.:: spacekadet ::.

Pictures galore from my lovely weekend in Big Bend are now on the interweb.

QuickTimeVR 360 panorama! (Also available in hi-res!)

The trip was nothing short of amazing. We camped in the Chisos Basin, nestled amongst the vast and versatile Chisos Mountains. We had two full days in Big Bend, which we spent hiking in the mountains. At approximately 10 miles in distance and 2,000 feet in elevation per day, our legs were very sore by Tuesday. But the wobbles of strain accompanied wobbles of awe as we beheld the inspiring landscape of the Big Bend. The molten lava domes of the Chisos; the drooping juniper, the staunch agave, the molting madron, and the rest of their plant-life friends; the portly javalina and the agile deer (but alas, no bears or mountain lions); and let's not forget the spectacularly windy scene from Emory Peak, the third highest summit in Texas.

Our trip was made vastly more interesting by the book, Big Bend Vistas, a detailed account of Big Bend's geology by William MacLeod. We learned all kinds of new words such as dolomite, marl, novaculite, igneous, and orogeny.

Big Bend is definitely one of the coolest experiences in nature I've ever had. Feeling like I'm in the middle of no where, challenging my body, walking with my eyes to the ground, careful not to trip over any rocks, only to look up every so often and be struck by a new panorama before me... these are some of the things I'm "about" (like postcards and scrabble). Some things I'm not about? War, Highlander II, meat...

I have newfound respect for people who do stuff like climb Everest, or hike the Appalachian trail... I'd like to be that kind of rockstar someday...

someday...