Big Bend National Park, Texas

In August 2011 I took off for the Chihuahua Desert on a solo, backcountry camping trip along the Texas-Mexico border in Big Bend National Park.

Big Bend National Park (or "the Park", as locals say) is a fully functioning time machine. With geologic activity going as far back as 500 million years ago, there are artifacts, fossils and structures strewn across the desert landscape. More recently, there are pictographs and other evidence of ancient nomadic tribes inhabiting the area along the Rio Grande as far back as 10,500 years ago. Remnants of silver mining and farming villages can also be found throughout the park.

At over 800,000 acres, it's the largest protected area of Chiahuahua desert in the US and borders Mexico for nearly 250 miles (almost 400km). It's a land of contrasts. In the center of the Park are the lush, green Chisos mountains. Surrounding them is the flat, arid and treacherous desert. In the distance, separating the US from Mexico, is the Rio Grande river. Peaks and valleys; barren desert and flowing water; life and death.

In speaking with a park ranger about the various locations in the park to set up camp, I didn't want to miss out on any sunrises or sunsets so I chose two areas on either side of the Chisos mountains to make sure I could capture the glowing purple Sierra Del Carmen mountain range at sunset while also seeing Santa Elana Canyon come to life first thing in the morning.

I obtained a backcountry camping permit, which meant I wasn't going to see many people for awhile. With a backcountry permit, you're far removed from regular campsites where there's an RV parked at the site next to you and some guy with a guitar playing Jack Johnson songs.

No, out here you're really out there. At my second camp, Terlingua Abajo, I was 50 miles from anybody else and less than 4 miles from Santa Elena Canyon and Mexico. With a backcountry permit you can also do Open Zone camping, meaning you can find spot at least 1/2 mile and out of sight from any road and set up camp.

I decided on two areas: Chilicotal and Terlingua Abajo. To access both areas you are required to have a 4x4 vehicle since the roads aren't really roads but more like offroad obstacle courses. When first approaching Chilicotal I'd been offroading for more than 30 minutes, wondering if I was going the right way, before I found a small sign indicating the designated area I was looking for.

Being in the desert is being alone.

I remember the moment I stepped out of the car and into silence. I'd spent the entire day driving and had been listening to a combination of Marty Robbins' Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, Mexican radio and rocks pelting the underside of my car as I took it offroad. It wasn't until the engine was off and my feet were on the ground that the silence hit me. It was deafening. I had to talk to myself and make noise just to prove to myself that I really hadn't gone deaf.

That isn't the only trick the desert plays on your mind. You will hear things - there is no doubt of that. You will also think you hear things, which can be worse. The first night, at Chilicotal, I woke up hearing my tent rustling at 3am. Resisting any temptation to get paranoid, I gave my flashlight a quick blink outside the tent in the direction of the noise and realized it was just the wild west Texas wind. Other nights I could hear coyotes, javalenas and other animals rustling about (but keeping their distance).

Despite the isolation, the heat, the poisonous snakes, the scorpions, the tarantulas, the coyotes, javalenas, mountain lions, black bears, etc. I actually felt quite safe and at home on the range. There's just so much to see and do in Big Bend and the wildlife is just part of the equation. For the record, I didn't see any scorpions, tarantulas or black bears and everything else I did see didn't care about me. Like everyone else in Texas, they welcomed me to their area and politely left me alone to mind my own business.

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Shot List

Rio Grande river

The extreme heat and lack of rain has taken its toll on the Rio Grande's flow. Big Bend National Park, Texas.

Santa Elena Canyon

view of Santa Elena Canyon near my camp at Terlingua Abajo in Big Bend National Park, Texas.

Santa Elena Canyon

Wading through the Rio Grande to get up close to Santa Elena Canyon.

The Window

"The Window" in the Chisos Mountains at Big Bend National Park

Mountains at arms length

I didn't even need to get out of the car to get this shot - that's how approachable and 'there' the ever-present landscape is. From mountains to valleys to canyons to cliffs, the uniquely diverse geology of Big Bend National Park is enough to keep you occupied for days on end.

It's like this for miles.

I wanted to capture the essence of being in a vast, dry desert expanse with mountains in the distance, puffy cottonball clouds above and blue sky all around. The temperature on the ground was 108F, making it understandable why the rivers and streams there ran through here have long since dried up. Big Bend National Park, Texas.

More of that John Wayne stuff

View from just off the road on the way to my camp at Terlingua Abajo, Big Bend National Park, Texas.

Driving through Big Bend

Driving through Big Bend National Park has got to be one of the most scenic and diverse drives you can do in a park. There's perfectly maintained roads, such as this one and then borderline-treacherous (depending on your abilities) gravel roads that are only conquerable in a 4x4 vehicle. Wherever you go, the view follows. Big Bend National Park, Texas.

Ernst Tinaja

Ernst Tinaja is quite literally a desert oasis, although swimming or drinking from it would only bring temporary relief from the sun and heat. This view is looking back, showing how the earth caved in on itself and allowed for a dish to form that captures what little rainfal the Chihuahua desert gets. The resulting "oasis" is a green, algae-rich cesspool that traps thirsty deer and other desert wildlife that try their luck at taking a much needed drink. Big Bend National Park, Texas.

Ernst Tinaja

This desert oasis is a tepid cesspool, formed by rainwater that accumulates into the basin that was formed when the volcanic crust shifted and was shaped by flowing water at some point millions of years ago. Evidence of the crawling, bending and brittle volcanic rock is everywhere along the walls of the basin. Big Bend National Park, Texas.