Wednesday February 7, 2018
Considering the previous two days, you can understand my decision to sleep in. When I woke up and decided it was time to face the day, my calves felt like lead, and every step around the room reminded me that I’m simply not used to this. But, in a way, if really felt good.
The previous two days I was out of the hotel before first light. Today, I watched the sunrise from the parking lot of the El Dorado. While the extra sleep felt good, and what was ahead of me was stunning, part of me had wished for an earlier start.
The second part of the day was to be way out of character and a bit out of my comfort zone. Those of you that know be best will get it. But, there comes a point when you have to put some of those traumatic events of your college years behind you. But, with the late start, that would have to wait for another day. I asked a Park Ranger and he told me flat out, “that depends how fast you walk.” If you had seen the way I walked into the ranger’s station, you’d agree…Intrigued? Tune in tomorrow…
As I drove out of Terlingua, off in the distance was a mountain with a flowing cloud on top, almost like white syrup running down the side. After driving around a bit, I realized this is the best shot I was going to get.
Driving into the park, there were quite a few low hanging clouds, making for an interesting view. At one point, the light hit it just right. If there weren’t cars behind me, I would have stopped right there in the park road. Imaging if you can, the morning sun hitting these clouds just right and creating a rainbow of color. Suddenly, I wasn't regretting the late start one bit.
My goal for the day was a revisit to my favorite trail in the park, the Lost Mine Trail. It’s five miles round trip with a really great view at the end. As I learned on my first visit, it’s best to do this one in the morning. The trail head is in the same area as the previous two days. As I drove uphill into the Chisos Basin, I drove into this...
I started thinking about the trail that couple from Arizona told me about. It was down in the valley and not in the clouds. When I came across the parking area for the Lost Mine Trail, the visibility was still pretty limited. It was a half mile from the lodge and visitor center, so I drove on. After coming around an especially sharp curve in the road(10 MPH for a reason) I was suddenly out of the clouds and the skies were clear and blue.
From the parking lot, looking back downhill, the clouds looked as if they were flowing and oozing down the sides of the mountain. I met some other phototogs on the side of the road as we tried our best to capture what we were seeing.
At this point, I started rethinking Lost Mine. I really had no idea what to expect at this point. The clouds had thinned a bit since I drove through them, but they were still a presence at the trailhead.
The hike itself is a mix of stone stairs and simply inclined trails. At this hour, half of the trail was still in shadow The exterior temperature gauge on the rental said it was forty-eight degrees. It certainly felt it. I grabbed a long sleeve shirt and my denim jacket from the back seat and started up the trail.
It didn’t take long before I was suddenly above the clouds, in the sun and shoving the extra layers in my backpack. From time to time I would hit a clearing in the trail, turn around and just be amazed at the view. Yeah, I was so not regretting the later start.
Two and a half miles up, I was out of the trees. I’ve been to this park three times and done this hike each time. Can you really blame me…
Back at the visitor center, I paused for some water when this roadrunner approached me. They're usually pretty skittish, but where there are humans there's food.
It was still early afternoon. I contemplated a short trail, but decided to just call it a day. I was already walking a little funny. Instead, I drove back to Terlingua. After putting the camera battery in the charger, I shuffled my way to the hotel’s bar with my tablet. Over a pretty good grilled chicken sandwich and a “couple” of beers, I wrote up a few notes from the day. They had country music playing on the PA, softly enough to hear the conversations at the neighboring tables. It was heavy on Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Hank Williams. Wendy took good care of me and refilled my beer a few times. The elderly couple who occasionally got up to dance just added the finishing touch.
I left the hotel’s bar a little after 6P. While I didn’t have anyone to dance with, I did have a date with the sunset…
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