Welcome to this fucking trail, home to brutally honest takes on Texas trails, hiking hilarity, and all things adventure-y. I’m your MC John and I’m here to warn you that this podcast is not for young children or anyone with a sensitivity to swears or strong opinions. And now over to the hiking hostess with the mostest, intrepid explorer, affirmed potty mouth, not to mention my wife, Gabrielle. Yep, that’s me.
Today is a Trail Intel episode, an episode that reveals all the down and dirty details of specific parks and trails. Is this place worth my fucking time? How many feet of elevation does the Permian Trail gain? How hard is it to navigate on Mexicano Falls and Big Bend Ranch State Park? Find out all this and more on our Trail Intel episodes. Today specifically, we’re gonna be talking about a big one. This trail has quite a reputation. A lot of people know about it.
We’re going to talk about Marufo Vega Trail. Yeah, I’m super excited for this one. This is one that you have been chasing for quite a long time and you finally were able to get done. Yes. Okay. Well, before we get too far into this, we have a favor to ask you. We’re having a ton of fun recording these stories and Intel episodes and everything that we’re talking about here. And we’re hoping that if you’re hearing this, you’re having a good time too.
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link in show notes and you can support the show more directly there. Now back to the damn episode. All right, so let’s talk about Marufo Vega trail. So what is Marufo Vega? It’s it’s the deadliest trail in Texas. Yeah, and that you know, that feels like a pretty pretty tall statement, a pretty tall order to to claim that title, but it it’s very solidly claimed it and held it over the years.
And I think, if you look at the geography and the weather in the area, it’s not too hard to see why it gets people. Yeah. So Marufo Vega is about a 13.5 mile trail. makes a lollipop loop in Big Bend National Park and it’s over near the Rio Grande Village area. It has an optional half mile to three quarter mile.
on where you can walk down to actually access the Rio Grande but for most people doing this trail it’s gonna come in at about 13.5 miles round trip. Over the course of all these miles you gain about 3,829 feet of elevation so nothing too too crazy. Nothing to sneeze at either though. Yeah I mean it’s definitely not easy but it’s not anything wild. Yeah.
So Marufo Vega is known for being a really strenuous, challenging hike because it is a longer trail, because the terrain is tough, and it’s really exposed. There is no shade on this trail, and it’s also incredibly remote. You’re not gonna see anybody probably when you’re doing this trail. It’s known for some really spectacular views of the Sierra del Carmen.
and the fabulous solitude that you’re gonna experience when you’re out on this trail. It’s named for a man named Gregorio Marufo, who once grazed goats along the Rio Grande. okay, I didn’t know that. Yeah, kinda cool. And Vega translates roughly to meadow or fertile plain or fertile lowland. And as you’re hiking this trail, you’re still going to see some…
cows, horses, and mules that graze in the area, even though they’re not supposed to. You can check out more about the animals that graze in Big Bend Park and their impact on the blog. have an article about that.
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Alright so Marufo Vega has a pretty terrifying reputation. It’s known for a very high number of search and rescue operations. More people die or need search and rescue on this trail than any other in the state. And this is true not just for rookie hikers but also for experienced hikers.
Yeah, didn’t somebody pretty well known pass away pretty recently on the trail? Yeah, a man named Richard Merrill passed away on the trail. Unfortunately, I don’t remember what year, but he was a very experienced hiker. He knew what he was doing. So this trail is dangerous for all types of hikers. Yeah, I don’t know if this is one that I personally would be super excited to do, given.
Kind what you have to go through to successfully do it. Yeah, there’s been from what I could find. There’s been about seven documented search and rescues on this trail since 1995. And what I could tell is in the beginning, when they when people first started needing search and rescue on this trail is there was more search and rescues and fewer deaths on the trail. And that trend has kind of flipped in the past couple of years where less people are calling for search and rescue and more people are actually dying on this trail.
there’s been about six deaths on the trail kind of the really scary thing is that there were back to back fatalities on this trail in 2023 and 2024. Yes. Yeah. And I mean, those have also been some pretty hot years here in Texas. And of course, as you mentioned, this being a trail that has just no fucking cover whatsoever.
Being down by the Rio Grande, one of the hottest areas in the state. Yeah, I mean, you can see you can certainly see what can get you out there. Yes, I experienced that firsthand. OK, well, so I’m assuming that you’ve got a list for me of like all the shit that will kill me on this trail. And I think that maybe it’s a good place to start for for kind of going through is talking about what?
What should we know if we’re if we’re going to do this? If I’m going to go out there and try to hike this damn trail. Yeah. How do I not die? So for starters, it’s a very strenuous trail. Like, I can’t emphasize that enough. The terrain is hard. It’s exposed. It’s hot. I personally didn’t find it hard to follow the trail. There’s a lot of cairns and where there’s not cairns, the path is very easy to follow. So I didn’t find the navigation to be hard. Well, that’s good. Yeah.
