Our1Chance

Can We 5 Mile Hike with little kids? Bears? Lost Mine Trail (Big Bend National Park)

We had initially set aside 2 full days at Big Bend National Park. (Dangerous weather changed our plans, however; more on that later). Of course, we ALWAYS underestimate the time we need, but part of the curse of trying to see the whole country in a few months is to set aggressive timelines and hope to stick to it. After our quick hike the day before to Balanced Rock, we were looking for something a little more challenging for our all-day hike. Jen REALLY wanted to hike Emory Peak, but that is nearly 10 miles and a max height of over 7800 feet and I really didn’t think the girls could handle it.

The lost mine trail serves as an outstanding introduction the flora and fauna of the Chisos Mountains, only 1 mile into the hike there is a saddle offering stunning views of Casa Grande and Juniper Canyon. The remainder of the trail climbs steeply in and out of juniper, oak, and pine forest. The trail abruptly levels out at the ridge with superb views of Pine Canyon and the Sierra del Carmen in Mexico.

 

 

Ultimately we settled in on an easier hike called the Lost Mine Trail.  Lost Mine Trail is a 4.6 mile heavily trafficked out and back trail located near Terlingua, Texas in Big Bend National Park. The trail itself is 4.6 miles out and back and rated moderate in difficulty according to AllTrails.com.

The lost mine trail serves as an outstanding introduction the flora and fauna of the Chisos Mountains, only 1 mile into the hike there is a saddle offering stunning views of Casa Grande and Juniper Canyon. The remainder of the trail climbs steeply in and out of juniper, oak, and pine forest. The trail abruptly levels out at the ridge with superb views of Pine Canyon and the Sierra del Carmen in Mexico. (Via NPS website) 

Vintage National Park Guide

Check out this vintage brochure of the hike provided by NPS. Click on it to Download

 

Shayla Says: On the way to our hike Lost Mine Trail we saw a bear sign.

We thankfully did not see any bears.  I was very scared.

Daddy said we will not see any bears today.  It made me feel better.

Leighton Says: [icon name=”child” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Bears have a strong sense of smell. They can smell food even in your car. When we went on this hike, we found a bin where you put leftover food. The bear cannot get into the bin, because it is bear proof. We had leftover homemade banana muffins we would not eat on the hike. We saw the bin and thought we should not leave them in the car because of the bears. We put the muffins in the bin and when we got back, we took them out and got to enjoy the delicious treat!!!

Leighton Says: The past couple of hikes we went on, we’ve learned that is nice to stack rocks on the trail. People look for them and when they see them, they know someone else was there! In the middle of our hike we stacked rocks along the way too. We stacked four because there are four of us. We should have done five because of our dog Cole. When we stacked them, we knew will know there was another hiking-family there!!!

It was a beautiful view and hike. When we were low it was all brown.A couple miles later we were higher so it was green.I thot that it was amazing to see such beautiful view.  What I liked most were the mountains. I could not stop looking at them.They looked fake. One looked like a fun hill to go sledding down in the winter!

The photo above is a 10 photo panorama of the whole Chisos Mountains view.  We stopped for a half hour up at the top and soaked up the stunning views.  

We did a decent 4 and 5 mile hike with the girls while visiting Zion National Park in Utah.  We knew they were capable of this longer hike but always had some reservations about them being too tired.  Of course they  

The tripod system I brought up with me for the hike (and most hikes) is the Platypod system.  You should really look into it if you are an avid hiker and photographer.  Here are some links to them on Amazon.  The smallest one is the Platypod Ultra for around $60     

And the larger one is the Platypod Max (which I have) for around $100 

Boom Family Pic Complete.