Leaving Big Bend, St. Elena Canyon via the OLD MAVERICK ROAD "shortcut"??

Kids at the base of Santa Elena Canyon

Rio Grande flowing through the canyon

We left the stunningly beautiful Chisos Basin Campground with mixed emotions.  As we were leaving we ran into our friends from British Columbia who were about to embark on the four hour hike to the "window", which is a narrow opening on the western side of the Chisos Mountains overlooking the vast Chihuahuan Desert.  Nancy-Jane had really wanted to do the hike but we felt we had already done a lot in Big Bend and did not want to push the kids to the limit with another long hike. 

As an alternative, I sugggested we drive to the southwestern corner of the park and take a short hike (1.7 miles round trip) into Santa Elena Canyon.  Nancy-Jane asked how long it would take to get there and I responded 46 miles.  Nancy-Jane then asked how long from the canyon would it take to get back to the park entrance...it turns out that would also be 46 miles on the same road.  "92 miles of driving to see another canyon?  Let's skip it and move on.", Nancy-Jane replied quickly.  "Well, there is this short cut from the canyon that is only 13 miles to the park entrance; it's called "Old Maverick Road"; I checked it out with one of the park rangers and he said it was fine for RV's and plus, I drove the same road back in 1988 with my buddy Chirs Robie when we visited Big Bend in college....I remember the road was pretty good!"  With that, I had Nancy-Jane sold on what would sure to be a pleasant trip to Santa Elena Canyon and a much shorter drive thanks to my "past experience" and the "ranger approved" Old Maverick Road. 

The 46 miles down to the canyon on the paved road was uneventful.  The hike into the canyon was fine besides the few hair raising moments when Will and Peter forgot they were perched on top of a cliff many hundreds of feet over the Rio Grande River whilst engaging in a mild shoving match.  Back in the RV, feeling good about making the trip to the canyon, we took a hard left onto Old Maverick Road where I smuggly pointed out the mountain range and the consequent miles of driving we were avoiding by taking this "short cut". 

Old Maverick statrted out nicely paved for about 200 yards where we transitioned onto a well maintained dirt road.  I'm thinking to myself that if we can average roughly 30-40 MPH on this road for 13 miles we will be way ahead of the game.  Shortly after that the washboard started sending massive shudders throughout the RV....well maybe we'll have to bring it down to 25 MPH.  The washboard then turned into downright ruts which jarred the overhead cabinets open dumping their contents onto the kids.  At this point my palms are beginning to sweat and the intense glare I am receiving from Nancy-Jane is not helping matters.  OK...let's bring it down to 10 MPH and see how the RV handles this Old Maverick.  At this point, what was a rutted dirt road gives way to a rock road as the local DPW decided to repair a washed out section of road with piles of rocks.  We are down to less than 5 MPH.....but there will be no turning back!  Too much pride is on the line....plus how much worse can it get?  What's this?  A dried out river bed crossing full of sand with a steep uphill section on the opposite bank.....you've got to be kidding me!  Nancy-Jane quickly quips, "So Rich...how do these RV's handle in the sand?  Did you read up in the manual on that?"  I dare not say a word for fear of losing concentration while I gently feather the accelerator hoping not to hear/feel the RV's dual rear wheels spinning in the sand.....please, please, please do not spin, fearing that getting stuck right here in a dried out tributary to the Rio Grande River could bring this wonderful trip to an abrupt end.  Phew, made it, now for the steep embankment.  Now, if I can make it over this without ripping off the sewer tank discharge pipe (which hangs down lower than the muffler) we'll be good to go....an odd thud comes from under RV as we crest the embankment, which I ignore under the premise that if the rig is still moving forward, you do not stop and you show no sign of concern to the passengers.  As the RV makes it over the embankment I am quietly elated and press on as if RV's cross sand filled riverbeds everyday.  The remainder of the Old Maverick Road proved uneventful but very slow.  It took us over 2 hours to cover the 13 miles after which I received a ration of well deserved ribbing for what turned out to be the longest shortcut of the trip so far!