Our last day at Big Bend was spent hiking the iconic Santa Elena Canyon. The canyon is always stunning, and this time there was someone in a canoe enjoying the Rio Grande. It looked so fun!

The canyon was a perfect way to end the trip to Big Bend. But there was one more thing that we were looking forward to: burgers at Pepito’s Cafe. It was so good!

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Our one full day in Big Bend was a busy one! After a quick breakfast and camp breakdown, we headed over to the Hot Springs. The water was clear and warm, and we took advantage of the cool river to alternate between hot and cold. The healing waters of the Rio Grande felt so good!

Next up was a hop over the border at the Boquillas Crossing for lunch at Jose Falcon’s. My chile relleno and beer was great. It was very different from the kind we get in Austin.

Fuelled up on Mexican food, it was time to burn those calories on the trail. We’ve never hiked The Window Trail in the Chisos Basin, so that was our destination. It was such a cool trail when ends at a viewpoint which is the actual Window. Such a great view, and we chatted with a few other hikers who arrived at the same time. Very cool vibe with the cool air flowing into the canyon, and Mexican Jays joining us.

Our campsite for the evening was Robbers Roost, a backcountry site that you need a high-clearance vehicle to reach. Because it so remote, the sky is super-dark and it’s perfect for astrophotography. Unfortunately, the winds were very strong this weekend, so there was a lot of dust and haze in the air. That made shooting the Milky Way (which was just over the horizon) difficult. But the dust did make for nice sunset colors!

And guess what? The Lyrid meteor shower was just starting up, so we got treated to a nice show!

It’s nice that my friend and I like photography. Dark skies in Big Bend are a highlight of the trip for sure, and we stayed up until 3 am taking photos. So fun, and nice way to end an awesome day.

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Today is day one of a camping trip to Big Bend National Park. My buddy and I have camped out here a few times before so the itinerary was a mix of our favorite trails and a couple of new ones.

We took my friend’s Jeep which meant we could visit a remote trails and stay any of the backcountry campsites. It really opens up the park to more activities!

Our first trail was the Grapevine Hills Trail to Balanced Rock. It was my third time hiking this one, and every time has been great. It’s a short trail, but the rock formations at the end are super cool!

Next up was a drive to Ernst Tinaja. On the way we stopped at an old cowboy gravesite. I’d love to know the story behind this person. Or perhaps it’s better left to the imagination. 😃

The tinaja was really interesting, with layered canyon walls and plenty of fossils in the exposed limestone. Another short hike with a big payoff. Recommended if you have a high-clearance vehicle.

We were treated to some awesome skies and storm clouds on the drive to our campsite. Luckily we didn’t get any rain. But the photos were much better because of the clouds.

When we reached the Rio Grande Village campsite we were greeted by a pack of friendly javelina. And by friendly, I mean they weren’t aggressive. The pack of 13 javelina just slowly moved their way through the campground, looking for grubs and other goodies. So cute! 🐗

We set up our tents, had dinner and then settled in for the evening. It was a long day on the road, a couple of nice, short hikes, and wildlife in the campground. Oh, there were also a few wild horses walking around the campground. So funny and unexpected! 🏕

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This morning we woke up early to go fishing at the Guadalupe River. We only caught one small bass, but it was still fun! After that, we enjoyed some breakfast sandwiches back at the campsite before heading home. It was a really nice overnight camp trip. I can’t wait to do it again.

In the evening, Mariko and I went to see the Ventana Ballet perform “Undead: Haunted House of Dances” at Spider House. One of Mariko’s students is a dancer in the group, so we got to see her dance. It was a great show!

After that we got some noodles next door at Sip Pho before heading home. A long day…

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Today we went camping with some friends at Guadalupe River State Park. We enjoyed a fun evening eating yakiniku and laughing until late into the evening. I think the dinner at the campsite is the main focus for this particular group of friends, which is just fine with me.

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My wife gave me this Camp Gear Book for my Christmas gift this year. It’s awesome!

It is organized into 2 or 4-page spreads, each featuring a person and his/her/their camping gear and notes about them. There are also nice photos of camp site setups and camping vehicles. It’s really cool!

Of course, it’s all in Japanese so I don’t understand most of it, but it is actually pretty good practice for me as I study the language.

I love this gift! It’s even better than the Super Cub book I received a few years ago!

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Today was the day of the big hike up to the top of Texas. At 8,751 feet (2,667 m), Guadalupe Peak is the highest point in the state, and a popular destination for hiker’s hoping to cross off an item on their bucket list.

We started on the trail first thing in the morning and reached the peak after about 4.5 hours of leisurely hiking, with plenty of stops for picture-taking and video. It was really nice to take in the incredible views. And the views from the top were stunning. Once again, we were fortunate to have perfect weather, with cool temperatures, light winds, plenty of visibility, and wispy clouds. It was awesome!

After we finished the hike, we enjoyed another nice meal at camp, but unfortunately, the clouds rolled in and the stars weren’t as clearly visible as the previous night. That was fine because we were pretty tired from the hike and climbing into our tents early was just fine.

Here are the Strava tracks in case you are interested!

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Today my friend and I drove out to Guadalupe Mountains National Park to begin a long weekend of camping and hiking. It was the first time to the park for both of us so we were excited to explore the new park, and the ~8-hour journey seemed to go by quickly.

We reserved a campsite at the Pine Springs Campground online and when we arrived we immediately set up our tents and got the site in order with our camp kitchen, lanterns, and food. The sun goes down quickly these days! By the way, I highly recommend site #18. It’s set back a ways from the road and has some nice views of the mountains and is great for watching the sunrise.

For dinner we splurged with some Japanese Miyazaki steaks which were amazing on the grill, and cold beer and refreshing whiskey sodas made for some tasty beverages!

After cleaning up, we set up our tripods and camera gear to capture the amazing night skies. We got lucky with the weather as the skies were clear and our timing was nice because of the new moon and as a bonus, the Geminid Meteor Shower was just beginning. The coolest thing I saw was a line of light moving across the sky. While it was dark on the ground, a plane’s contrail up at 30,000 feet was lit up, but disappeared only a short distance behind it. The effect looked like a train moving across the sky, or even like a white dragon. One of the neatest things I have ever seen! I don’t have video of it, but in the photo below, just imagine that line moving slowly across the sky from left to right, with the line not changing size. Incredible!

Tomorrow we have a long hike to Guadalupe Peak, which is the highest peak in Texas… it’s going to be fun!

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The past few evenings, my main mode of relaxation is to light my Dietz lantern, and watch soothing Japanese and Korean camping videos. The campsite setups are really cool, the views are often amazing, and the food looks absolutely delicious! It’s a little different from the normal camping in the States – the lack of picnic tables is notable – but I love to see the gear that people use. A lot of it is very おしゃれ (fashionable) and expensive, but really elevates the experience from basic camping to glamping.

I really enjoy camping, and have shifted towards a more minimalist and lightweight gear set up. This is essential if you are carrying everything on your back for miles before you get to the campsite. But for car-camping, why not splurge and bring the heavy gear, larger stoves, full cooler, and extra lanterns and string lights?

Here are a few of the channels I have been enjoying:

• outdoor_life 23
• morinone
• missyちゃんねる
• Walking camp Izumi
• 유나니조은날 Yunani
• Mari Life
• しらほしちゃんねる

I hope you had a nice day! またね～

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