At last….solitude.

  

Honestly, it think one of the hardest things to find in this modern world is solitude. It’s not that I’m anti-social, but I truly love the moments of peace found only in real solitude.  It’s also what I love about deer hunting and surf casting for stripers. Alone at 2:00am on a remote beach, surrounded by darkness with nothing but endless ocean before you…now that’s a little piece of heaven. Big Bend is sort of like that, without much water of course. 

For reference, Big Bend is bigger than Rhode Island…yeah, the entire State. And although there are several true campgrounds, the real gem is the back country camping opportunity. For $12 you can book up to 14 nights in the park. We booked six nights in six different sites.  Let the fun begin…

The first night we grabbed an easy camping spot close to a hiking trail so that we could take a quick hike in the morning. It’s always fun to wander through the desert, especially when your used to hiking in the northeast where views are obstructed by the thick vegetation. Here, you can see forever

After our hike, we moved to our second campsite and found that we ever had cell phone coverage. When camping remotely this isn’t usually the case and often drives the length of our stay.  Our life on the road doesn’t exist without Marcy’s income, so we place a high priority on making sure she can get connected if needed. This site allowed us to remain remote and productive.  Nice!

For the remainder of the week we tested out different campsites, enjoyed the multiple visitor centers, hiked, and even crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico. 

Note: the Rio Grande is much less Grande than it used to be. In fact it runs dry near El Paso, TX after providing water to the countless communities along the way. Luckily, the Mexicans release enough water from their dams on the southern tributaries that water flows through the park.