Big Bend Camping Trip

Derek8404

Derek8404

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A couple friends and I are gonna be heading out to Big Bend National Park for a few days of camping at the end of the month. We're going to be taking the primative roads and camping in the backcountry, and one of the days we are going to go to the border crossing and walk across the rio grande into Mexico to a little village called Boquillas.

I've been picking up pieces of camping gear here and there and thing I have everything covered, but I'm sure there will be something that I won't think of until I need it int h field. I'll keep this thread updated with pics of the trip after we get back.
 
Haven't some of the border towns and areas been a little lively lately with cartel violence? I'd stay on this side and have plenty of hardware if it were me. There is nothing you need in Mexico. And nothing you can't get on this side. Be safe and have fun.
 
Windini said:
And make a copy you can keep on your person in case your passport... disappears.
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Decent idea, I may start doing this. We go to Mexico for vacation usually once a year.
 
CZfool68 said:
Haven't some of the border towns and areas been a little lively lately with cartel violence? I'd stay on this side and have plenty of hardware if it were me. There is nothing you need in Mexico. And nothing you can't get on this side. Be safe and have fun.
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They have, but from my research, this village is good to go. It's a very small and remote village and they thrive on American tourisnm and it's so far out of the way that no one goes there, unless you are trying to go there. Mexico is fun, and can be very safe to visit as long as you use some common sense and are smart about it.
 
Derek8404 said:
They have, but from my research, this village is good to go. It's a very small and remote village and they thrive on American tourisnm and it's so far out of the way that no one goes there, unless you are trying to go there. Mexico is fun, and can be very safe to visit as long as you use some common sense and are smart about it.
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Double wrap it, only drink from a bottle and hustle back!

Why can't we invade Mexico instead of Syria or N. Korea so we can make the world safe for fishing, drinking and sunburns?
 
That is some beautiful country, enjoy. I used to own some acreage in the Davis Mountains across from the observatory, but it's been 20 or more years since I was out there.

If you get a chance check out the old store and hotel in Ft Davis. The rooms are pretty much the same as they were in the 1800's.

You may want to see if there is a place on the US side where you can store a handgun before crossing over into Mexico.
 
Scsmith42 said:
That is some beautiful country, enjoy. I used to own some acreage in the Davis Mountains across from the observatory, but it's been 20 or more years since I was out there.

If you get a chance check out the old store and hotel in Ft Davis. The rooms are pretty much the same as they were in the 1800's.

You may want to see if there is a place on the US side where you can store a handgun before crossing over into Mexico.
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I'll check those out if we get the chance. As for the weapon storage, I plan to just leave our guns locked up in my truck while we go across. There's a parking lot at the border crossing, I don't think it will be an issue.
 
Just got back from the trip Sunday afternoon, had an absolutely awesome time. Really should have taken Monday off as well to recover, because that was a long drive and I was still exhausted.

Day 1, we got on the road from San Antonio at about 0600 and headed west. We made really good time despite stopping several times, and got to the park at about 1200 and got our permits for backcountry camping. It was about a 45min ride from the park headquarters to our campsite. After getting all set up, we headed out for some exploring, and then just hung around camp for the night.

Day 2, We made breakfast and headed down to the southern end of the park to the border crossing and took a small row boat over to Mexico and rode some donkeys into the Village of Boquillas. We had lunch at a local restaurant and then walked around town for a bit before heading to the cantina and attempting to drink all the cervesa and sotol in the village. After crossing back to the US we went to swim in the Rio Grande river for a little while and then soak in some natural hot springs. After we got back to our camp for the night,we made some steaks and asparagus for dinner and turned in for the night.

Day 3, We decided to go to the Chisos mountain lodge for lunch and a few beers and check out that side of the park for the day. That afternoon, we returned for some swimming in the Rio and another soak in the hot springs before heading back to our camp for the last night. As we got closer to camp, I could see the canopy on my shelter blowing in the wind. We hadn't realized up until that point, how bad the wind had gotten up there while we were gone. My shelter was completely destroyed and we even had to brake all the legs apart with an axe to get it closed up enough to pack back up. The weather had gotten so bad that we couldn't even be outside to cook dinner, so we ended up just sitting in my truck and having some sandwiches.

Day 4, we got up, packed, and got on the road around 0900 and headed back home. We stopped for lunch in Ft Stockton and made it back to San Antonio at about 1730.

Some pics below
 
9outof10mms said:
That village looks like it's just waiting for a gun fight to break out.
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It looked exactly some villages I've been to in Iraq or Afghanistan. People couldn't have been more friendly though.
 
Glad you had a wonderful time. Never went to Big Bend when growing up in San Antonio. Finally went there after the First Gulf War in Dec 91. Conduct border surveilance along the river for drugs coming across for JTF-6. Spent several days in a hide site just above the river and car parking lot. Was very tempted to shoot some javelinas at dusk one evening (armed with M16A2/M203 and M9 loaded with M855 and M852 ball), about 30 animals crossed in front of me. Got recalled later that night to go to Yuma AZ with the Border Patrol.


CD
 
Combat Diver said:
Glad you had a wonderful time. Never went to Big Bend when growing up in San Antonio. Finally went there after the First Gulf War in Dec 91. Conduct border surveilance along the river for drugs coming across for JTF-6. Spent several days in a hide site just above the river and car parking lot. Was very tempted to shoot some javelinas at dusk one evening (armed with M16A2/M203 and M9 loaded with M855 and M852 ball), about 30 animals crossed in front of me. Got recalled later that night to go to Yuma AZ with the Border Patrol.


CD
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This is the reason we set up camp nowhere near the river. Didn't want to take the chance of having some smugglers coming across our camp while we slept.
 
Forgot to update this thread with more photos, but I’ve been back to Big Bend twice more since I started this. Recently I had my brother fly in from VA, and another friend come from CA and a few friends from here in TX all got together and went to the park for a few days. I decided to do a rental vehicle so we could all ride together ( and not put the wear and tear on my truck or have to deal with cleaning it after). I had reserved a suburban but when we got there to pick up the rental agency gave me a brand new Escalade......poor choice on that part, because that thing put some work in, hauling 5 of us around the desert for 4 days. Really glad I paid for the full coverage and damage waiver....anyway it was a great trip. Here’s a few pics..
 
Gettin ready to leave and a few from on the road.

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My brother doing a little axe/beer can baseball...

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Crossing the Rio and hanging out at a cantina in Mexico

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Me and my brother with Some chihuahua puppies I found outside the cantina on our way out.

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So Mexico was a little too much for one of my buddies and he could barley walk by the time we left. 3 of us paid some Mexicans to drive us the .5 mile to the border on their truck and one of my buddies stayed with the drunk one to get him back. We drive by them and the scene I see is, the drunk one doing the “pin ball walk” staggering around the trail and my other buddy somehow commandeered a horse and is escorting him back and yelling “get along little doggie!” To him the whole time. This is him when he finally got the drunk asshole back to the river.


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I found a nice chair in Terlingua....


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These pics are from a trip I did a few months back. We took my buddies Chevy Colorado ZR2 out there; very capable vehicle.

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