Big Bend Outing Report
By Darren Huski
Our seventh annual Big Bend trip was an outstanding success! What began as four brave souls following me into the desert in 2004 has become a large club trip that this year had 27 people making the drive west. Every year has been fun with lots of sights and this one was no different.
Ok, maybe it was a little different, we have always gone in the spring and this year we did the fall. So instead of spring wildflowers we saw some autumn colors. The temps were nice although they did swing. Dawn was usually around 35 or so. Everyone was bundled up with jackets, gloves, hats, etc. Most afternoons were in the 80’s, so it was shorts T-shirts and sunscreen.
The weather gods were tough on us this year and in my nine days in the park, only three had any kind of clouds. We made the most of those days and I got some great images when the conditions were right. We also adapted to the clear skies and did both night and canyon photography. Clear night skies made for some great star trail photography and canyons need no clouds.
Looking through my images I see several that will join my portfolio and most everyone I talked to has said about the same.
Some of the highlights of our trip:
- Sunset on Sotol Vista was perfectly timed for the best sunset of the trip and the best place in the park to watch them. Quite a few folks made it to the overlook and it did not disappoint. Something magical about a west Texas sunset and we got a good one.
- Sunrise at Santa Elena Canyon was also quite nice. We had just enough clouds in the east for some color and watching first light hit the Sierra Ponce is always a wow morning. For me it sarted early as I was out at 345am to do star trails and then Skip and I light painted the 1500’ canyon walls.
- Our driving day west to Closed Canyon was also a big hit with many folks not having made the walk before. The tall narrow confines of the canyon were a great choice on a clear day and we followed that up with stops at Terlingua Ghost Town, the Big Hill, and the old movie set.
Lastly, lets not forget the great meal that Kat and Reagan hosted at their site! Talk about good eat'n! As you may have seen in the group photo from there, we ate and drank well.
Be sure to take a look at some of the images posted in the Forum and in the trip gallery and see some of the sights we saw.
This was a fantastic trip. Hope you can make the next one!!!
