Things have been tough recently. There’s no easier way to put it. But when I started this blog, my goal was to share my journey, and what I am doing, and my joy & pride in being a public servant, so that’s what I will continue to do.

One of the goals I had for my time at Big Bend, was to explore all of the primitive backcountry roads in the park and explore the areas where we write permits for. Well, I recently accomplished that goal through exploring Old Ore, Black Gap and completing River Road.

Old Ore is by far the worst road in the park. It was a long, bumpy ride, taking us about 6 hours to drive a 25-mile dirt road. We did get to stop for lunch and check out two cool tinaja hikes along the way, so it was a long day but worthwhile. Tinajas are these neat geological formations common in Big Bend, it is a depression in bedrock that holds water. Some sections had water, but a lot of the tinajas were dry, which made for some fun scrambling but was unfortunate to see the effects of the drought in this park.

The second hike we stopped for was Carlotta’s tinaja. A lot of these tinajas, specifically on Old Ore are named after the small communities and stores that were developed in Big Bend in the early 1900s. This park is rich in history and has had folks living here for centuries, so the tidbits we get to explore is always fun.

Over my weekend, my friends Bernie, Christy and Casey took me out to Black Gap Road, and we drove the other rough road in the park. This one is a ‘Jeep Badge of Honor’ road, which basically means if you drive it in your Jeep and can prove it, they will send you a patch. Bernie was nice enough to take us along in his tricked-out Jeep, and it was lots of fun. We did some mini hikes along the way as well through a canyon Christy had nicknamed Flailing Legs canyon and in search of some springs.

Flailing legs canyon was a blast, we slid down tons of pour Offs, scrambled over rock features and laughed with each other to see who could slide down the most elegantly. Before it got too warm, we went in search of some supposed springs, and to our surprise, there was a little bit of water left in the pools.

After our side quests, it was time for Black Gap. There were 2 rough sections in particular, the known ‘gap’ with a rock ledge we had to climb up, and just an incredibly washed out, rutted section of road. All I can say is I am glad Bernie was driving, because he was even-keeled and handled it like a champ. I definitely do not have the driving experience to try something like that!

Working at a medium sized park is different. I am used to having a specific role that I don’t deviate from, but in a smaller park, there’s more opportunities to help with random tasks or projects, and there’s more room for connection and sometimes goofiness. For example, I recently got pulled away from project time to help repaint some of our entrance signs, which is pretty cool considering how many people stop for photos here, and now I can say I helped contribute to this beauty.

One thing that is different here, but I have particularly enjoyed is having a close relationship with the bookstore staff. We share a desk, so I have been able to befriend their park staff, and one of the things I have been having fun doing is playing goofy pranks on the staff. Simple things, just to give them a little surprise when they come into work for the day, like this day where I set up a ton of stuffed javelinas to “keep an eye” on their register and make sure they were working.

I am still spending plenty of time in and around the park, finding places to explore and check off my bucket list. I am up to 95 NPS units visited now, and I checked off 3 recently: Fort Bowie National Historic Site, Chiricahua National Monument and Saguaro National Park.

Fort Bowie is an old, protected fort that was used briefly in the early 1900s, and the thing I liked most about this site was the quiet and how the visitor center embodied true ‘parkitechture.’ Meaning it blended into the environment really well instead of standing out.

This was a short visit, as my main focus was Chiricahua and Saguaro. Chiricahua is like a small, gray Bryce Canyon. It is a small site in southeastern Arizona filled with hoodoos, but because of its remote location they see only about 100,000 visitors a year. Which was great for me because I had the park pretty much to myself, especially once I hit the trail. I hiked the ‘Big Loop’ which was about 9.5 miles but took you to all the best viewpoints and sites in the park.

The Heart of Rocks loop was my favorite. It was a loop with a large concentration of Hoodoos, and the park service went one step further and named most of the formations based off of what they interpreted it to look like. It kept each turn entertaining and fun!

My last day of adventuring was spent at Saguaro National Park. It was surprisingly busy, but I still enjoyed a nice 4-mile hike where I piecemealed different trails together to create my own journey.

Don’t worry, I am not done seeing things in Big Bend, so I made sure to stay local for my next weekend and explored another great hike with my squad: Casey, Christy, Jessie. This time we hiked to Mariscal Rim, to overlook the canyon, and I have to say this was one of my favorites I have done in the park so far. It is challenging to get to, you definitely need a 4×4 vehicle, but I am so glad we finally made it out. The views were unbelievable!

Big Bend has an unexpected beauty that I have discovered in my 4 months being here. Whatever happens next, I am thankful for the experiences I have had and am looking forward to hopefully many more. Until then, Ranger On!