Back to America and Heading West

So the cold temps were too much for Camille and I. Our two options were to either:

1.  Wait 2 days without climbing until the weather warmed so that we could climb a couple days more before leaving Mexico
2. Leave Mexico right away and spend the couple cold days driving in a warm car

We chose option 2. The plan was to drive from Mexico straight to Big Bend National Park in the US. Unfortunately, between a weird glitch in Google Maps and an oversight by me, we drove several hours north towards the border on a road that didn't actually cross the border. Thankfully we were stopped by some Mexican soldiers before we got too low on gas. The conversation went like this (in Spanish):

Soldier: Where are you going tonight? (It was like 8PM at this point)

Us: Across the border, to Big Bend National Park

Soldier: With your car???

Us: Yep!

Soldier: That's not possible. There's no border crossing on this road

Us: There's no bridge over the river?

Soldier: Nope, no bridge

Us: Shit

Soldier: Laughs to himself

So we retraced our path a couple hours south, then drove north again towards Del Rio, USA, slept on the side of the noisy highway, and properly crossed the border the next morning. In the morning we ate pounds and pounds of fruit and Camille made guacamole from our avocados assuming they would confiscate all of our food. Luckily the border at Del Rio was super quiet. After some confusion about passport stamping, fees, and cancelling our vehicle permit, we were back on American soil and heading towards Big Bend.

Big Ben was awesome! Lots of amazing geological features which Camille really enjoyed. We also saw plenty of wildlife including roadrunners, a coyote and a baby mountain lion!

I think one of the highlights was the hot springs. A quick hike from a parking lot leads you to a quasi-constructed "bath" at the edge of the Rio Grande. The water was a consistent 105°F and absolutely wonderful after a couple days of not showering.

It was really interesting bathing in a hot spring next to the Mexican border. If you wanted, you could jump into the Rio Grande and swim the 20 feet to the other side and be on Mexican soil. I'm not a good swimmer, I was just in Mexico and the river was cold, so this feat was not attempted. After a couple hours in the hot springs everyone left and Camille and I had the place to ourselves. The stars were spectacular in Big Bend! Definitely worth the stop.

We did plenty of hiking the next day.

The Santa Elena Canyon was beautiful.

The day after we did a quick hike in the morning before hitting the road again. We stopped at several visitor centers and they were all closed. I wonder why?

We drove to Las Cruces, NM to spend the night. We found a nice camping spot on some BLM land above the city. The view of the setting moon and the city lights was awesome.

The next morning we drove an hour north to White Sands National Monument. We hit a border patrol checkpoint right before the monument. When we told the man we were heading to the White Sands he explained that it was closed due to the Government Shutdown. Oh... that's why the visitor centers at Big Bend were closed. All National Parks and National Monuments are now closed until Congress can get its act together and pass a damn budget. This could put a huge wrinkle in our plans to visit a bunch more national parks. I hope they approve things soon and get that silly government back up and running smoothly.

Either way, there was a spot on the highway near the National Monument where the sand was spilling over the fence. Lots of other people who were disappointed that the park was closed had stopped here to get a glimpse of the White Sands. So we also perused and had an awesome time frolicking through the beautiful white dunes, in painfully whipping winds. Thankfully this little hop over the fence made the drive worth it.

Now we're at Crooked Tooth Brewery in Tucson, Arizona editing photos, updating things and planning next steps. We think we'll climb tomorrow outside of Tucson then start making our way north. Camille saw that the Grand Canyon is still open during the shutdown so maybe that will be a stop for us in our near future!