But it is physically challenging. There are sections that are pretty darn steep, both going down and coming up, and there’s some pretty rough footing. Would you describe the steep sections? Is it like steep hiking? Is it like a scramble where you’re sort of occasionally using your hands? Are there sections of like full on like you’re on all fours because… there’s no doggy style on this trail. There’s a…
Tiny bit of scrambling down through a canyon on the north prong section of this trail as you’re going down to hit the Rio Grande But not much And then the other climbs are just they’re steep, but you’re on your feet. You’re not needing to use your hands Okay, that’s that’s good to kind of clarify exactly Just how steep is it? Yeah, it’s a burner. I made a video
of my time on Marufo Vega. And if you listen in all the videos, you’ll hear me panting in the background. Yeah, I think I think I heard one of those play and I think while you were editing, it was just you breathing very heavily and I was just like, she sounds tired. Yes. it’s a video. So like we’ve already said, unlike I’m going to keep saying, it is exposed. There’s no shade whatsoever.
which means duh, this place gets hot. But I think it’s really easy to underestimate just how hot it gets. Well, how hot is it? I don’t know. I don’t know. I feel like I heard that somewhere one time anyways. Go on. How hot is it though? Really? It can get above 100 degrees easily in the summer. So this is the kind of trail that should really only ever be considered November through March.
You should not be hiking it outside of those months. Even in November, you may want to think about the weather. How hot is it actually in November? November is not a guaranteed safe month to hike it in. It depends on the year. It depends on how hot it actually is. I was going to hike this trail in November of 2024 and there was a fatality on the trail in October of that year. The park never really released any details.
as they released information about the search and rescue and the result of that search and rescue, they warned of the dangers of how hot Marufa Vega is. So I assume it was a heat related death. So I decided that it was still too hot to do it that year and I bailed on my attempt because it was still so stinking hot in November. Yeah. Yeah. That’s just sort of the hazard of living and hiking in Texas, right? It does get pretty warm, but
That’s especially true out in the Big Bend desert areas and move a big of courses like peak desert. Yeah, it gets really, really hot, but it also gets really cold. So I would say that your only guaranteed safe months are probably December through January. It’s probably not going to be too hot. Those are the two months that you can count on. Like I can do this safely. I did actually completed this trail in February of twenty twenty five and it was getting
really hot as I finished the trail. I actually had to start really early. I had to start it, I think it was 4 45 a.m. so that I could be off the trail by two o’clock at the latest so that I wouldn’t be exposed to so much heat. So even in February, it was crazy hot. Yeah, that’s like a real fucking alpine start for you. Some of them started at 2 a.m. I know, for Texas, it’s Texas Alpine. Yeah, yeah, like that’s like.
I don’t like to be out of bed before eight, so,
That’s pretty friggin early to get up and go hike it is and uh, how Do you remember how hot it got by the by the end of that hike like when you were getting off the trail? I think it was in the 90s upper 80s or 90s Uh, and I finished at about 1 30 pm. So that wasn’t even in the the hottest part of the day, right? Yeah, and that’s in february. So that’s just kind of I feel like that maybe gives people sort of a baseline expectation of
Why you’re emphasizing this so much. Yeah, I remember you saying it was hot, but I can remember how hot. Yeah, it was it was stupid. I was like, nope, I cannot be out on this trail at four o’clock or I’m going to fry. Yeah. So you really can’t underestimate this trail or there’s going to be consequences. There’s really no room for making any mistakes on Marufo Vega. You really do have to be on your A game. So I would say you really need to be in good shape to do this and to be a really experienced hiker.
Definitely not a trail for kids. I wouldn’t take our daughter on it. Yeah, even though I’ve Done it before and like theoretically everything should go smooth. I don’t think I would take that chance with her Yeah, I appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah, I’m a good mother Might not be the best wife in the world since I run off and leave you all the time to go hiking but now I do enjoy my alone time and I would definitely say it’s
Probably best to do with a companion or two or three probably not the best trail in the world to solo hike she said yeah, right Okay, so You’ve you’ve kind of alluded to this but you’ve got some history with this trail and I mentioned this before you’ve been Chasing a successful hike on roof of Vega for a few years now Despite people repeatedly dying on the trail
Your morbid fascination has only increased over time. And here we are. You did pull it off. And I didn’t die. You didn’t die. was I was periodically tracking your location via the Bivi. Love that device. Yes. So I tried to do this trail in January of twenty twenty three and I turned around because it was raining and it was freezing cold. And if I’m honest, I’m a little bitch. I got out there, I don’t know, two, two and a half miles.
My boots were soaking wet. I was sopping wet because even though was really cold, I was working really hard, so I was sweating and all of my gear. And I thought, 12 more miles of this? I don’t know about this. This seems like a recipe for hypothermia. So I turned around and I bailed. And of course, I was scared at the trail too. That was kind of in the beginning of…
my solo hiking days as well, so I didn’t quite have that confidence established. Right. Yeah, which is such a big part of it’s it’s like a double edged sword, right? You have to be confident enough to do it in order to successfully do it, but also not so confident that you gloss over dangers or mistakes. Right. This is definitely a trail you need to be willing to turn around on. Yeah. For many, many reasons.
