A trip to Big Bend National Park with a high school friend back in my teenage days
Gear, Lessons learned
Trip Report
Planning
In late 1977–probably during semester break in December–my high school friend and baseball teammate Kelly and I took a camping trip to Big Bend National Park. I write this almost fifty years after the trip; I have no notes, just some foggy recollections, a handful of Polaroid prints, and possibly a roll of 35mm film somewhere around here that hasn’t yet been digitized.
We’d done some winter camping on some property owned by some friends’ of Kelly’s family. I wouldn’t say we became expert campers, but we learned some things; how to manage all the Coleman fueled items (stove, lanterns), how to pitch my ancient, huge Sears canvas tent, how to stay reasonably warm.
It would be my second trip to BBNP, and I was itching to return.
Getting there
Kelly had a yellow Ford Courier pickup with a camper shell. Manual transmission of course. We headed out I-10/290W. The Interstate wasn’t completed at that time; I remember only a couple of things from the drive out there; it was a cold, drizzly day and I was concerned about slick spots on the road. I particularly recall driving down the switchbacks on US 290 near Sheffield, one of the last sections of 290 to be converted to I-10 to the north. And I recall we stopped for a burger in Sanderson; I forget where but it seems like it may have been a Dairy Queen, and I was a bit surprised by the number of folks there. It was still cold and drizzly there.
Arrival
We arrived at the park, and I remember it was partly cloudy, much warmer, and driving up Green Gulch stirred the memories of that same drive and wonder I had felt on my first trip there as a nine year old kid. Descending down into the Basin I remember smelling burnt rubber. We got a spot in the Basin campground; it wasn’t difficult I’m sure because it was rarely crowded back then.
We set up our tent; and I’m pretty sure I had my neighbor’s cot; I used to borrow it occasionally. It was wood and canvas and very likely from his dad’s WWII experience, or at least an army surplus item. The tent, a huge Sears family tent made of canvas and metal tubing, was spacious but probably weighed 30 lbs. or so. Kelly like to over-prepare a bit, so you can see in the photos plenty of Coleman fuel and two lanterns.
I have no idea on our itinerary really, but I distinctly recall some places we went. I know we drove down the Glen Springs road from the turnoff from Park Road east of PJ. I was white-knuckling it over some of the granite spots and other rugged areas. I suspect the current road may have been rerouted at some point. We stopped at Glen Springs and explored. I remember seeing tons of tin cans, and other garbage, and wondering what the history of Glen Springs was. I remember looking at the map and deciding to head on to the river, and then over to Rio Grande Village. The road was rough, but I also remember it getting easier along the river and I actually got going pretty fast.
I recall we did the South Rim. I remember Kelly taking a nap along the way, either up or down, somewhere past Boot Spring where there were some granite boulders warming in the sun.
I remember driving around the west side and seeing a lot of wild burros.
I remember making a phone call from the phone booth that used to stand by itself outside of one of the restrooms in the Basin campground, and talking to my friends back in Austin, “You won’t believe where I am right now!” (Long-distance calls from remote locations were pretty exotic in those days.)
P.S.–Oh, I remember one more thing. On the way in we stopped at some general store in Marathon. It was like you might imagine a remote general store in that tiny town in the 1970s, pretty sparse as far as camping gear. But I remember the high ceiling. And on the return trip we stopped at some gas station on the south side of US 90, remote and one that doesn’t exist any more. Maybe near Langtry/Comstock?
Gear:
- Old Sears canvas tent
- A lot of Coleman fuel, Coleman lanterns, Coleman stove.
- In addition to whatever instamatic type camera we had, I could swear I borrowed my dad’s Ricoh 35mm rangefinder and shot at least one roll.
- Schlitz beer and Marlboro reds
- Blue jeans and flannel, and Tony Lama cream-colored wing tip boots
- Hiking boots were some old high lace up work boots.
Lessons learned:
- I learned I love it out there and it became a goal to head out there whenever I could–although it would be seven or eight years until my next trip.
