A sampling of the highlights from my trip to Big Bend National Park during President's Day weekend in 2008. Drove down the Ross Maxwell scenic drive towards the Rio Grande and the Santa Elena canyon. Enjoyed a nice, albeit short hike along the Rio Grande into the canyon, and then settled in for the night at the Cottonwood campground.

At sunrise on Sunday morning, I proceeded to head back up the scenic drive, stopping at the Mule Ears viewpoint and spending a couple hours hiking down the trail there. Afterwards, returned to the Panther Junction visitors center to secure a permit for a backcountry camp site along the Pine Canyon road. Before making camp, however, I enjoyed a very nice, scenic, 4-mile round trip hike up Pine Canyon itself.