And then like I said, in November of 2024, I was going to attempt it, but there seemed to be a heat related death in October of that year. So I decided not to. kind of when I was up there in November of 2024, I asked the Ranger about it and she just kind of shook her head and said, don’t. So I left it be. Fair enough. my most recent trip was a success. So I kind of want to walk through that so people can kind of know the steps that I followed.
since this was finally a successful attempt. Yeah, I mean, feel like it seems like the first part of the blueprint should be consider attempting it multiple times and giving up multiple times and then maybe you’ll succeed. Perhaps so. At the very least work up to it. But let’s talk more explicitly. What did you do this time that led to your success? Yeah, so…
This time I checked in with the Ranger, kind of asked him if there was anything I needed to be aware of on Marufo Vega. He seemed really hesitant to give me any information until I was like, I’ve been on it before. I’ve bailed on it twice. You know, I’m going to start at five o’clock in the morning, just give me like, any have any trial conditions changed? Is there anything new that I might need to know?
And so then he gave me the paper map that they have at the trail. Of course, I already had the map downloaded on Gaia. I already had the National Geographic map with me, but they have a paper handout that was nice as well. I had kind of thought about cashing water because this trail is a lollipop shape. It kind of goes out for about two, two and a half miles, and then it splits into a circle.
So I had thought about cashing water at that split. And so I talked to him about that and he said that cashing is not allowed in the park. I feel like he was alluding to water getting like stuff getting stolen. He’s like, it won’t last out there. So I’m not quite sure what that meant. Huh? Yeah, I find it hard to believe there’s a ton of water thieves out on Marufo Vega, but I guess what do I know?
Yeah, I don’t know. There’s a sign at the trailhead that says that there’s frequent break-ins to the vehicles in that area. I haven’t ever had any issues, but there’s definitely a sign there. So the Ranger told me to start really early and he said, to have someone call 911 if I hadn’t contacted that designated person by a preset time.
which we always do anyhow. We talk extensively about that and are creating an effective safety plan on our podcast episode. So I will link that in the show notes so people can reference that if they want. And then he asked me to, you know, to come back and to update them on the trail and let them know how it was if I finished when they were still open.
Yeah. Yeah, very good. So that’s, feel like a great outline for like how to kind of feel like take advantage is the wrong, it’s the wrong phrasing, but how to benefit from the presence of the Rangers. and also if you’re going to do something more challenging, how to have kind of a positive relationship with, the park and the people who are working there so that they know that you know what you’re doing and you’re not just going out there and causing problems for them. Yeah.
All right, so let’s kind of talk about the nitty gritty logistics of Marufo Vega. So this trail is located in Big Bend National Park on the eastern side of the park, like I said, near the Rio Grande Village. The trailhead is located on the right side of 1562. The road leading to the trailhead is paved, so you do not need a special car to get there.
That’s nice. Yes. Anybody and any sad little car can make it. If you I will say if you get to Boquillas Canyon parking lot, you’ve gone too far. You missed the parking lot. So the parking lot for Marufo Vega is also the parking area for ore terminal and straw house trail. this trail can be done as an overnight or as a day trip. know a lot of people backpack it, but I was planning to do it as a day trip.
feel like that could be kind of a rough back trap. Maybe it’s not so bad in the really cool months, I guess. It feels like what are you going to do in the afternoon? Like, you’re not going to want to hike through the heat of the day. So I guess you set up in the zero shade. I don’t know. People do crazy things. Yeah, I don’t know. I was kind of keeping my eye out to see, like, is there any good places to pitch a tent?
And I didn’t see any, but I’ve seen online that people talk about various places off the trail where it’s good to pitch a tent. So, okay. I don’t know that I would ever backpack it, but who knows what the fuck other people are doing. Yeah, exactly. All right. So let’s talk about the supplies that you need because there’s a there’s a little bit more that goes into this trail than to your average trail. So you need your 10 essentials, duh. But let’s talk a little bit more in depth about some of them.
So water is probably the most important thing on Marufo Vega. The recommendations from Big Bend National Park say to carry at least a gallon on this trail. I personally carried six liters. I felt like I was drinking constantly, like sipping constantly, but I actually only drank 2.5 liters throughout the course of the day.
I also carried water purifier and tablets since I was going to be down by the Rio Grande. You’re definitely not supposed to drink that water if at all possible because it’s some of the nastiest, dirtiest water out there. But I also. Logic doubt that, you know, if something happened and if for some reason I got lost or had to spend an overnight, then at least I would have a purifier and tablets for the worst case scenario. Right. At the very least, you could.
