They donned their hats, shouldered their packs and picked up their walking sticks. Garnet turned on his GPS to see the cache location and led them down a rough dirt road toward the mountains. The road went through a gully and back up to a parking area. They walked past a gate and continue down the road to a steam of clear water.
Passing the stream they came to a sign warning not to hike with small children due to the recent mountain lion attack.
“We will be fine,” Clifford assured them. “Just everyone stick close together.”
The group continued on, climbed steps up out of the canyon. Unobtrusively Clifford dug through his pack and brought out a can of pepper spray which he hung on his belt. He didn’t think they had anything to be worried about, but he wanted to be prepared.
Garnet continued to lead them along the trail that was a series of gently ups and downs across the desert floor. He pointed out a roadrunner racing along the trail in front of them.
With his attention distracted, he continued to walk as he watched the bird. At the last minute he looked down at the trail and his forward momentum nearly took him over the brink. The trail had slid away and there was a deep gully in front of him.
“Whoa!” he hollered his heart in his mouth as he skidded to a stop, then scrambled back from the brink. His companions gathered around on the edge.
“That was too close for comfort,” Amber said.
“What do you think?” he addressed his question to Evan. “Can we jump it?”
His grandfather gauged the distance. He was the oldest and probably the most likely to fall. To the left of the trail was a steep hill. To the right was a steep drop off.
Garnet told everyone to move back and with a running start he easily leapt the gaping chasm. With encouragement the other cousins took their turn until only Opal and the adults stood on the far side.
At under 5’ tall her legs didn’t cover the distance the others did. She stood uncertainly next to her grandfather, who was also feeling unsure.
“Okay,” he said finally. “I’m going next”.
He started off and when he got to the edge he put down his walking stick like a pole vaulter and gave himself an extra push. He landed safely on the other side with room to spare.
Everyone cheered his success. He turned around and waved at Opal to come on.
She gave a good run and wisely followed her grandfather’s example. Using her walking stick she gave herself the extra push that got her safely over the deep hole.
Evan and Eva quickly joined them and they continued on toward the waterfall. As they walked along the terrain gradually shifted and the trail climbed toward some steep rock walls. Garnet raised his hand to halt the group.
“Listen,” he told them. “You can hear the waterfall.”
Sure enough the sound of water splashing could be heard.
They approached a deep wash and descended into the canyon. They entered some trees and then climbed over some rocks, waded through a shallow stream and stood on a small beach at the base of Cattail Falls.
This oasis in the desert was a wonderland of ferns, oaks and cool, moist air. The waterfall was at least 40 foot tall, and due to recent rains it had a decent amount of water flowing down it.
Clifford searched the area with his eyes looking for animal predators. This pool of water in the middle of the desert was a watering hole for bears, mountain lions, and other cats.
Garnet checked his GPS; yes they had arrived at the cache location. Clifford got his grandchildren’s attention by clapping his hands.
“Okay, you saw the sign regarding mountain lions in the area,” he said. “We will stick together while hunting for this cache. Nobody goes off looking on their own today. Search for a likely location with your eyes and make a suggestion and we’ll all go look together.”
Off to one side a large clump of maidenhair fern grew on the rock wall near a boulder. Opal spotted it right away and suggested they look there first.
They followed her over to the fern and she used her walking stick to brush aside the fern. She was rewarded with a faint clink as the bottle was hit by the stick.
“I found it on the very first try,” she said happily retrieving the bottle.
“Either you guys are getting good at this, or your Grandmother made that one too easy,” Clifford joked.
Ava took the victory picture of them all in front of the falls. Opal passed the bottle to Garnet for him to open as the rest found seats for their snack and 15 minute rest break.
“Crystal gets to lead the next hike,” Garnet informed them; reading the note aloud. We will be doing the Lost Mine Trail, here are the coordinates: Latitude: 29.2757562 / Longitude: -103.25823.”
As they sat their eating and resting Clifford looked over his grandchildren. They were a handsome group. He was a very lucky man. He noticed that they had formed walk partners. Mica and Opal pretty much stayed together, as did Flint and Amber, while Crystal and Garnet paired off. He’d imagined the boys would stay together and the girls would too, but it hadn’t worked that way.
Clifford had taken a seat near the water’s edge and soaked his feet in the cool water. It wasn’t long until they’d all joined him. The rest break was longer than normal as they waited for their feet to air dry before putting their socks and shoes back on.
“Oh Ruby, my love,” Clifford thought with a sigh, “I wish you were here to share this time. The treasure hunt you created was a great idea. Our grandkids began this trip as strangers, but they are quickly learning to like each other.”
The group of weary hikers savored this rest in the cool canyon, but soon it was time to climb back up to the desert floor and make the trek back to the trailhead where Myron would be waiting for them.
That afternoon Amber suggested that they look around the gift shops instead of swimming. The guys didn’t want to shop and opted to swim in the pool. So the group split up. The females went shopping.
