Big Bend: Day 5

On our final day of hiking the cumulative exhaustion of the week's hikes caught up with us. We thought about the possibility of doing two hikes, but we settled for only one. The Window hike takes us to the drainage point for the entire Chisos Basin. With the rock framing the view out onto the desert floor below some are reminded of a window, hence the name.

Some of these photos really show the smudge that developed on my camera lens. A lens cleaning kit will now be part of my standard gear and I'll check for smudges every day from now on.

Penny sitting by the sign marking the start of many trails in the Basin.	The small notch off in the distance is where we are headed.	The tall-stalked plant in the photo is a Century Plant. it blooms once during its lifetime before dying.
The Window trail was all downhill going out, and all uphill coming back into the hotel.	As we got closer to the Window the mountains started to loom over us.	Here's the Window. There is a huge drop off just beyond this photo and you can see the next rock ridge with another notch.
Trying to give you some idea about the drop off. We did not dare get too close to the edge as the rock was very smooth and slippery.	Penny poses by the Window.	Here I am by the Window.
Near the Window the trail often snaked around and over large rock formations. Here Penny rests at the top of a series of steps cemented into the rock.	Another shot of some of the steps on the trail.	Heading back to the hotel, which is at the base of Casa Grande above.