Do your dirt dirt is to disinfect and clean that water and keep yourself alive. Exactly. And I don’t normally carry a water purifier or tablets with me because it’s Texas and there’s very few natural sources of water out on the trail. So that was something that was a little different for this one. Yeah. Of course, you’re going to carry the satellite device such as a Garmin inReach or we use the Bivy stick. And I was checking in with you.
pretty frequently sending those check-in texts. So you could kind of track where I was and make sure I was still moving. Yeah, and that was very handy. I assume it works similarly with the Garmin or with any of other many devices that are out there, but the check-ins all come with a geolocation that appears on the map. So I can see that you’re making progress. And I could also see if you’re sending repeated check-ins without moving.
that I would start to get suspicious that maybe something was going wrong. Although, of course, you could just text me if something was going wrong. Yeah, we are going to do an episode covering all the details of using the Bivy stick and what it does. So stay tuned for that. Of course, you want to have a charger to recharge your phone and the Bivy if you need it. That’s really, really important on a longer hike like this. You’re probably going to need to charge up your phone. And then sun protection is really important on Marufo Vega. You need a hat.
a shirt like a long sleeve shirt and sunscreen at the very least. And this might sound a little funny, especially to Texans, because I’ve never seen Texans utilize this. But I would consider maybe taking, they’re called hiking umbrellas. I’ve nicknamed them sun umbrellas. But it’s basically an umbrella that helps protect you from the sun.
Because there is no shade on this trail if you’re hiking it in a month like I was in February where the temperatures are getting toasty I carried this umbrella My thought was that if I was out on that trail too long if I was getting into trouble with the heat I could use the umbrella to kind of bring that temperature down and get this the Sun off of my skin. Yeah
There’s a I’ve never used it myself, but there’s this from gossamer gear It’s called a light truck hiking umbrella and on the website It says it can lower the feel by up to 15 degrees and it has a UPF 50 plus rating So I don’t know if it’s all that but that seems pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah, I mean certainly one of the big dangers there is as the sunlight gets more intense as the Sun gets higher
in the sky, the impact of it becomes stronger and stronger. Right? Not only is the temperature going up, but that direct sun exposure is also hitting you more directly. And your, you know, your UV exposure is going up at the same time as the heat is going up. So you’re getting heat stroke, you’re getting sunburn, which is drying you out even faster. It’s all a whole compounding sequence of just bad things happening.
So I can see why you might want a ladies parasol as you strolled down the trail. Definitely want to have a waterproof shell, something to keep the rain off of you in case it does happen to rain, preferably in a nice bright color. So it’s easy for search and rescue to find you should you need to call for search and rescue. Obviously, you want to carry that first aid kit. Definitely an emergency blanket because this is a trail where
You might actually spend an unexpected night out there. Like the chances for spending an overnight on Marufo Vega that you didn’t plan to do are higher than a trail like, I don’t know, say Guadalupe Peak, simply because it’s more challenging and more remote. A lot, fewer people on it as well. Yes, you are. didn’t see anybody else out on that trail when I was out on it and completed it. I didn’t see anybody on it.
When I attempted it in January either so you’re just nobody’s gonna be out there to help you Yeah, and then of course you want to take your food lots of food extra food And then Think about what you want to do what you’re going to do if for somehow you get lost or if you have to spend an unexpected night out on the trail like I said your likelihood for this is a little bit increased over a lot of a lot of places that you might hike
So just spend some time thinking about that as you think about what gear you need to bring, what you need to pack, what you need to carry. Have that in the back of your mind so that you’re not completely fucked if you have to spend an overnight out there. Yeah, that seems like really good advice. It seems like from what you’ve said, my impression is that if you’re getting lost out there, it may be because you got dehydrated or you got too much sun exposure.
And so you certainly you want to be aiming to mitigate those two problems, because those are the things that even if they don’t kill you directly, might get you killed ultimately. Yeah. And then, yeah, to have something in mind in terms of how to get through the night. If you have to hunker down behind a boulder and and hide from the sun for the afternoon rather than trying to trudge. Trudge home through the sunstroke and.
Not having any idea where you’re going. Yeah. So let’s talk about the trail description now that we’ve thoroughly scared everybody and talk through doom, death and despair. Let’s get into describing the actual trail, shall we? Here’s what you’re going to be missing out on when you choose not to hike this trail because you’re not insane. OK, so for the first one and a half miles, it’s pretty flat. The route follows a sandy wash.
Sometimes you’re going to see mules, horses, or cows along this section and there’s almost always evidence of them, by which I mean poop. Yeah. In case anybody didn’t pick up on that. Yes, we do talk about poop. Yes. Lots of poop. Along this first stretch, you’re going to pass the remnants of a tower and a cable car, which are leftovers from the cinnabar mining days of Big Bend. History buffs can knock themselves out learning about all the mining that went on in Big Bend in the good old days.
You’ll see some trails branching off to the left. There’s one that branches off called Ore Terminal Trail and Straw House Trail. You’re going to ignore those and keep going on. After the first one and a half miles, there’s a really steep quarter mile climb up into the Dead Horse Mountains. All right, we got to got to pause. What the fuck are the Dead Horse Mountains and whose horse died?
