May 5, 2021 Lost Mine to Santa Elena (or Santella...)

 

 

 

 

May 5, 2021

 

 

My humans are acting like they are going to leave me again today.  I can feel it.  I let them know that this does not make me happy.

Another early morning as we are off to hike The Lost Mine trail is in the Chisos Basin area.  The lost mine was supposedly a mine where the Spaniards operated with Indian slave labor.  The Indians were blindfolded so they could not divulge the location.  They soon rose up and killed every Spaniard and destroyed the mine so it could never be found.  Truth or legend?   Don’t know for sure.

There is limited parking so we want to be there early.  We also want to beat the heat.  While the hike to the Window was downhill through desert flora and dry creekbeds, the Lost Mine trail climbs up the side of a mountain.  Not only is there desert cactus and other flora, but there are a variety of pine trees and oak trees.  We are at about 7000 feet, and it is 58 degrees when we start, at 7:25 am.  There are a couple of hikers about 5 minutes ahead of us.  Let the mountain lions and bears eat them and leave the trail to us!

 

There is a bit of a breeze which makes it a bit chilly but we are climbing so that will not be a bother for long.  It is about a 5 mile round trip and it takes us up.   So we climbed.  About a mile up, the views started coming into sight.  With the morning sun and shadows, there was a copper cast on some of the rock formations.  It was really breathtaking.  And we climbed.  Then the switchbacks started and we climbed.  Lots of views along the way.  We finally crested the mountain to a rocky peak with 360 degree views of mesas, buttes, the Rio Grande Valley and Disneyland… well not quite but I think you get the idea!  We rested, had our apple and cheese and talked to the other hikers.  We then made are descent.  We prefer when hikes start out going uphill, then finish downhill.  This way, your energy is used when it is fresh.  It is not that downhill hiking doesn’t have its challenges.  It is easy to slip on lose rocks, bash your toes and it can be hard on your knees.  But we just don’t feel as tired.

Back at the truck, it is only 78 degrees.  We had lunch at a campground where the breeze made it so cool, I actually had to put on sleeves.  It was 71 degrees but the breeze was cool.  Once again… since we are this far into the park, let’s head over to Santa Elena Canyon. 

Something about Spouse, when he gets something in his head, it sticks.  He still can’t say COVID.  It’s covey to him.  He was trying to find Santella on the map.  He couldn’t.  I looked and I could not find it either.  I tried and tried.  He asked someone at the visitor center and they pointed out Santa Elena.  I now know where it was, but he still calls it Santella.  Makes me want to pull my hair out!  Anyhow, we headed through the park – and more desert to Santella… The canyon has the Rio Grande in the middle.  On the Mexico side (which is also a national park) is a wall of rock hundreds of feet high.  On the US side, there is some sandy beach before our rock fortress begins.  IT is a beautiful narrow canyon.  There is a small hike there, but it was warm and we were hiked out so we opted out.

Then we started heading home.  Hmmm, there is a dirt road we can take but we would have to let some air out of the tires.  Naw…  too tired.  But wouldn’t it be fun.  The truck turned around all by itself and head to the dirt road.  It was either 43 miles on the same boring road we had been on, or 13 miles on a dirt road.  It took Spouse about 10 minutes to deflate the tires and off we went.

 

At this point, we are seeing the desert up close and personal.  Not a lot of traffic and views not seen from the highway.  Sure it was bumpy but it was fun!  Lots of ocotillos.  They are my favorite desert plant with their green spiny tendrils reaching for the sky and their bright red flowers.  There are gazillions of them, but most of them are done with their bloom.  An old historic house is on the road.  Hard to believe someone actually lived in it.  Tons of fun bumping down the road.

As we headed home, we thought we would fuel up and Spouse could reinflate the tires.  The price of fuel was so expensive that Spouse could only bear to put about 11 gallons in the tank and it shocked him so much, he totally forgot about the air for the tires.  They probably would have charged an arm and a leg per tire.  I went inside to buy a lemon.  For a small lemon it was $2.  And I have a tree at home heavy with lemons…  Argh!