I’ve been to Big Bend National Park multiple times. The rugged and remote West Texas desert is one of my favorite places on earth. I’m typically more of a day hiker than backpacker. When Stillhouse asked if I wanted to go on a brand trip to Big Bend to try their new whiskeys I immediately said yes. The catch? It’s a 15-mile backpacking trip deep into the Chisos Mountains.

Two other journalists, a brand representative, and I met in the Midland Odessa Airport. If you have plans to stay at the Gage Hotel for a night or two like I did during a Girls Weekend in Big Bend, I’d do that airport. Typically when going to Big Bend I fly into El Paso and recommend that way to drive through Marfa and along River Road, one of my favorite drives in the U.S. The drive time difference isn’t much. It’s about a 4 hour drive from Midland Odessa Airport to Study Butte, near Terlingua. If you want to sound local, it’s pronounced stew-dee beaut as in studious, not study, and beaut, like beauty without the y or butte. With daylight fading, we spotted a plethora of bluebonnets along the side of the road and did the typical thing in Texas this time of year and pulled over to take some pictures of the iconic lupines which bloom in March and April.

We checked into Terlingua Nights Cabins. They have five small cabins and three hotel-style rooms. We had 3 cabins and 1 room. We quickly dropped our stuff and relaxed in the Adirondack chairs watching a pretty West Texas sunset. We walked across the street to Chili Pepper Cafe for dinner as a full moon was rising above Terlingua Nights Cabins. They only have a beer and wine license so I ordered a margarita wine with my veggie enchiladas. We had a hilarious server who had us laughing multiple times throughout dinner.

The next morning I was up early and took my coffee outside to watching the setting moon at daybreak. It was a quiet start to an adventurous day in the Chihuahuan Desert. I always love watching the desert wake up at sunrise. My friend Molly and I drove into Terlingua Ghost Town to grab burritos at my favorite breakfast spot La Posada Milagro. I always get the Burrito Mexicano. It’s nice to sit on the patio and dine, or do as we did and take the burritos to go to enjoy on the ride into Big Bend. About 8:30am, we went to Big Bend Boating and Hiking Company to go through gear, pack backpacks, and meet out guide Andrew. If you don’t have backpacking gear, or don’t want to flight it as was my case, they have everything you need. I opted to rent their pack, sleeping pad, tent, and sleeping bag. I brought a sleeping bag liner and a few other things I ended up not putting in pack. With gear, extra clothes, food, and water my pack was close to 45 pounds. I’d end up naming it “Monster” on the hike. There’s a reason why ultralight gear is key in backpacking! I love the drive into Big Bend National Park and was thrilled to get to just enjoy it from the passenger seat as I’m usually the one driving. The terrain is harsh, vast, and rugged. Big Bend is the only national park with an entire mountain range within its borders and we headed into the Chisos Mountains.

I’ve hiked in the mountain range several times, but this was my first time backpacking in it. We hit the trail about 10:45am and it was 70° degrees when we started on a sunny day. Hiking through a series of gentle switchbacks, we gained over 600 feet in the first two miles. My strategy with “Monster” on my back was to go slow through the switchbacks and fly on the flats. By 2.3 miles we were getting great views of the Chisos Basin. We gained most of our elevation by mile three where we stopped for lunch with a view at about the 3-mile mark. It had turned into a hot day, even in the mountains. I was thankful to have on my Outdoor Research Echo Hoodie, leggings, and for sun protection.

At mile 4 we hiked with views of Oak Creek Canyon. At just under the 5 mile mark, we hit the burn scar area from the April 2021 fire and got our first look at the boot rock formation that Boot Canyon is named after and where we camped for the night. After set up our tents and stashing food and packs in wildlife boxes, it was time to taste test some Stillhouse Whiskey. Their metal can packaging makes this a perfect adult beverage to toss in your pack on a camping adventure. We tried the peanut butter s’mores and apple crisp whiskeys followed by the black bourbon, which is made with coffee grounds. The peanut butter s’mores one was my favorite. Since we hadn’t hiked enough (HA!), we hiked to a seeping spring that we were told was still flowing. This is the desert and seep springs can run dry quickly, which is what we encountered. Andrew dug a hole to get down to some water to replenish our hydration bladders and so we could boil water for our dinner and breakfast freeze dried meals. Since it was going to take about 45 minutes to draw water, the gals explored the area with a sunset hike before returning to our campsite. After boiling the water, we chowed down on our freeze dried dinners. My pasta primavera was pretty good. We all retreated to our tents early and settled in for the night. There was a full moon that night which provided nice natural light in our campsite. We had a bobcat and fox walk through our site.

The next morning Andrew made French press coffee, which was wonderful. I ventured up to the scenic potty about a quarter of mile from our site. Nothing like a bathroom with a view! Back at the campsite I fueled up on oatmeal and we left camp about 8:35a.m. hike the South Rim Loop. It was a mile to the loop trail. It was a lovely morning with comfortable temperature, although it was a little hazy. We only took small daypacks with us so this hiking was fairly easy. We to to the South Rim view spots about 9:45a.m. Even with the hazy the view was spectacular. We all enjoyed exploring along the rim and simply sitting and taking in the view. We left about 10:30a.m. to hike back to our campsite via a rocky trail in Boot Canyon. We were back at camp about 11:45a.m. after completing what was about a 4-mile loop. We packed up and hit the trail to head down and finished just before 4p.m. Here’s the trails we connected on hike: Laguna Meadow Trail to Colima Trail to Boot Canyon Trail for night at Boot Canyon Campsite 2. Next morning we hiked back up a little ways on Colima Trail to connect to South Rim Trail then took Boot Canyon back to campsite. On the way down we took Boot Canyon Trail passing by Emory Peak cutoff following Pinnacles Trail back to Laguna Meadow Trail to Chisos Basin. Here’s the Chisos Mountains Trail Map for reference.

To celebrate a successful backpacking trip we went to Starlight Theatre in Terlingua Ghost Town. It’s iconic and always lively. There was a wait so we walked next door to wander around Terlingua Trading Company then grabbed a table at Starlight’s open-air cantina to enjoy a round of drinks and nibble on chips and salsa. A margarita really hit the spot after two days of hiking. We called it an early night and retreated to Terlingua Nights Cabins. That night Molly and I switched and I stayed in one of their hotel style rooms with a bathroom next door and she stayed in a cabin.

I was up early again to watch sunrise on our last morning in West Texas. We got to La Posada Milagro about 8:30am because it can get very busy with a wait by 9am. We sat out on the patio enjoying a leisurely breakfast, which was a Burrito Mexicano with two eggs, tomato, onion, jalapeño, and avocado for me. Afterwards we went to the Terlingua Cemetery. It dates to the early 1900s when the town was a flourishing mercury mining town and is the final resting place of mining workers and residences who succumbed to dangerous working conditions, gunfights, and emphysema epidemic of 1918. It’s still used by the local community and every November 2nd they have a huge celebration for Dia de Los Muertos.

Sadly our time in Terlingua and Big Bend was coming to an end. For our drive back to Midland-Odessa Airport we opted to take the route through Big Bend National Park to Marathon then on to the airport.

Author Jennifer Broome is a repeat visitor to Terlingua and Big Bend National Park. Check out post on My Favorite Spots in Terlingua Ghost Town and Terlingua Nights Cabins for more details from this trip. She gear tested a couple of items on this backpack trip. For her review, read post Outdoor Research Hoodie and Outdoor Vitals Jacket.