Big Bend National Park, Day Three: The Return to Chisos Basin (Via Boot Canyon and Pinnacles Trails)

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After arriving at the South Rim, I lingered for a while to soak up the views and to take a bit of a rest and drink some water and eat a Clif Bar. I also took lots of photos and tried desperately to avoid the bee which was buzzing about my head.

Then I started the hike back to Chisos Basin. Rather than going back the way I had come, via the Laguna Meadow Trail, I decided to make it a "loop" hike and return to Chisos Basin via the Boot Canyon and Pinnacles Trails. 

When I got to the tri-junction of the Emory Peak Trail, the Boot Canyon Trail, and the Pinnacles Trail, I ran into a bunch of folks who were about to start a hike to the summit of Emory Peak. I asked them to take a photo of me and they kindly obliged. They were the first persons I had seen in more than three hours and 45 minutes on the trail!

My return route was a good choice, as I was treated to different and more varied scenery, though the two trails were a bit more challenging than the Laguna Meadow Trail. I also came upon four deer on the return hike, but thankfully no bears or mountain lions. And while the hike was pretty much downhill to Chisos Basin, at times the hiking downhill was more treacherous and trying on my body and my knees than the hiking uphill.

At the Emory Peak Trail junction
Some deer I encountered on the return hike


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