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| Hiking | 10.00 Miles |
90 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.00 Miles | 8 Hrs | | 1.25 mph |
| 90 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Day three of the Outer Mountain Loop, Big Bend NP. We started off from the ridge we had hunkered down on for the second night and reached the Homer Wilson Ranch after about a 2/2.5-mile hike. We had cached water at the ranch before departing so we had plenty of that, and in fact left a gallon in the bearbox because we were still plenty full from the day before (Fresno Wash). There were no signs prohibiting camping near the ranch house itself, and with the terrain being what it is, we all agreed that if we had made it to the ranch area it would have been preferred to the windswept ridge where we camped on the second night.
Coming up the Blue Creek Trail is largely spent in the dry riverbed for about 1-2 miles, which pass through gorgeous rock formations and hoodoos. Once you are past the hoodoos, the trail climbs slowly until you reach the 4-mile point, at which it begins to climb steeply (thus again proving that what goes down, must go up eventually). The views, however, are spectacular, and the trail is clearly in better condition than either Dodson or Juniper Canyon. At the 6.5/7 mile point, the trail reaches the ridge and there's several intersections that immediately present themselves (as well as a chemical toilet). The remainder of the hike to the end of the loop is on the Laguna Meadows trail, and while there are some uphill sections, you have clearly done the bulk of the work already.
Total for the Outer Mountain Loop as we did it: 34 miles |
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