Here are the four of us at the trailhead. From left, Jon, me, Nick and Shannon.

The first day, we stayed at the campground in the Chisos Basin.

Setting off, we passed by a gap in the moutains, looking out into the desert beyond.

It surprised me that the park was as heavily forested as it was. And a bluebird watched us set up camp.

After several miles, we came to the cliff wall. After enjoying the view for a few minutes, we started dropping rocks over the edge in an effort to determine its height. What can you expect? Too many of us are engineers.

Toward the end of the day, we pitched camp near the top of the range, with a perfect view down into the basin where we had stayed the night before.

After we set up camp, we decided to go ahead and hike to the summit of Emory Peak. At 7825', it is among the highest peaks in Texas. Once we got there, we were able to watch a thunderstorm blowing in. The same storm would flood our tent that night, but hey. The next morning, while our gear was drying out, we hiked up the peak again to enjoy the view in the early morning sun.

We also headed down to the Rio Grande, and the Santa Elena canyon. Because of the rain the previous night, the trail was washed out, and we had to wade across the floodplain to get into the canyon. There's something strange about wading across the river the *other* way.