Travis and Michelle Fitzgerald's blog

Okay, so I'm long overdue in posting about my trip to Big Bend. The first week of this year, my Dad, uncle Denis, cousin Austin, and cousin Valerie's boyfriend Daniel went to Big Bend to do our annual Fitzgerald men's camping trip. We used to do the trip the weekend before Thanksgiving, but Austin started school (at the University of Texas, of course) this year, and didn't have that week off. So, at Denis' suggestion, we moved it to the week of New Year's.

There were two major events during this trip to speak of. The first full day that we were at the campsite, it rained. It rained from shortly after I woke up until 11 or 12. However, due to the brilliant planning of Austin and Denis, a mess tent was erected shortly before the deluge. We had a good time sitting in the mess tent chatting for several hours.

The other major event will become known as The Great Backpacking Trip (or the Journey of the One Ring, or the Overnight Hike to the South Rim). It started out with Denis, who is always very ambitious when it comes to adventures, suggesting we hike out to the South Rim of Big Bend, spend the night, and hike back the next day. On paper, it sounded like a great idea. It even turned into a great opportunity for the guys to spend a couple of days shopping at REI. So we loaded up the 3 brand new internal frame backpacks and 1 experienced external frame backpack (Daniel is a Boy Scout and has done this before) with 30-40 lbs of new equipment, and began the 6 mile hike to the South Rim. In January. Did I mention that we started at 5000 ft elevation, and the South Rim is at 7000 ft elevation? Dad and I made it approximately 2 miles in before we realized that we weren't going to make it. Luckily, I was able to call ahead to Austin, Denis, and Daniel on the CB radios that I got for Christmas, and ask them to stop.

We exchanged some equipment (we took one of the extra tents down with us, and gave them our extra water and food), and then commenced with the "Breaking of the Fellowship". Dad and I finally made it back to civilization, and promptly decided to take the next logical step. We rented a hotel room. We relaxed in the room, took showers (which we hadn't had for several days), and ate dinner at the restaurant in Chisos Basin. Heck, if we're going to wuss out, we're going ALL THE WAY. After our showers the next morning (just because we could), we met Frodo, Samwise, and Gollum as they returned.

It was decided that backpacking in the mountains was not for the Fitzgerald clan. They apparently went to bed at 7:30, because there's nothing to do in the middle of nowhere at 7000 ft elevation in January except sit and shiver, and any entertainment was too heavy to carry in.

It was fun, but I think we decided that this wasn't the best time of year to do this trip, and next time we want to find a place that allows ground fires, 'cause that's what us Fitzgeralds really like about camping: the fires.

Here are some of the pictures, enjoy!