So the Dead Horse Mountains are part of the larger Sierra del Carmen range. The name Dead Horse Mountains is commonly applied by Texas residents to the entire range on the Texas side of the river. OK, but whose horse died out there? Well, why do we care? There’s multiple theories, multiple ideas about where then the name came from.
Okay. So one story claims that in 1881, some Texas Rangers killed Native American ponies so that their owners couldn’t reclaim them. That’s a nasty story, but sadly believable. Yeah, yeah, certainly, certainly fucked up if true. There’s a second story that claims that two cowboys in the 1880s discovered a ramuda of horses trapped in the canyon there and were unable to rescue them. And for
any people who don’t know what a ramuda is, it’s a herd of horses that’s been saddlebroken and ranch hands choose their mounts for the day from this ramuda. I don’t even know if I’m saying that right. Ramuda? got nothing. I got nothing. I’ve never heard that word before. So getting some real old school cowboy terms here, but I’ll take it. Yeah. And I’ll just assume you’re correct.
And then there’s a third story that says that a government surveyor Arthur A. Stiles coined the name in 1903 after his favorite saddle horse fell to its death from a high cliff in those mountains. So nobody really knows which one of those is true or if a different story is true, but maybe they’re all true. Yeah, that’s kind of where the name came from. OK, so back to the climb. this climb is about a quarter of a mile long.
And it starts with what people call the crystal staircase, which is a bunch of glittering rocks underfoot. It’s really pretty in the sunlight. I think it might be quartz that you’re walking over, but it kind of looks crystal-y and it glints in the sunlight and looks really, really pretty. Very cool. After that crystal staircase, it gets a lot more steep as you go up into those dead horse mountains. The terrain is really rocky. There’s not much of a distinct trail.
but you kind of just follow the path of least resistance. You can see Karen’s kind of up at the top so you know where you need to go. When I did this trail in February, I was doing this section in the dark. And so I didn’t realize how steep it was until I came back down it in the daylight. And as I was coming down it in the day, was like, holy fuck, this is deep.
Can’t be afraid of what you can’t see, I guess. Yeah, it was great. I wasn’t suffering in the dark. It was, I don’t know, it was great. Must be nice. So after this climb, the trail’s a lot less steep until you hit the north and south fork split. So this is where the lollipop stick ends and the sucker part of the lollipop begins. So there’s a plaque that’s
been somehow attached to this huge boulder and it’s a signage for the North and South Fork split. So there’s an arrow for the South, an arrow for the North, and you get to decide which way you’re gonna go. I went North, that’s the longer prong, it’s 3.8 miles. So I kinda wanted to get that longer prong out of the way earlier in the day. I don’t know that it really matters all that much which way you go. You’re gonna see it all regardless.
So up until this point, the scenery’s good, but it’s not jaw dropping. Now, for a lot of the time that I was walking, it was dark so I couldn’t see a whole bunch, but I had been on a lot of that section in my failed attempt in January of 2023. So as I hit that North-South Prong split and I start taking the North Prong Trail, I was starting to get a little bit worried that Marufa Vega had been…
overhyped that like maybe it wasn’t as pretty as people said. It’s just an ugly killer. Yeah. I’m like, man, I’m working pretty hard here. Where’s the pretty stuff? All right. Well, let’s let’s continue on. You make it past the fork. You take the north, the north fork, the north prong. And what happens? Does it get better or is this?
disappointing podcast episode. It does get better. Okay. I don’t know how long I was going on the North Fork. Not super long. And then I see this little canyon. And as far as I can tell, the canyon doesn’t have a name. I did a lot of research trying to see if this canyon had a name. But it kind of opens up and drops down towards the Rio Grande. And the trail starts to go downward really steeply.
As I came up on this canyon and saw it, I couldn’t see the trail because it gets so dense and the terrain is so rugged. But I knew like you have to, go down towards the Rio Grande. So I knew were going to, I was going to have to walk through this canyon somehow to get down to the Rio Grande. And that was pretty fucking spectacular. Yeah, that’s awesome. This is where there was a little bit of scrambling.
through the canyon. I had to use my hands a couple of times, but it was nothing that made me nervous or made me feel unsafe. There’s these big cliffs up on either side. Of course it feels like you’re the only person in the world. You’re so far away from everything and there’s no sounds of any kind of civilization around you.
And it was really quiet when I came up on it, like the wind wasn’t blowing. And a lot of a lot of times when I’ve been out in the Big Bend region, it’s really windy, but there wasn’t any wind. So it was just very, very quiet. That sounds very nice. I can see why you enjoyed this this part of the hike so much. Yeah. When I saw that canyon, I was like, oh, this is why people hike Marufo Vega. Yeah.
So you go down through the canyon that’s really steep and then the trail continues to descend more gradually towards the Rio Grande. The canyons opened up a lot at this point, but you still have some really fun cliff faces to look at, some steep cliffs. Here, I don’t know why, but I kind of felt like I was being watched as I got out of the steep narrow section of the canyon.
