Skookum Traveler: Big Bend National Park (TX)

Chisos Mountains.

54. “Croton Mountain”: Day Three at Big Bend (January 19) was to be a mellow one, a semi-rest day, though I hoped to still get up an easy summit somewhere. I’d set my sights on Cerro Castellan, a dramatic steep-walled peak visible from great distances across the desert. My research suggested there was a steep but doable scramble route up the east face, maybe 2-3 hours round trip. When I got there, it looked harder than I’d imagined and I let it go, fearful of breaking an ankle or bonking my bean or some other body part that might leave me stranded with no likely rescue. In hindsight, I now wish I’d given it a go and simply turned back if the going got tough. But I’d already burned up much of the day traipsing around the desert, visiting the narrows at Santa Elena and Tuff Canyons. If I was to bag a summit, there would be no time left for an alternate if Cerro Castellan didn’t go. So I moved on. What a wuss.

Driving north along the Ross Maxwell, I spied several small mesa-hills that I thought might do the trick, but most seemed either too small and dainty to count or too big and hulky to ascend in the time allotted. I finally landed at a little mountain next to Croton Spring, an easy walkup to be sure. I clambered up its 400-foot high eminence, which was like climbing a giant heap of loose bricks and baseballs (it was volcanic), and waved my sword at the top, decreeing Croton Mountain as my 54^th summit. I celebrated a couple hours later by ordering up a burger and brew at the Chisos lodge restaurant/bar and watching my Seattle Seahawks eke out a victory in the championship game against San Francisco.

Miles (RT): 1.0 miles; elevation gain: 400 feet
Cumulative mileage and gain: 251.4 miles / 65,250 feet