That Time I Quit My Job and Traveled Around Texas (Part 2)

My trip out to Big Bend Ranch State Park was something I had always wanted to do since I was very young. I always wanted to go on a trip with my dad there. Now that my dad is retired I hope we can find some time to make it out there before he gets old and can’t go on adventures anymore. If you haven’t already done so make sure you read my blog “ I Quit My Job and Traveled Across Texas” because this is a continuation of that post.

When I woke up the sun hadn’t come up over the horizon yet. I wanted to make sure that I took advantage of ever bit of sunlight that I had while I was here. What I didn’t expect was it to be freezing cold when I woke up. I figured since I was this far south it didn’t get cold in the winter, but I was wrong. Luckily I had brought a bunch of layers because I expected the second half of my trip to be colder.

After fighting with myself for 15 minutes on whether or not to get up I finally got out of my sleeping bag and started to make some coffee. As I sat at the picnic table watching the amazing sunrise I pulled out the map of the park and started to make my plans for the day. I didn’t really know where I wanted to go, but all I know is that I wanted to go on a long hike. I ended up deciding to do the Closed Canyon and the Rancherias Loop trail.

The Closed Canyon trail is exactly what the trail name is. You have to hike a little bit down a trail to get to the actually canyon. Once you are inside there is for sure a temperature change since there isn’t much sunlight coming in. There were twists and turns and even a few spots where I had to jump down and climb up to go further on the trail. It took me a little bit longer then I expected to do this hike because I trying to get as much video as possible.

When I got done with the Closed Canyon trail I headed off to the longer trail of the day, Rancherias Loop Trail. I hadn’t done as much research as I normally do when going on a trail that I had been on before. The main reason for that which I don’t mind at all, because there was no phone service in the park. Which made me feel freer than anything. I didn’t have to worry about getting a random email, phone call or anything to ruin the moment. The loop is roughly 21 miles long so I didn’t plan on trying to hike the entire trail but just doing a small part of it. I figured once I started feeling tired I would turn around and head back to the trailhead.

When I started on the trail it was a little before noon and all I could think about the first hour was where was the perfect spot to stop and eat lunch on the trail. Right after I started the hike I started to take off layers of clothes as fast as I could. By the time that I had stopped for lunch about an hour in, I was just in shorts and t-shirt. The scenery was amazing everywhere I turned, just like the rest of the park. I finally stopped for lunch about 3 miles into the hike. I had packed a tuna sandwich, trail mix, peanut butter crackers, and grapes. For some reason I still think that was one the best lunches I have ever had. I don’t know if I was just that hungry or I was just enjoying he moment I was truly in.

As I packed up my trash and started back on the trail I noticed the trail started to become less marked. The walls of the canyon I was in also started to get closer and closer, making it a nice cool temperature. I was in no rush on this hike because I wanted to enjoy the amazing views and really take in the scenery. After hiking a total of 3.5 hours I had decided it was time for me to head back to the trailhead. Did I really want to turn around? No, I wanted to keep hiking until my legs were going to fall off. But being reasonable I knew I needed to turn around to make it back to my camp by the time the sun had set.

I had carried 4 liters of water with me and as the hike went of course my pack was getting lighter because of all the water I was drinking. I had noticed that I was going much slower on the way back. Once again I was spending too much time trying to get video of everything. So for the last mile I was at a light jog. When I got closer to the trailhead I slowed down and began to walk again. When I had reached my car I was kind of sad and upset. I didn’t want to done hiking, I wanted to keep going!

When I got back to my campsite the sun had just begun to start setting. I had brought ramen noodles and canned chicken for dinner, which was a very clutch move. The food had really hit the spot and kept me warm since it was starting to get colder. Like I did the previous night before I just sat there under the beautiful night sky and just looked up at the stars in the sky. There was no light pollution in sight, which I haven’t experience much since I grew up in the Dallas metroplex.

Like I said in my previous post, my piece of advice for you if you don’t already do so is just spend some time outdoors. It can be as simple as going for a hike, visiting your local state park, or even just sitting in your own backyard. Try out this hypothesis and see if it will make a difference in your life it has done mine.

Now if you are totally interested in seeing video of my adventures on the Closed Canyon and Rancherias Canyon Loop trails here is a link to my YouTube video I did for that day. Now this was a few years ago remember, so my video skills were very basic and raw.