I just got this creepy feeling that I was being watched enough that I actually pulled out my bear spray and took the safety off of it and was kind of looking around to see like, there a mountain lion looking at me? And I felt kind of creeped out for a good 10 minutes as I kept walking, but I never saw anything.
Yeah, so that’s that’s one of those things where. You never know if you’re right or if you’re wrong, but there are definitely mountain lions out there in the Big Band region and. You know, a cliff, a kind of a trail below some cliffs is like prime mountain lion hunting territory, right? They love to drop on their prey, if I remember. Yes, the way they kill is they jump on the next.
of their prey and break their vertebrae. So if you ever get attacked by a mountain lion, do not let it get towards the back of your neck or you’re going to die. Good to know. Good to know. Keep it in front of you, which I think I would have wanted to do anyways. Indeed. But yeah, good. I feel like it was good instincts to pull out the bear spray. Obviously great to have that. And that’s kind of one of those things that’s not necessarily an essential, but just really good to have and to
to know how to use properly. Yeah, I mean, why why wouldn’t you carry it like if you’re a little bitch and you’re scared of carrying an extra half pound like by all means face the bears, the mountain lions, the people, have a Lena’s, whatever else you might encounter without any kind of defense. But bear spray is going to work on any type of. Predator animal person like it’s going to stop them all in their tracks and anything with
with eyes or nasal passages is going to just absolutely hate life if they get a face full of bear spray. Yeah, and I don’t have to be that good at deploying it for it to be an effective tool, which is also great in those those scary circumstances where you don’t want to have to be highly trained and accurate to have to use something. Yeah, there’s no real aiming involved. It’s just point and spray. Exactly. But yeah.
this creepy watched feeling a couple times on my hikes and this feeling just, it kind of hits me out of the blue where I’m like, I’m being watched by something. I have two other instances where I’m pretty sure something was watching me and I can’t tell you what was different about it, but you just get that feeling that something is watching you. I would be so interested.
if they can figure out like what if researchers can look into and figure out what is it that kind of puts your hackles up? What triggers us to kind of go? I’m being watched. Yeah. Yeah. It feels like one of those things where there’s probably some subconsciously noticed triggers, you know, something, some movement that you can’t even consciously put a finger on. like,
a shadow in the wrong place or you know some some movement where there shouldn’t be movement or it’s got to be something. Yeah. Yeah. But.
Nonetheless, a good good feeling to respond to as you did. Yes. All right. So I continued down towards the Rio Grande and the Rio Grande wasn’t so grand this time when I was down by it. It was really small. You could have waded across it. I kind of sat there and and thought a lot about the water situation in Texas and Mexico. And I thought about borders and
kind of just reflected on what does this river represent? And was really sad that it was just so, low. Yeah, I saw some horses, mules, some cows on the Mexican side of the river grazing there. And this section of the north prong of Marujo Vega just kind of parallels the Rio Grande. So along this section, it’s relatively flat. It’s easy to follow. The footing isn’t too challenging.
so it was it was a nice little cruising part of the hike very nice. Very nice good views out there. the views were Okay, like once you get down to the rio grande you’re just kind of looking at the river and it’s There’s quite a bit of vegetation down by the river. I think it’s would probably be a little bit more exciting when the river is More healthy, You know, it’s it’s not all that pretty to look at some
what do you call it, when the water gets really nasty, like sludgy, overgrown, like lots of vegetation in the water. Okay. So it just wasn’t super duper pretty. Unfortunate. Yeah. At about eight miles into this hike, I realized I was going to complete it because at eight miles, there’s no reason for me to turn around. I have to keep going to make it out. So that was super exciting when I kind of realized, my gosh, I’m more than halfway through this hike.
I’m going to do this. I’ve been working on this for a long time. This is so, so exciting. But I kind of tried to suppress that really quickly. I started getting real high and real excited. And then I was like, wait a minute, hold on, hold on. I got to keep my focus. I can’t relax. I can’t let my guard down. You know, more people die coming down from Everest than do on the way up. So you’ve got to keep that focus. Which is one of those
weird and like incredibly depressing bits of trivia about sort of like mountaineering, of which there are all too many. Yes. So I made sure to maintain my focus, making sure that I was drinking, sipping my water frequently, eating, like forcing myself to eat frequently, applying my sunscreen at least every 90 minutes. Like there’s no room for mistakes on this trail. You can’t let yourself get dehydrated.
get low on calories, get started to get sunburned because that sets you up for disaster. So the section of this trail that parallels the Rio Grande is about one and a half miles long. And like I said, it’s really easy hiking right there. Once you complete the North Prong, you hit the South Prong. And for me, since I had come via the North Prong, the South Prong was a climb up away from the Rio Grande. Right.
Yes, the best part of any climb, the up part. Yes. So climbing up from the Rio Grande via the South Prong was hard. The trail was rough. There’s a lot of rocks underfoot. It was incredibly steep. Really, really tiring.
