The Last Frontier
Reader's Digest UK|May 2022
Adventure awaits visitors to Big Bend National Park, located in one of America's wildest, most forbidding places
Marcia DeSanctis
The Last Frontier

ON MY FIRST MORNING IN BIG BEND, I jumped in a little too а quickly. Driving 78 miles south from Marathon, Texas, I aimed for the heart of the national park: the Chisos Basin, a geological depression encircled by a mountain range of the same name. A friend had recommended the six-mile Window Trail hike; I reached the trailhead at noon.

Disregarding the posted warnings not to hike after 10am because of the extreme heat, I ventured past volcanic outcrops into a dry canyon bed. Fifteen minutes in, I encountered what seemed to be a remarkable painted stick bisecting my path. It turned out to be a deadly Mojave rattlesnake that, thankfully, ignored me.

By the time I reached the Window—a natural stone aperture at the lip of a 65-metre cliff, through which I could see the pastel expanse of the Chihuahuan Desert—it was 38 degrees Celsius, there was no other hiker in sight, and my backup water bottle was emptying fast.

I proceeded cautiously on the way back, ducking for shade wherever I could on the arduous uphill route. By the time I arrived at my air-conditioned car, I had learned my lesson. Big Bend was different. One needs humility, stamina, a little courage… and probably not to hike alone.

“Every other aspect of the Big Bend Country—landscape, configuration, rocks, and vegetation—is weird and strange and of a type unfamiliar to the inhabitants of civilised lands,” wrote the geologist Robert T Hill, who mapped the Rio Grande for the United States government in 1899. Of the river’s 1,885 miles, 118 delineate the southern edge of the park—the boundary with Mexico—including the elbow-like curve that gives Big Bend its name.

This story is from the May 2022 edition of Reader's Digest UK.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the May 2022 edition of Reader's Digest UK.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM READER'S DIGEST UKView All
Culinary Grandes Dames
Reader's Digest UK

Culinary Grandes Dames

Paola Westbeek celebrates the women who have influenced her journey in gastronomy-from Elizabeth David and Julia Child to Nigella Lawson

time-read
3 mins  |
March 2024
My Britain: Winterton-on-Sea
Reader's Digest UK

My Britain: Winterton-on-Sea

WITH A BEAUTIFUL BEACH on one side and the Norfolk Broads on the other, Winterton-on-Sea is a lovely little village with a big heart.

time-read
5 mins  |
March 2024
Under The GRANDFLUENCE Prince Stash
Reader's Digest UK

Under The GRANDFLUENCE Prince Stash

From aristocratic, eccentric friend of Sixties rockstars to TikTok sensation

time-read
3 mins  |
March 2024
Steve Conte: If I Ruled The World
Reader's Digest UK

Steve Conte: If I Ruled The World

Steve Conte is a musician known for his memorable guitar work as a member of New York Dolls, as well as his collaborations with Japanese composer Yoko Kanno on the soundtracks to several hit anime series

time-read
3 mins  |
March 2024
My Great Escape: Rome, The Eternal City
Reader's Digest UK

My Great Escape: Rome, The Eternal City

Our reader Barbara Hull takes a Hollywood-inspired trip to Rome and reveals that some wishes really do come true

time-read
2 mins  |
March 2024
BOTANIC GARDENS OF THE WORLD
Reader's Digest UK

BOTANIC GARDENS OF THE WORLD

Tales of extraordinary plants, botanical history and scientific discovery

time-read
4 mins  |
March 2024
THIS BACON FAKERY MUST STOP
Reader's Digest UK

THIS BACON FAKERY MUST STOP

I WAS RECENTLY given bacon-flavoured dental floss for my birthday. My first question was: who the hell gives dental floss as a gift? My second question was: has bacon gone too far?

time-read
2 mins  |
March 2024
GOOD NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Reader's Digest UK

GOOD NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Meet the Crufts competitors who changed their owners' lives completely

time-read
1 min  |
March 2024
HOME AT LAST!
Reader's Digest UK

HOME AT LAST!

A cat missing for ten years, a dog who disappeared during a wildfire, and more heartwarming true stories of pets who were lost then found

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 2024
New Love Lexicon
Reader's Digest UK

New Love Lexicon

Do internet terms help or hinder healthy romantic relationships?

time-read
2 mins  |
March 2024