Big Bend 2025

Mason and I got to go to Big Bend a couple of weeks ago and I'm finally getting around to sharing the details!

Sharon and I had the idea to start this trip five years ago and this was our fourth year to lead it together.  Luke got to come with us two years ago and I was so excited for Mason to experience it this year.  There are three sections of 8th grade science and one is a project-based more STEM focused class and that's the group that we take every year.  

We left around 6 a.m. on Sunday morning and got to our camp site in the Chisos Basin around 3:30-is that afternoon.  Everyone packs a lunch and we just eat in the car and keep our stops to quick gas/bathroom stops along the way.  

We got there and got settled into camp and pretty much immediately saw some deer which was super fun.

We just hung out at camp that night - we made MREs for dinner and one tribe (the group was split into four tribes) made brownies for dessert.  Each tribe was responsible for one dinner and one dessert during the trip;

DREAM TEAM of chaperones this year!

My favorite part of trips like these are watching the kids invent games, run around and just PLAY together. 

This pic does it ZERO justice - but the sky is unlike the sky anywhere else.  

Monday morning we were up and at 'em before the sun was fully up and one of the chaperones took a group of boys on a quick run before breakfast.  

We kept things simple and did oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, then Mason's group did their devotion before heading out on the Lost Mine Trail.

This hike freaks me out SO BAD because of this part at the very top where I feel like it's like walking to Mordor from Lord of the Rings ;) hahaha

Back to camp for lunch and some time to rest and rehydrate and then they set out on the Windows trail which has the trailhead pretty much at our campsite.

It's down through a canyon and ends at a pour-out that looks out over the dessert.

Then that night Mason's tribe made bbq chicken sandwiches and Caesar salad for dinner.  The kids have to come up with the meals, scale them up for the amount of people we have, price everything out and then cook it at camp.

At night we had star-gazing time (the sky is INCREDIBLE out there) and each student had a constellation that they had to present on and then Sharon would point things out, they'd talk about what they saw, we'd watch for shooting stars, etc.

It was pretty chilly at night (40s a couple of the nights) and Mason brought a onesie to sleep in in side of his sleeping bag ;) 

Nothing better!

Tuesday morning we drove about 45 minutes to Terlingua where we met up with our river guides for the day for our day-trip on the Rio Grande.

Kids partnered up and then we got out on the river which is always my favorite part of the trip.

We stopped for lunch at the Hot Springs trail...

... saw some bluebonnets...

... and we all got to jump in the river and enjoy the hot spring.

... before we headed out on a hike up the ridge.

It's s super cool hike and the view at the top is awesome but MY GOSH this hike is, without fail, the hottest I am all year long.  It's INSANE up there.

After the hike we got back in the canoes to finish up the second half of the 7-or so mile trip down the river.

It was a GORGEOUS day and year after year this view doesn't disappoint.

I always get questions about this - but yes... the river is the border.  Well, technically the deepest channel in the river is the border and everything to the right in the pic below) is Mexico and everything on the left is the US.  The US side is all the national park but the Mexico side is ranches so we typically see a lot of horses on both sides - this trip we got to see a few ranchers bringing their horses back across the river which was fun to see.

We headed back to camp with sun-kissed cheeks and hungry bellies and that night we had tacos and then a night of games, songs, and charades.

We only use red lights since it's a dark sky area.

Foxes would come and visit at night - which was fine was long as nothing bigger followed them!

We decided to switch things up on Wednesday morning and we got the kids up WAY early to head out to do the Balanced Rock trail at sunrise. 

This is, hands down, one of my favorite experiences on these trips to date.  We were the only people on the trail and getting to the top to watch the end of the sunrise was so special.  I am NOT a heights girly but I climbed up on this rock with Mason and am so glad I did ;)

The first 3/4 of a mile are flat (not my picture below) and then you have to climb and scramble up the last 1/4 mile to the top.  

When you get to the top there's a super cool "balanced rock" paired with an awesome view.

We climbed to the top, and then hung out for a bit taking pictures, the kids did a devotion, we had a snack, etc.

Back at camp we made breakfast tacos, and then everyone packed up a sandwich and we headed about an hour and fifteen minutes away to Santa Elena Canyon. 

The kids worked on a Huck Finn raft project for their English class...

... we nearly got trampled by a stampede of cattle trying to cross the creek (a story for another day) and then we set off on the canyon hike.

This was my first time doing this hike (the past couple of years I've had students who need to sit out for medical reasons and I've stayed back at the creek with them) and I'm so glad I got to go.  

Back at camp that afternoon the kids presented their tribe flags...

... and started packing up for an early departure the next morning with a wind storm coming in overnight.

We had skits...

... made fajitas for dinner...

We were up WAY before the sun on Thursday - actually most of us had been up most of the night thanks to a crazy wind storm.  We had packed up as much as we could the night before, but finished taking down tents and loading up and hit the road by 6:15 a.m.

'

A dessert pit stop because Sharon and my window was falling apart (hahaha)....

... and we were home by 6 p.m.  AMEN..

This year's group was a DREAM!  They were such great kids and we had a blast with them.  They were inclusive and did most things as one big group - there was no complaining (which is notable since we hiked 10+ miles in one day) and they all worked so hard.  

Was I exhausted by the end? Yes. 

Was I dirty? YES YES (there are no showers)

Am I already excited about next year? Also yes.

HAPPY Monday, friends!!!