I think if I had to make a judgment call, would say coming down through the canyon on the North Prong is probably steeper than it was to ascend up the South Prong, but it’s close. Not a clear winner for either direction then, just sort of whatever you feel is right. There’s really good views as you’re going up the South Prong away from the Rio Grande. Make sure that you turn around and look
behind you because the views from that point are incredible. the mountains are just rippling out across Mexico. You see the river. It’s phenomenal and super, super beautiful. It sounds like the river maybe looks a little better from further away. It definitely does. Once you can see less of the vegetation around the river and the nasty water, it looks much more pretty. And you see it kind of winding like a ribbon through the landscape. Yeah. Yeah.
And in your heart gonna have lots of opportunities to turn around and look as you need to stop and rest and pant going up the South prong. Yeah. Well, perfect time then sounds like that actually is kind of a winner. It’s better to climb up there because at least you have really good views as you turn around. Yeah. Although I guess in the canyon, you’d have the same thing. So yeah, whatever way you decide to go, whatever you ascend, whether it’s the South prong or the North prong, make sure to turn around and look behind you because you do not want to miss those views.
on south or north and you’re gonna need the rest for sure. once that steep climb is done, you’re back up in the Dead Horse Mountains and again the trail becomes relatively flat and there’s still some really great mountain views all around you. Pretty much 360, there’s beautiful mountain views. Just make sure that you don’t join those dead horses and wander off a cliff because your head is on a swivel. Yeah.
Again, I made a video of my hike on Marufo and it shows all the pictures and videos of this area. So be sure to check that out in the show notes because this is a trail you’re gonna wanna see. Even if you’re not gonna go hike it yourself, you wanna see these views, at least in video or in picture. So like I said, navigation on Marufo Vega was pretty easy for me up until I hit the north-south split. So coming on the south,
prong towards that north-south prong split, I did briefly get turned around. Once I was back at the boulder that had the signage on it, there is a wash, like an old riverbed, and so it looks like, and it’s pretty clear, not a lot of growth in it. And so it kind of looked to me like, you just walked down the riverbed for the trail. So I started to do that.
But I quickly realized that there was no cairns in the riverbed. And so I’m walking looking for cairns and there’s no cairns. And I stopped probably less than a quarter mile, turned around and went back to the boulder that has the North South signage on it, turned around and started to look for cairns. And so that I did find it, the trail is slightly to the left of the riverbed. And once you get on the trail, it’s very obvious, very easy, and there’s lots of cairns, but just be careful.
that don’t follow the riverbed when you if you go north prong to south prong. Yeah, that’s a super good note. And I think also
Like a great example of one reason that I really trust you as a solo hiker is that you are not afraid. Well, A, you stay alert to what’s around you and B, you’re not afraid to stop back up to where you know where you are and then sort of relocate yourself. Or maybe I should say you are you’re afraid of the opposite happening. You’re afraid enough of getting lost that you’re totally OK with backtracking to a point where you know where you are.
and then sort of re-figuring out from there. I think it’s all too easy, especially toward the end of a long hike, to either get overconfident or impatient and just be like, no, no, no, I’m sure this is the right way. If I just go a little further, I’ll figure it out. No, you won’t. If you just go a little further, you’ll die. Yeah. Yeah. Or get, you know, call, have to call for search and rescue or something. Something bad will happen. Yeah. Trying to force your way down when you’re not
Sure that it is the trail is never the answer. So that’s a good note So shortly after Relocating the trail I got back to that really steep quarter mile it was now at this point a decent down to the crystal staircase and that’s when I realized just how steep this descent was I was like how did I make it up this without dying because it
Like I was working hard and panting, but it didn’t feel like death, like coming up the South Prong did. Yeah. It was actually really hard to descend because it’s so steep and rocky that keeping your footing is really hard and switch backing frequently. Yeah, I was going to ask how the footing was, especially coming down. I feel like it can be deceptively bad on sort of a. Even if it’s like solid rock, there tends to be a lot of loose.
kind of gravel and pebbles and things that can kind of throw your footing off and coming down is where I’m more afraid of falling. Absolutely. the rocks weren’t pebbly, but they were big and blocky. And so I was actually kind of worried about spraining an ankle on him. that was a challenge to get down it. But once I was back down there, then I was back on the mile and a half of flat trail to get back to the car. And that was really easy.
At that point, it was about 12 o’clock in the afternoon and it was fucking hot. I had been in a tank top up until this point. But once I got down on the flat section of trail, I decided I needed to break out my long sleeve shirt. I just wear this cotton button up that I got from Goodwill for like four bucks. It’s phenomenal for hiking in the heat.
So I put that on to protect my skin because I felt like I was getting roasted even though I had my sunscreen on. Yeah. I didn’t need it, but I did pull out the umbrella just to try it out and see how it was and to feel silly. And that was kind of fun. I didn’t feel like it made a huge, huge difference in the temperature, but that may have been just because it’s a regular umbrella and not really designed to protect you from the sun.