They wandered along on the boardwalk across from the mail office. They entered each and every one of the shops looking at the jewelry, pottery, clothing and cowboy apparel. When Ava, Crystal, and Amber got involved in trying on clothes, Opal lost interest and wandered on off. She left the store they were in and went next door to a shop called The General Store.
As she wandered the aisles looking at various items, a young man bumped into her, dropping the items he’d been holding.
“I’m sorry,” Opal apologized as she knelt to help him recover the spilled items.
“It’s okay, nothing’s broken,” the young man said smiled at her.
Shifting the items into the crook of his left arm the young man extended his hand and introduced himself.
“I’m Rocky Adams,” he said. “And you are?”
“Opal Warren,” she replied shaking his hand.
“Nice to meet you,” he said. “I’m here on a hiking trip. You here to hike or are you doing the resort activities like horseback riding or golf?”
She smiled up at him as he was at least a foot taller than she was.
“I’m here hiking too,” she told him. “We hiked the Cattails Falls trail today. It was lovely. Have you been there yet?”
Rocky moved toward the checkout counter to pay for his purchases and Opal followed him to continue their conversation.
“No, I’ll have to try it,” he said as he paid the clerk and picked up his bag of goods. He held the door for her to accompany him outside.
“The Trading Post over there has ice cream,” Rocky told her. “May I buy you a cone?”
Opal was flattered by this young man’s attention. She’d never had a boyfriend but she thought if she did she have wanted one just like him: tall, athletic and with well muscled arms. His sea green eyes set off his handsome face.
She looked around and didn’t see her cousins or Ava.
“Sure, why not?” she murmured softly and walked beside him into the store. They sat at a
table and chatted as they ate their chocolate cones.
Opal told him all about the vacation plans. He leaned back in his chair and listened attentively.
“We are hiking and when we get to the end of the hike we have to search for a cache that our grandmother hid for us,” she explained. “I found the cache today. Tomorrow we are doing the Lost Mine Trail.”
“Good hike,” he said, “The view from up there is wonderful.”
They finished their ice cream and parted ways. Opal hurried back toward the shops on the boardwalk and saw Ava hurrying toward her.
“Oh, there you are!” Ava said with immense relief. “You gave me quite a scare! You shouldn’t wander off!”
“I’m sorry,” Opal apologized. “I met this really cute young man and… well he invited me to have an ice cream cone at the Trading Post.”
“I know I shouldn’t have,” she hastened to explain, “but there are lots of people around. His name is Rocky Adams and he is here hiking too.”
She looked around to try and spot him. She wanted to introduce him to Ava and her cousins, but he was gone.
“I’m going to have to tell your grandfather,” Ava said. “Come on let’s drop our purchases at the room and go to the pool.”
Ava spotted Clifford swimming in the pool and waved him over to the where she knelt down to talk to him.
“I need to talk to you. I’m afraid I let Opal out of my sight while we were shopping.”
Clifford turned and hurried up the pool steps and followed Ava over to an empty table under an umbrella.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I got involved in trying on clothes with the other two girls. She wandered off and met a young man. He invited her to have an ice cream cone with him,” Ava said. “She is fine but I thought I should let you know. She says he told her his name was Rocky Adams.”
At the table next to them Mica’s ears perked up. He hesitated in the middle of his game, and his avatar got killed. He almost said, “I met Rocky too”, but remembered in time that he’d met him the night he’d snuck out of the room to go swimming. “I’d better not mention that” he thought and so kept quiet.
“There was no harm done,” Opal said walking up. “He never even asked me for my room number or cell phone number or anything like that. He was just being nice because he bumped into me, literally almost knocking me down.”
“Well, stay with Ava in the future,” her grandfather reprimand sternly. “Let me know if you see this Rocky person again. I would like to have a talk with him”.
“Yes Sir,” Opal said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t find a souvenir for my Mom in these shops. Can Ava drive us over to Terlingua?”
“What, you don’t think she’ll like the sewing kit?” he teased.
“I think I’ll keep that for my own souvenir,” she said with a smile, fingering her short locks.
“Well I have a better idea,” he replied. “We will all go!”
“Everybody out of the pool!” he called. “Let’s all get dressed and go visit a ghost town.”
That announcement got the boys moving. They quickly got cleaned up and loaded into the van. They headed north to Terlingua.
“Terlingua is an old mining town,” Clifford started sharing his knowledge.
“The Chisos Mining Camp used to mine quicksilver, or mercury as you’d probably call it today,” he continued.
“At one time the mine produced nearly half of the quicksilver produced in this country. But the mine closed in 1910 I think, and without the mine the town has become a ghost town. The whole town is on the National Register of Historic Places. It has a great cemetery with homemade markers for the miners who died there.”
When they arrived they wandered through the souvenir shops and then through an art gallery. Opal still didn’t find anything she wanted to buy. Her grandfather promised they would stop at the National Park gift shop before heading home.
Next they wandered through the old cemetery trying to make out the inscriptions on the markers.
When Garnet mentioned he was getting hungry, Clifford took them to the Starlite Theatre for dinner. They arrived early enough that they beat the crowd. It was a fun evening. A husband and wife duo provided live entertainment. They sang and played guitars as they wandered through the restaurant. The food was excellent and Ava got a great group picture in front of the old adobe Starlight Theater with a beautiful sunset as a backdrop.
