“Tired Dog” Cedar Park, 2021
Bay took Lani for a long walk this afternoon, and she got so tired… I’m sure she had a lot of fun, though! 🐶
Tired Doggy
“Tired Dog” Cedar Park, 2021
Tag: postaday
“Tired Dog” Cedar Park, 2021
Sous Vide Chicken
“Sous Vide Chicken” Cedar Park, 2021
We cooked our first Sous Vide meal, which was a chicken dish with green onion and spicy chili oil. The chicken was moist and tender, and delicious! Because of the cooking method, the meat actually looked semi-raw, but it was at the correct temperature so it’s perfectly safe.
We ate it with rice, which made for a simple but delicious dinner.
Milky Way Photos and Hiking Out of the Chisos Mountains
“Milky Way” Big Bend, 2021
This morning I woke up at 5 am and right outside my tent was the Milky Way. It was awesome! I got out my Fujifilm X-E4 with 18-55 mm lens, put it on the Ultrapod and took a few shots. There were only a few clouds in the sky so the shots looked pretty good, and I even captured a few shooting stars. In fact, with the 30-second exposure, almost every shot had at least one shooting star in it. It was so cool!
“Sunrise” Big Bend, 2021
Soon, the sun made its way into the day, and after a sunrise photo and some coffee, it was time to hit the trail. We hiked Laguna Meadows Trail all the way down to the Chisos Basin, seeing one large bear along the way. It was digging a hole near the trail so we had to scoot past pretty quickly, bear-spray at the ready. Very exciting!
At the end of the hike, I splurged on a Topo Chico and mango ice cream bar before we hit the road. After a couple of hours we arrived at Fort Stockton and had lunch at Pepito’s, where I had a huge burger. It was a good way to satisfy my hiker hunger!
“Refreshments” Big Bend, 2021
Here are a few more photos and the Strava track from the last day of our Big Bend trip. Enjoy!
“Switchback” Big Bend, 2021
“Laguna Meadows Trail” Big Bend, 2021
“Casa Grande” Big Bend, 2021
“Pepito’s Burger” Fort Stockton, 2021
“Triple Shooting Stars” Big Bend, 2021
Hiking the Chisos Mountains
“Hiking to Boot Canyon” Big Bend, 2021
After a strenuous hike yesterday, we were looking forward to an easier day on the trail. But first, we had an early morning visit from some deer as we broke down our campsite and had a quick breakfast. Then we hit the trail and hiked to Boot Springs to see if there was any water flowing from the pipe (there wasn’t).
After a short rest at the cabin, we headed up to the North Rim where we enjoyed the awesome views, eventually making our way to the South Rim 3 campsite, where we’d spend the night. SR3 is an excellent site, with a great view of Mule Ears and Santa Elena Canyon in the distance. It was so cool to watch the changing light on the landscape below.
Here are a few snapshots from today’s hike and campsite, a time-lapse I recorded during our dinner, and also the Strava track:
“Morning Visit” Big Bend, 2021
“Fading Light” Big Bend, 2021
“Sun Through Clouds” Big Bend, 2021
“Distant Canyon” Big Bend, 2021
“South Rim View” Big Bend, 2021
“Clouds Over Mexico” Big Bend, 2021
“Prickly Pear Bloom” Big Bend, 2021
“South Rim View” Big Bend, 2021
“Shadows Down Below” Big Bend, 2021
“Fire Damage” Big Bend, 2021
“Fire Damage” Big Bend, 2021
“Casa Grande” Big Bend, 2021
“Morning Sun” Big Bend, 2021
Day One of the Big Bend Backpacking Trip
“Big Bend” Texas, 2021
Today two friends and I made the trip from Austin out to Big Bend National Park for a few days of camping and backpacking. The drive out was pretty cool, with lots of interesting clouds to take photos of. And when we arrived at the trailhead, the weather was just about perfect. We still had some cloud cover as we made our way from the Chisos Basin up Pinnacles Trail to today’s destination of TM1 (Toll Mountain) campsite.
While on the trail, we came across three black bears. They were looking for food and didn’t mind us taking photos and watching them for a while. It was our first time to see a bear at Big Bend so we were all stoked!
The top of Pinnacles Trail is pretty tough, especially with heavy backpacks, but we made it to the top successfully. It was at the junction of the TM1 campsite, Pinnacles Trail, and Emory Peak Trail that we saw the evidence of the fires that swept through the Chisos. Lots of trees were blackened and burnt, and the smell of burnt wood lingered in the air. Luckily, the campsite was untouched so we were able to set up our tents, cook dinner, and then fall asleep pretty quickly. We were all worn out from the hike, and also the long day of driving.
Here are a few snapshots and Strava data from today. Enjoy!
“Distant Rain” Marathon, 2021
“Circular Cloud” Marathon, 2021
“Anvil Cloud” Texas, 2021
“Mirror Selfie” Big Bend, 2021
“Bears” Big Bend, 2021
“Prickly Pear” Big Bend, 2021
“Burnt” Big Bend, 2021
“Sunset” Big Bend, 2021
