Not Geocaching in Big Bend But Keeping the Spirit Alive

This was one of those trips that was technically supposed to fit on a geocaching blog, but we somehow managed to go to Big Bend for 11 days without actually finding a geocache.

We had geocaches downloaded. We had plenty of time. We had plenty of opportunities. We just never actually stopped to find one.

Instead, the focus of the trip was night skies and offroading, and honestly, I loved this trip. I would do almost the entire thing again exactly the same way.

We spent a lot of time exploring Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park, including quite a few roads that definitely require a vehicle capable of handling them. We did a 4x4 tour, drove Old Ore Road, River Road, Glenn Springs Road, and a bunch of other back roads. Old Ore Road was probably my favorite, although really I loved all of the offroading.

We also crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico at Boquillas, did some rifle shooting, explored Terlingua and Marfa, and spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at the sky. We had several nights of stargazing, including a star party at McDonald Observatory.

We did have to work part of the trip, but even that wasnice. We worked remotely from our dome, with a pretty fantastic view as our office.

The one thing that did not make the favorite-things list was the Chinati Foundation. I didn't get it. At all. We also happened to be in the area at a time when there was a lot of discussion about plans for border barriers through or near Big Bend's public lands. After spending this much time driving through the parks and seeing how beautiful and wild this area is, the idea of putting a huge fence through parts of it is pretty depressing. The plans have changed several times, but the whole thing is worth following if you care about the future of the area. The Texas Tribune has a good overview of the current Big Bend border-barrier plans.

And then there was the tire.

On the way to Marfa, we punctured a tire on Pinto Canyon Road. It wasn't exactly part of the itinerary, but I suppose an offroading trip needs at least one reminder that you're actually offroading. I would make one change if we did the trip again: I wish we'd had the tires I have now back then.

Despite the tire, the questionable art, and the complete lack of actual geocaching, this was one of my favorite trips. The scenery was incredible, the offroading was a blast, crossing into Mexico was a fun experience, and the night skies were exactly what we had gone looking for.

So, no finds to report.

But we had the geocaching spirit. We explored, took the roads less traveled, stopped at interesting places, and spent a lot of time outside wondering what was around the next bend.

I'll take that as a pretty good geocaching-adjacent trip.