First ascent, January 2000: After bagging El Paso county and spending my new years in Alpine, I awoke to the new year and proceeded south to Big Bend National Park. It's about 100 miles of driving from Alpine. The road weaves through the Alpine hills, then drives through some desert flatlands, then weaves again through the hills and mountains approaching the park. I paid my $10 entrance fee, and drove to the Chisos Basin parking area. This is the heart of the Park, and there are lodges, gift shops, stores and ranger stations all about. Quite a few people were there (mostly Texas license plates). It was pleasantly warm, and I began my hike right about noon.

The Pinnacle Ridge trail gets my vote as one of the nicest, almost nearly perfect trails I have ever hiked. It slowly climbs through low forest cover, crosses a couple meadows, then proceeds up a series of switchbacks that are built at a pleasant gradient, so that before I knew it, I'd gained 2,000 feet. The views are exceptional. The flora is thick but not so dense as to make one feel like they're hiking in a tunnel. And the trail is good smooth dirt, mostly free of scree and other annoying stuff that my feet like to kick without my permission. I arrived onto the main ridge - a 3.5 mile, 2,000-foot ascent - in just over an hour. I hooked up with a hiker about the half-way mark going about the same rate as me, and we hiked together to the ridge top. He was actually a part of a larger group I'd seen (and passed) coming up, but I guess they were going too slow for his tastes.

The trail descends shortly on the other side of the ridge, and a spur trail heads off to the west to Emory Peak's summit. It is about a mile one-way to the top, and considerably steeper and rockier than the trail we had just come up. Finally, the trail ends at the base of the summit rock mass. The final scamper to the top requires a short bit of easy rock climbing - maybe 30 feet of vertical gain with only 10 feet of that having any real exposure. We found a number of people tackling the rock right where the trail ended, so instead, we walked around the base a bit and found what seemed to be a good way up from it's east face. I spied what looked to be a ledge about 10 feet up. The rock is super solid and full of hand and foot holds. We crawled up this section, which I would qualify as solid class-3, and sure enough, found a good ledge. The last few feet to the top was less exposed and required simple boulder-hopping and some hoisting with the hands. A small radio antenna is bolted into the top rocks. We relaxed and started down when a few others started to some up, crowding us out. Downclimbing the short rock bit went fast and easy. I was surprised at the number of people who simply refused to attempt the last portion. There were maybe 10 people milling about, and half of them seemed to be too spooked or too disinterested to ckimb the final few feet. Their loss, I guess. The hike out went quick, and I bid goodbye to my hiking partner as he stuck around to greet his friends as they slowly made their way to the summit. I was back to my truck at 5 p.m., a wonderful way to start 2000!

I stayed for dinner at the Chisos Basin Lodge. I thought about staying on at Big Bend for another day but the weather was variable and I had other plans to take care of, so I decided to hit the road. I proceeded north to the town of Marathon ("Mare-uh-thin", accent on the "mare"), passed through some storms, and ended up back in Alpine, staying at the same hotel as I did the previous night. The next day I scouted the Reeves County highpoint in the Barrilla Mountains but was stopped by "no trespassing" signs. I tried Loving County as well, same result. I finally bagged an easy one: Lea County, New Mexico.

Return visit, January 2004: My wife Beth and I made a visit to the Big Bend area over New Years, 2004. We stayed two nights in Terlingua and made a number of short to moderate day hikes in the park, but chose not to ascend Emory after Beth suffered, of all things, a spider bite that made walking hurtful. I used this trip as an opportunity to snap some better photographs of the peak. After leaving the park, we made a fascinating drive up FM-170, the River Road, through Big Bend Ranch State Park and the towns of Presidio, Ruidosa and Candelaria. Click here for a photo gallery and simple report.

Second ascent, January 2005: We came back for another visit, apparently not satisfied our last time here! Actually, we'll come back time and again; this is a brilliant, beautiful and spiritual place for the both of us. This time, we chose to stay 4 days in the area, encamping at the Terlingua Ranch, a lonely outpost about 60 driving miles from the park and about 15 miles off of the main highway, TX-118. This place has cabins, campsites, RV pull-through sites and a simple cafe. A number of people live scattered about the region, which is outside the National Park boundaries. The 'immediate' area covers about 200 square miles, of which we figure maybe 500 people live here permanently. Even so, it doesn't feel crowded at all. Terlingua Ranch serves as a nexus for the locals, as well as a popular tourist destination for those heading to the Big Bend.

We arrived on the evening of the 18th and spent a couple days relaxing and doing other hikes and explorations before tackling Emory Peak on the 21st. Beth was feeling energetic early on the morning of the 21st - the Winter Solstice as we noted - and we made our way to the Chisos Basin trailhead by about 10 a.m., where we took some time to get ready. We followed the same trail as I took in 2000. Not much difference but some new signs were up. It's a beautiful trail that is never too steep and always with amazing views looking down. We made the ridge in 2 hours and took an extended break.

Beth was hanging in there given her insidious arthritis and its accompanying fatigue and achiness. She psyched herself up for the remaining mile to the top, and we took this section very slowly, taking about 90 minutes to get to the base of the summit rocks. We then scouted for ways up. We found a distinct cleft off to the right - not the same way I went up in 2000 - and saw that this looked pormising. It's about 10 feet of minorly-exposed scrambling to a safe ledge. I went up first and turned to guide Beth, but she was having real trouble gaining a solid footing or grip. After a couple minutes of trying things out, common sense dictated we don't chance it. I suggested she not do it, and she asked me then to come down. I was just a few feet from the summit - my head, when I stood, was nearly level with the top - but I chose to skip the final few feet and come back down to be with Beth as we celebrated a successful hike. We spent about 45 minutes on the ground, while a few others showed up. Interestingly, not one was willing to chance the rocks to the summit. The hike down went slow as well, and we egressed back to the truck at about 5:20 p.m. as the sun was setting. After changing out of our boots and getting situated, we drove on back to our cabin at Terlingua Ranch. I was happy to have visited the peak a second time and thrilled for Beth for overcoming her ailments on this one day. The positive mental aspect meant a lot to her!