Crystal was all primed and ready to lead the next day’s hike to Lost Mine. Since they were going to be in higher elevation Clifford had everyone bring along a jacket. After breakfast and pack inspection, Myron dropped them off at the trailhead which is at the rim of Panther Pass.
Sure enough the mountain air was cool and there was a brisk wind, so they gladly donned their jackets. This walk started out at a high elevation and went higher. Clifford knew they were going to gain around a 1000 feet in elevation but he didn’t warn the teenagers.
Crystal started them off at a brisk pace not realizing that these were gentle slopes compared to what was to come. After about a mile they reached a saddle overlooking Juniper Canyon.
“Off to the right there,” Clifford told them when they took a break to catch their breath, “is Casa Grande Peak.”
Some of the teens took this rest break as an opportunity to take off their jackets and stow them in their packs. The wind was dying down and it was warming up fast.
“The enormity of the canyon walls and mountain peaks is breathtaking,” Flint said coming to stand next to his grandfather. “I am so glad Grandma Ruby arranged this trip for us.”
His grandfather reached over and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “She’d be very happy to hear that.”
They continued on up the trail. As soon as they reached another level spot Crystal slung her backpack off and glanced upward toward the top of the trail. She untied the bright red bandanna she wore around her neck and used it to mop the sweat from forehead before it had a chance to run into her eyes.
“I call a rest break!” Amber hollered settling her bottom on a convenient rock and shrugging off her backpack with a sigh of relief. She enjoyed gazing out over the rugged landscape.
The group took the opportunity to drink and catch their breath. Most of them sagged on the ground with their eyes closed, just resting.
“There will be an amazing view at the summit,” Evan assured them. “But there is just as much beauty along the trail. If all you care about is reaching the cache your Grandma hid for you then you’re missing the point she was trying to make and the beauty of the hike.”
Crystal dug into her backpack and pulled out her GPS. “We still have a long way to go,” she thought to herself stuffing the GPS back into the pouch. She smoothed out her bandanna and retied it around her neck before shouldering her pack. The others scrambled to their feet and followed her example. She retrieved her walking stick and led off up the hill. Her cousins fell in and Evan brought up the rear as usual to make sure the group stayed together.
“Here’s a great overlook,” Crystal called as they reached the ridge of the hill. They all found places to sit and rest. “What a pretty view!”
“What is that flowering plant down there?” she asked pointing.
“It is commonly called a century plant. It’s another type of Agave. It can take these plants up to 50 years to bloom. Once it blooms the plant dies. The dead plant’s stalk provides homes for small birds for years to come,” her grandfather explained.
After a short break Crystal lead the way up a series of switchbacks. She focused on an outcropping of rock hoping that that was the end of the trail. Reaching the outcropping she once again checked her GPS to find they still had a ways to go.
From the outcropping the trail continued along the ridge which was thankfully nice and flat and had great views.
The trail ended abruptly at a peak where rock climbing skills would be needed to continue. The GPS s
aid they had arrived at the cache location.
They needed a rest before looking for the cache. Ava directed their attention to two Eagles soaring nearby. They rested and watched here as she spent a few minutes trying to capture the birds on film.
There was ample locations for hiding a bottle here. There were lots of boulders and a couple of scraggly trees nearby that somehow had managed to attach their roots into the cracks of the rocks.
The cousins spread out looking in the cracks and crevices and Amber found the bottle under a suspicious pile of rocks near the base of one of the trees. Once again Ava took a victory picture and then Crystal was given the bottle to open.
Crystal opened the bottle and read the paper inside. “Mica gets to lead the next hike,” she informed them. “It is the Windows Trail. Here are the coordinates: Latitude: 29.2810332 / Longitude: -103.3301769.
The group rested on the peak and enjoyed the view of Juniper Canyon and the South rim.
Reluctantly Crystal called, “Let’s go.” She led them back along the ridge and down the switchback. The trip back downhill should have been a whole lot easier, but soon a different set of leg muscles began to complain.
On the drive home from the day’s hike Mica took the opportunity to call his parents. He got his mother on the phone first.
“Mom, you know I’ve been wanting a dog,” he began. His grandfather gave him an encouraging smile. “They have some German Shepherd puppies here, and one of them hasn’t been sold yet. It is a female. She would make a great survivor reminder of this trip to Big Bend.”
He paused while his mother replied and he glanced toward Opal who gave him a thumbs up.
“Yes, I know Mom. Okay, put Dad on the phone.”
He repeated his idea to his father who had been prepared for the request by his wife before she handed him the phone.
“I can! Yes, I have enough money to buy the puppy and the supplies.” Mica grinned from ear to ear. “Thanks Dad. I will. Love you too! Bye”.
“Isn’t it great, they said ‘Yes’ and dad is going to see about putting up a run int the back yard.”
“Congratulations,” he grandfather said.
Mica subsided happily and began trying to think of a name for his puppy.