Big Bend has been full of surprises, as I started making my way out here I was telling Gia that this experience reminded me a lot of my first season in Yellowstone. I had no idea what I was getting into, I had never been to Texas let alone Big Bend. I said yes to the job, and waited for what was to follow. But I am happy to report that season #5 has officially begun, I am donning my ranger hat in a new park, new state and LOVING it!
The transition from park to park is always a change, but this one went pretty smoothly. My training was mostly outdoors, very hands on, and filled with neat experiences. I got to go out to Balanced Rock, one of our most popular hikes in the park, and have my moment as well!
But one of the coolest experiences I had was on the final day of training. We got to experience going out on the Rio Grande river and doing a canoe trip! The river levels are incredibly low, so there were some moments where we had to get out and drag the boats to a deeper section of water, but it was a great day filled with laughter, silliness and fun! We did have some car troubles in the beginning, but I did take on the all important role of supervising the team, and we got the car jumped and running again.
Work has been good so far. The park is much quieter visitation wise, we see about 500k per year, compared to my previous 3 assignments were 4.5+ million. The slower pace has been so much nicer, being able to take my time with visitors and immerse myself in the resource more. Also being in a smaller park has provided for more opportunities for me with Search and Rescue (SAR) training, and helping drive the park ambulance to the hospital in Alpine (1.5 hours away).
One awesome thing was I already got my first visitor, a very special guy to me came to see me! We met up at Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso, Texas after a month apart, and visited Guadalupe Mountains NP, Carlsbad Caverns NP and Big Bend NP together!
Chamizal told an interesting story of drawing the border line between Texas and Mexico near El Paso, and it was surprising to see just how close the POE to Mexico was. Guadalupe Mountains was more of a backcountry park, but had some gorgeous drives along the way. I have to say my favorite though was going into the cave at Carlsbad. Personally, I am not a cave person, so I have no interest in leading cave tours and working at these parks, but it is always fun to listen to another ranger recounting the tales of the park.
We made it back right in time for Halloween, where Smokey Bear and a tired but loyal Phillies fan made an appearance at the local Halloween party for a little bit! Since his visit, Michael has started his season at LBJ and is enjoying it so far!
On my way home, I saw the most interesting Prada Store. Turns out its an art exhibit from 2005, in the middle of nowhere Texas. Such a funky thing to drive by, but worth a stop once!
Lucky for me, moving to Big Bend, I was reunited with an old friend from Yellowstone, Jessie Knirsch! She was my weekend buddy in 2022, made a lot of appearances in my blogs back then, and was one of the key people who convinced me to take a leap of faith and move out here. Since then, she has kept good on her end of the promise, becoming a true adventure buddy 2.0 and taking me exploring! We hiked out to Mule Ears and Smokey Creek overlook for some great views of the desert. As well as going to the Dorgan-Sublett old ranch houses and checked out a chimney made entirely of petrified wood!
After our hikes, Jessie took me out to a wayside she designed herself and it is now posted on our scenic drive, how cool!
Jessie and I’s weekends overlap by 1-2 days depending on the weekend which is super nice. So on other days I go solo. One of my main goals whenever I get to a new park is to start with their “Day Hike Sampler”. The recommended, most popular list of trails that are handed out to visitors as a good starting point. I always try to complete these hikes first so I know what to talk about and which is best to recommend, and so far I have done 15 of the 18 trails which is epic! Some of which I added my own spin to. Big Bend allows off trail hiking anywhere in the park, and one trail I had my eye on was Lone Mountain. The true trail just loops the base of the peak and gives you incredible desert views, but I took it one step further and bushwacked to the top, it did not disappoint! I got such a neat view from the peak and spotted some aoudads (barbary sheep), invasive to the park but still cool to witness running up the hill!
Tonight I am going out to Marathon, TX with some colleagues for dinner. It is just over an hour drive to go to a place to serves burgers and live music every Friday. Even in the desert out in the middle of nowhere, there’s always fun and adventure to be had, you just have to go find it! Until then, Ranger On!