We love getting out and away from the crowds when we can. While in Big Bend NP, we took advantage of the many backcountry campsites. Big Bend has 64 primitive roadside campsites that you can reserve. These campsites are spread throughout the 800,000 acre park and are all located on remote dirt roads. Many of the campsites can only be accessed by high clearance 4x4 vehicles and fortunately Cruella, our 4x4 Jeep Rubicon. All these campsites provide a flat gravel area for parking and tent setup and a large bear box to put any food or smelly items in to keep the bears, mountain lions and other critters away. We camped at two of these sites , Twisted Shoe and Roy’s Peak Vista campsites.

The first night we camped at Twisted Shoe in Juniper Canyon. It is located about 12 miles off the main park road on Juniper Canyon road. Juniper Canyon is a beatiful area located at the southern foot of the Chisos Mountains. We arrived at our site early afternoon.

We decided to walk the short distance up the road to the Juniper Canyon Trail before setting up camp. The trail is 6 miles one way, connecting to another trail. Since we still needed to set up camp for the night and make dinner, we only hiked 3 miles in before turning around and returning to Twisted Shoe campsite.

For dinner we had a new camp meal called Omeal. These were very unique from the traditional dehydrated backpacking meals we’ve had before. No need to boil water, just add cold water and drop in the meal pack and heat pack. The heat pack causes the water to heat rapidly and cooks the food. It’s like boil in a bag meal in the wilderness. My bag heated so rapidly the seal popped open, but thankfully it was fine. While very delicious, they are a little bigger and heavier than the dehydrated packs, so not a great option for backpacking.

After dinner we set up camp. Steve had a two-man backpacking tent with a sleeping pad and camping quilt. I had a nice air mattress that fit in the back of the jeep and several blankets. Believe me I needed several blankets as it gets quite cold at night in the desert. I even had on a very warm sweatshirt and a hat to sleep.

We watched the sun set behind the mountain and the stars appear. It was almost a full moon & no clouds, so it was bright out. It was a peaceful evening in a beautiful setting. Unfortunately, we don’t know our constellations well. We did managed to identify Orion and the Big Dipper. I may need to study the stars in anticipation of more backcountry camping. We also saw a satellite or two pass overhead.

Morning started with instant coffee and sunrise over the mountains. The tranquility and beaty of the surroundings puts your mind at ease and is a great way to start the day.

 After a breakfast of scrambled eggs, we packed up camp.  We drove to Grapevine Road for a morning hike on Grapevine Hills Trail (to see balance rock) before stopping by the ranger station to change our 2nd campsite to something more remote. (we passed our original 2nd site, and it had another site right next to it with someone already set up). Our second night found us at Roy’s Peak Vista on Old Ore Road, another dirt/rock 4-wheel drive. Depending on whether you came from the north or south it was either 9.5- or 17-miles in. This site was even more remote that our first and the road in was very rough and took over two hours of offroad driving to get there. We passed a few other campsites on the way there and all were unoccupied, probably because of the difficulty in getting to these sites. Our campsite was at a location of an old ranching house. We enjoyed exploring the ruins of the ranch in the area before setting up our new spot. Once again Steve was in the tent, and I had the jeep.

Dinner that night was ramen noodles, boiling the water on our tiny camp stove. Again, we watched the sunset, but this time with a few clouds in the sky, it was very colorful. The sky was constantly changing as the sun set going through various hues of red, pink, and orange.

Thankfully the clouds were sparse, and we still could see many stars and had a good bit of moonlight. At one point I noticed movement on the ground. Quickly turning on my flashlight, we saw a small kangaroo rat hopping through our campsite. We watched him scurry back and forth a few times before he headed off into the desert. Seeing the rat just made me think more about the possibility of snakes because I do believe rats & mice are a snake food source. Thankfully, we didn’t see any. But there was other life in the desert after dark, as Steve heard coyotes a few times during the night. Morning was again greeted with a sunrise over the mountains, cups of instant coffee, and scrambled eggs.

Washing of dishes and brushing teeth are done a little bit away from camp so as to not encourage critters into the camp area. After doing the dishes, I had returned to the same spot moments later to brush my teeth. As I stood there, a small black-throated sparrow found where  I had dumped the dishwater, and I think maybe a few bits of egg. He definitely was enjoying picking at the spot and kept returning.

The showers when we got back to the RV felt so good. Still, I am sure we will do more back-country camping as it was so peaceful and amazing to get away from it all.