Hike via Bear Canyon to the Bowl

Out of bed by six and on the trail around a quarter past seven, the sun was getting warm immediately and we both regretted a little that we hadn’t left earlier. Via the Frijole trail we hiked up to Bear Canyon, this part of the hike was going to be the most strenuous part, sometimes it seemed that the trail was going straight up. Once in the canyon we were out of the sun, the cooler temperature was more than welcome. Sooner that we had expected we arrived at the top of the mountain. The area called the bowl is a rare thing in the middle of a desert, a huge meadow with lots of pine trees. The place was deserted, no humans, but we did not see any animals either a part from the birds. In this area there supposed to bear, mountain lions, deer and even elk, we did not see any.

Going into Bear Canyon

There was a strong wind atop, and we had to take shelter behind a big water container. Some remnants of older water tanks were there too, but they had been blown to bits. After an early lunch we did the small trail in the bowl. A number of years ago there had been a big fire in this area and you could still see the evidence. The trail led to the rim from where we could see the top of Guadalupe Mountain and some of the other mountains. At the end of the Bowl trail we came to a vista with a beautiful view of the valley below. The fun part was that we were the only people to enjoy this stunning scenery. When we decided to walk the rest of the trail we at first did not manage to find the trail back to the valley. Wahid was looking on his GPS and said that the trail had to be right below the rim; I said that we had to walk the path we had been walking on till we would come to a junction. But according to Wahid’s GPS that was wrong, so for a while we were debating what to do, in the end we decided to walk the path and after a couple of minutes we did come to the trail junction. Not long after we hit the Tejas Trail, without a doubt gorgeous, however the sun was right above us and there was no shade. Via many switchbacks & stunning views we arrived back at the campground around a quarter past two, we had hike a good 10 miles. My feet where feet were killing me and I stayed on the couch for a while, knackered! Because we were so close to the trailhead we did see all the people come down from the various trails. I was not the only one suffering from sore feet. One guy kicked off this shoes and socks the moment he found some shade. Later in the evening I met a lady we had seen in Big Bend as well, we talked for ages near the restrooms, people started noticing and commenting about the fact that we were talking for such a long time there. When it got dark I went back to the motor home, finished up the dishes and went to bed. The next morning we had to wake up early again for the drive to New Mexico.