Texas and more

After saying farewell to our friends, we stayed in Big Bend for a couple more days. We took a backroad to the campground called Telephone Canyon, which is extremely remote. The drive to the campground took 3 hours for only 10 miles or so. It was a true overlanding experience. Since it wasn't save to keep the dirt bike on the back, I drove while Cam dirt biked. 

Once at the campsite, we went on a little hike where we saw a herd of mountain goats. We didn't stay out long as it was getting dark, but it was beautiful. We spent the evening sitting in our chairs and enjoying the remoteness and the very visible stars.

The next morning, we made our way out to the next campground. We wanted to hike the Window Trail, which leads to a "window" overlooking a cliff side. While generally not afraid of heights, I was a little scared of falling to my death because of the wind and slippery rock. Obviously Cam didn't have these worries.

The following day, we got up early so as to conquer Emory Peak, a 10 mile hike with around 2,000 feet of elevation gain. It was a wonderful hike with sweeping overlooks and even a male and female mule deer sighting.

While exhausted, we jumped in the car to head to Davis Mountain State Park. We did another quick hike and had some end of the day beers before turning in for the night.

Davis Mountain State Park is situated closely to Fort Davis and McDonald's Observatory. We took full advantage by going on a survival hike with one of the park rangers in the morning, where he taught us how to survive in the instance of fire, and what plants could provide edible food. Will I be able to survive in the wild? Not so confident, but it was fun. We also went down to the Fort and toured the historic frontier town before heading to a winery. 

That evening, we went to a star party at the Observatory where we listened to a lecture and we're able to use their high powered telescope to see some awesome phenomenons in our galaxy. This experience was a highlight and would recommend it to anyone.

The next day we made a trip out to Carlsbad where we saw the enormous underground tunnels and caverns. Pictures don't really do these views justice, but it was very cool to see the formations made from dripping water erosion.

After the caverns, we went to our campsite at Guadalupe Mountain where the next day, we did a hike to the base of the mountain.

It was the next day that would change the course of our trip. We woke up early as usual and headed out, intending to go to White Sands National Park. 

Until next time!