We awoke extra early to get a head start on the dreaded 9 mile hike up to Emory Peak in Big Bend NP. This torturous hike surely made up for all the previous days we had gone hike-free. After loading up our new Camelbaks, and packing up the snacks for lunch we drove to the trail head and began the death march up the mountain. Luckily, because it was so early, the weather was cool, and the shade from the mountains blocked out most of the blistering sun. Still, even with these advantages, after about a half hour of hiking I was ready for a mountain lion to come and put me out of my misery. After what seemed like a million hours of hiking through the wooded slopes we arrived at the rocky summit. That's what I love most about hiking: when you think the end's right around the corner... surprise! It isn't. The last hundred feet or so consisted of scrabbling over boulders to reach the tippy top. In some spots it was pretty nerve-racking. On both sides there was a pretty drastic cliff, and the last thing we wanted was to make a wrong move. The view from the top was worth the long hike through hell. Out of all the mountains we climbed, Emory Peak probably had the best view. Seeing all the other mountain peaks emerging out of the barren desert was absolutely beautiful! We decided to take our sweet time taking pictures and eating lunch before heading back down the trail. When we got to our car, having accomplished our goal, we were all ready to leave Big Bend and Emory Peak behind us for good.
Our next stop couldn't have been more perfect: Balmorhea SP, which is essentially a natural spring, but one that has been constructed to model a public pool. After spending the day hiking in the unforgiving sun, we could hardly wait to dive into the refreshing spring and cool off. Balmorhea is definitely one of the coolest things I've ever seen - I wish Illinois had a park like this. It was really neat to see all the kinds of fish swimming along the rocky bottom below the surface. The spring was huge too, which was quite nice. Jessie and I spent a lot of time in the deeper end, which was over 20 feet deep. Although we didn't spend a great deal of time here, we all agreed that Balmorhea was worth the stop. We then finished the day by driving to our hotel, ready for a lazy evening and a long night's sleep.
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