our hike without sunstroke.  We answered, "Of course!"

At one more viewpoint, we were close enough to the river to spot some tall grasses enjoying the moisture the river provides:

At another point, we passed some colorful prickly pear cactus, lending some subtle color to the tan-and-grey rocky landscape:

 Before we knew it, we were back within a quarter mile of our trailhead, looking out over the Rio Grande toward our campground, realizing with relief that we had completed this eight mile desert hike with just enough water, and early enough to avoid the worst heat of the day.

As we finished the hike, we took stock of the mistakes we made planning the hike in our eagerness to get to the hot springs (forgot a hat, no sunscreen (!), didn't wear our heavy hiking boots, took too many layers and had to carry them home, didn't bring our trekking poles, and ate too much after soaking and before the return hike).  Noted for the future.

However, one mistake we did not make was to forget to buy a beer at the camp store as we got back, and rehydrate in the shade.  Yum!