As Andre & I had to work on Saturday in the visitor center, the boys slept in and drove up to the basin to meet us in time for our lunch break. It was funny seeing them walk through the door into the place where we now spend much of our days.
After the boys spent a few minutes visiting and checking out the visitor center, we locked up and headed over to lunch at the one restaurant in the park that, fortunately for us, is right across the parking lot at the lodge. After an enjoyable lunch and some catching up on details about their ride to Texas, I went back to re-open the visitor center while Andre showed the boys around the basin and they walked the short Window View Trail. We switched up for the remainder of the afternoon. Andre finished up the day at the visitor center while I went with the boys on the longer hike up the Lost Mine Trail.
The boys enjoying the view of the Chisos Mountains
About half way up the trail, Dylan's old hiking boots began to fall apart! When one of the soles was hanging by a thread, he decided to cut his hike short and head back down to the apartment to retrieve his hiking shoes while Nick and I continued on to the top. As we were on our way back down, Andre and Dylan met up with us to finish the hike.
A few minutes of solitude for Nick as we enjoyed the view close to the top
The next day (Sunday) it was the four of us hiking a full day to the South Rim. It was my turn to lose a boot this time as about 1/3 of the way into the hike I felt the sole of my right boot ripping away. With the help of some ingenuity and some medical tape Dylan had on him, we managed to tape the boot well enough for me to finish the hike with only minor issues (I couldn't take off the boot to empty the stones and sand that were accumulating in my socks as I went!) for the rest of the day.
It was a beautiful day for hiking and we made it to the South Rim in good time for lunch with a view. We enjoyed sharing the magic of the South Rim with the boys and took plenty of time to explore up top and soak in the views (and the sun) before starting back down for the second half of the hike.
An hour or so later as we came back up out of Boot Canyon and approached the junction with the Emory Peak trail (side trail that heads up to Emory Peak) Andre and Nick decided to take a detour up to the top of Emory Peak (another 3 miles round trip).
Dylan and I declined to do the extra miles and continued down to the basin, stopping at our leisure to photograph birds along the way. We arrived back at the basin a little more than an hour before Dylan and Nick and enjoyed a cool down in the visitor center until they arrived and we all headed back to the apartment together.
Just a few minutes into the ride back down out of the basin we came across a bear family crossing the road! We had time to snap a few shots before the mom and cubs disappeared into the woods again. A fine way to cap off an amazing day.
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