Lost Mine Trail
Big Bend National Park

August 31, 2003

The Lost Mine Trail is a little over 4.5 miles round trip, starting at the parking lot in the Chisos Basin up the road from the lodge.  You will climb around 1000 ft to the top for an amazing view of the surrounding mountains, lush canyons, and distant desserts.  The views are difficult to describe.  You start by climbing through dense forest of oak, juniper, and ash trees, over a floor of tall grasses.  Toward the top the trail turns to solid rock as the forest opens to 360° views. 

My early morning hike was dominated by fog.  I could only see 10-15 ft in any direction, so much of the hike was a cool, moist walk in the woods.  The spider webs were covered in dew and the trail was full of fresh animal tracks.  I stopped a few times to read the trail guide I picked at the trailhead to learn a little about the plants I was seeing.  As I approached the top the trail began to get steep and it turned into switchbacks.  Through the fog I found myself guess as to if I was seeing my final destination or yet another hill to transverse.  Finally at the top it was difficult to decide which vantage point was best.  I walked around the large clearing looking off cliffs and trying to located landmarks through the fog.  Then the fog began to break.  The South Rim shown through in the distance.  I started shooting pictures.

Fog near the peak. This was taken before the fog lifted.	The fog breaks Across Juniper Canyon you can see the South Rim coming into view.			Elephant Tusk In the distant desert floor Elephant Tusk Mountain appears.
Clouds drape the South Rim	Looking NorthWest Clouds are passing over the peaks to the NorthEast	Sharing the Trail This tarantula, a few birds and a bunch of pretty black, green and yellow grasshoppers are all the wildlife I saw on the trail.

All photos are copyright protected.  © Steven M. Lawrence 2003