Day 3
Monday February 5, 2018
Monday February 5, 2018
The weather guessers had today as being one of the hottest on the trip. Naturally, I chose it to tackle ten miles worth of trails. None of them were new to me, I just hadn’t done them all at once. With that in mind, I was up nice and early. It was still dark when I left the room and still just before sunrise when I embarked on the first leg of my journey.
This was the easy part. The first 1.7 miles were relatively level and fairy easy going. There was plenty of shade from trees and the canyon walls. A quarter mile before the end of the Window Trail(more on that later), another trail splits off to Willow Spring. It immediately starts heading upward. I’ve take this stretch of trail before, and it’s worth the climb.
At the top of the hill, you're treated to an incredibly wide view of the valley below. At this time of day it was all deeply is shadow. My eventual goal was a cut in those mountains off in the distance.
The trail down is just a bunch of steep switchbacks, equally as steep on the way back. From below, it’s a relatively level trail to the Willow Spring. As I told other hikers, it’s basically a big puddle and not worth a special trip.
My goal was one mile further, Cattail Falls. I had done a shorter trail to the falls last year, and knew I couldn’t expect the falls to be like the picture at the trailhead. It only flows like that after a heavy rain, and rainy season is late summer when it’s routinely 115 degrees.
But still, it's a relatively easy mile from the trailhead to the falls, that dark spot, center frame.
This time of year it's basically a light trickle. But, worth the hike out.
After lingering at the falls for a while, I knew I had to face the return hike. This time, everything was in full light, so I stopped for more photos. From the hike back to Willow Spring...
Back across the valley floor, it was time to face the climb back up. With the early start, there were at least short sections of the trail still in the mountain’s shade. Funny how mid 70’s can still feel much hotter in the Texas sun.
If I headed back to the car, it would have been nine and a half miles. From the trail juncture, it’s just another quarter mile to The Window. When the rain does fall, it flows through this canyon and falls through a slit eroded into the wall, creating a waterfall into the valley I had just crossed. It was well worth it. There were pools of water scattered about, reflecting the sides of the canyon.
At the end of the quarter mile, the window...
From the hike back to the car…
By the time I made it back, I knew my body had been given a serious workout. My calves would not like me in the morning. The best news of the day, the water was back on! Sometimes it's the little things.
Feeling refreshed, it was time to watch the sunset. There's just something about the Terlingua Cemetery that makes such a great foreground.
I took a walk up to the Starlight for another great meal. The entertainment for the evening was Uncle Pat's Imaginary Blues Band.
Imaginary, because all the drums and bass guitar come from his laptop. He plays guitar and sings over it. Here he is playing "Black Cat Bone" at another club in town, currently closed. I enjoyed it so much, I bought one of his albums.
Coming Up on Day 4,
Finally, the South Rim
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