Right. Yeah, it’ll keep the rain off. It won’t keep those UV rays from hitting you. Yeah. And it was I think it was really easy to see how people get into trouble on this trail. once I kind of started to experience the heat of Marufo Vega, I thought of OK, if I was back, you know, halfway back on this trail and was feeling this, this I could I could see how I could get into big trouble and very quickly become dehydrated.
Heat exhausted leading into heatstroke like it felt Very real once it got hot. I was like, okay, I Feel like I understand how people can underestimate this trail and or get into trouble on this trail Yeah, given what you’ve told me about the terrain and obviously just the total lack of cover from the Sun and how hot it gets even in
months that people think of as cooler months. You know, once you get into mid afternoon in Texas in the desert, especially down that way down south where this is. Boy, those temperatures climb quick. They really do. You know, at 10 o’clock I was fine and then by noon I’m like, damn, it’s hot. So I I agree with you. I can see how you could end up in
pretty bad shape, no matter how much water and food you have with you. It’s hard to fight the sun. at a certain point if you get dehydrated, it’s very difficult to rehydrate out in such heat and you have factors like gastric emptying time. Like you may not be able to rehydrate yourself even if you have enough water. Yeah, especially if you’re still trying to keep moving and actually getting off the trail. Yeah.
Everything is fighting against hydration at that point. So yeah, I’m very glad that you were smart enough to leave super early and hike a lot of this before it got hot. Yes, I am very, happy about that decision. So it took me six hours and 48 minutes to complete Marufo Vega. So my average moving time was about 30 minutes per mile.
the trail really forced me to be on my A-game, which I really enjoyed that about the hike. I was dialed in on all aspects like navigation, hydration, food, and sunscreen, and so that was kind of a fun challenge to stay so alert and make sure that I was taking care of my body. When I got back to my car,
I was kind of sitting there changing out of my trail shoes into some sandals and stuff. I, couple pulls up into the parking lot and they’re looking at the trail head and the signage and like, how long is this one? 14 miles. And they’re talking to each other. And I was like, these fools better not go do this trail. And so I’m kind of watching them really closely. they have a, large bottle, but only one bottle of water between them and they’re talking and they finally decide they’re not going to do it.
I was prepared to go run them down and be like, hey, guys, you probably shouldn’t do this. And if like you insist on doing this, you should take like six more bottles of water. Yeah. But they decided to be smart. But I was like, my gosh, am I about to see some people start this trail in the heat of the day thinking that they can complete this 14 mile loop starting at like one thirty two o’clock in the afternoon? Yeah. In ninety five degrees. Yeah.
Well, I’m glad they made the right decision. Me too!
But again, just highlights how easy it is to to make the wrong one out there. Yeah. That’s Marufo Vega trail in a nutshell. What I’m taking away from this is that there are some parts of it that I would really love to see, but also. Gosh, it sounds like a pretty challenging hike, and certainly right now I know that I’m not in condition.
for hike like that, I’m still kind of reconditioning post knee surgery and I cramped during our hour long workout the other day. Is it so based on what I’ve described to you, is it a trail that you would want to do? Would you add it to your bucket list or is it a trail that sounds cool but you wouldn’t actually ever do? I think it’s probably one that sounds cool.
but I’m unlikely to ever pursue doing because the downside risk is high enough that for me as someone who does enjoy nature. There’s not quite enough of a reward there to justify that level of down to risk. I’m not sure. Like if anything labeled deadliest, whatever, if there’s ever enough there to justify the downside risk for me.
I’m a pretty conservative, pretty conservative soul when it comes to to taking those risks. I like to joke always that I like my my danger at a medium level. And this Marufo Vega definitely strays into the high level of danger. And I think that probably is is the sign for me that maybe this is one best left to the professionals like yourself. Well, thank you, darling. Indeed. Nonetheless, it’s very cool to hear about.
And I love all the pictures and videos that you bring back from trails like this. And I enjoy getting to see those. And there’s plenty of other gorgeous trails that are much more accessible and less deadly that I’m happy to enjoy. That’s true. OK, any final thoughts or takeaways for people from you? I was super happy to have completed it. I don’t know that I will go back and ever do it again. I think it might be a one and done.
Checked it off. Yeah, I think if you are an experienced hiker who has thoroughly thought through everything and is going in a month where it’s not stupidly hot, it might be a great trail for you. But for anybody who is inexperienced, new, uncertain, injured, not on their A game, definitely not a trail to attempt. Yeah, this is one of those few, trails, I think.
that you’ve hiked and we’ve talked about where you would say loved the trail, probably wouldn’t recommend it for most people. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. This is a dangerous trail that should only be taken on by very experienced, meticulous and thorough hikers. OK, all right. Well, that is Marufo Vega in a nutshell. Deadliest trail in Texas. Checked off the list.
I guess that’s the end of this episode of this fucking trail. Thanks for hanging out with us and we’ll see you next time. Happy hiking!