Hike Casa Grande Peak and Lost Mine Peak Big Bend National Park, TX

Feb 25, 2022 — After wrapping up Emory Peak and downing my regular dose of too much caffeine, I was feeling excellent and wanted to add another hike onto my day. I knew there were routes to both Casa Grande Peak and Lost Mine Peak, so this felt like a pretty safe option. I didn't realize I'd have a notable amount of bushwhacking that slowed me down a lot on the way to Lost Mine Peak, resulting in my return to the car after dark. The Lost Mine Trail is a popular hike in Big Bend National Park and it wuld serve as a good access point for reaching these peaks, but its terminus is at a gorgeous overlook, not any summit. I started along this trail after luckily snagging a parking spot at the undersized pull-out.

My initial plan was to head up to Lost Mine Peak first so that I could descend from Casa Grande Peak's steep descent route, but with the potential for dark I decided I'd rather be on the trail for the way back. Ultimately it really didn't matter which peak I did first because Casa Grande Peak was quite steep from both my ascent and descent routes. I was really happy to learn that the peak has a social trail so well-carved that it might as well be an official trail at this point. Anyway, a few minutes after starting along the Lost Mine Trail I noticed a cairn on the right, which would serve as the route up to Casa Grande Peak's east ridge. It was a very easy to follow social trail, but the going was steep. It wasn't even all that loose somehow (with a couple of short exceptions, of course). I was actually happy I ascended this way, since the east ridge of Casa Grande Peak (my descent) was more loose.

Once I reached the east ridge of Casa Grande Peak, I merged with the more obvious ridgeline social trail which continued just as steeply toward the base of the peak's foreboding cliff band protecting the summit area. There was some very steep scree and a section that's been eroded to the point where it's not fun in any way, but it's short-lived. The social trail continues through a notch formed by two small rock outcroppings and emerges on the south side of Casa Grande Peak's summit, never exceeding Class 2. A quick walk to the summit and I had some excellent views, especially toward Lost Mine Peak to the east. There's also a slightly lower point north of the summit area that has a really cool perspective down into Chisos Basin and it's worth the slight effort to check it out.

I backtracked along Casa Grande Peak's east ridge, following the obvious social trail all the way until it merged with the official Lost Mine Trail. I took this excessively switchbacking trail all the way to its end, where I was treated to more outstanding views. While the end of the trail is anticlimactic in terms of summiting anything, I chose to hang out for a bit to take in the views from the cliff top that marked the official trail turn-around point. The Chisos Mountains are delightful.

Next up would be Peak 7082 on my way to Lost Mine Peak. To reach these two peaks I backtracked along the Lost Mine Trail and left it when I reached the spot where it started to descend, heading north into the brush instead. I passed a bunch of nasty toilet paper littered just off the trail and then continued through some mildly unpleasant bushwhacking as I made my way to Peak 7082's summit. This undertaking wasn't too bad, but I was honestly very surprised that no social trail existed at all, especially after experiencing Casa Grande Peak and its nearly official-looking trail. Peak 7082 has a false summit that is labeled incorrectly on maps as the high point, while the true high point requires a short dip to the north and then reascent on Class 2 scree up a gully to gain the summit. It's a bit of a brushy undertaking, but worth it for the extra peak, and also to see the excellent perspective toward Lost Mine Peak's colorful pinnacles/cliffs. My understanding was that Peak 7082 could be a soft-ranked peak, but according to my GPS it is a bit over 300 feet of prominence.

I bushwhacked down Peak 7082's southern slope to its saddle with Lost Mine Peak and started up the somewhat unpleasant brushy slope that would be scary in the hotter months due to the potential for snakes. I basically hugged a major rock outcropping for a few hundred feet as I ascended the slope, kicking thorny branches out of my way for 15 minutes or so, and then the peak's summit block came into view. There are twin points that characterize the summit, but the western one is higher. To reach the summit, a Class 3 chute ascends to the notch separating the two high points, but this chute is hard to locate because it's hidden by a rock fin. I actually ascended a Class 4 crack on the eastern (lower) summit block and only noticed the chute after seeing it from above, but I excluded this from my attached map. The chute is on the left side of the fin and leads up to the notch (Class 2+). From the notch, a short Class 3 climb on big boulders stacked together like legos took me to the summit and its gorgeous sunset views of Big Bend National Park.

I backtracked along the southern base of Peak 7082, the occasional animal trail helping a little through the brush. Once on the Lost Mine Trail, I jogged quickly back to my car, the last person on the trail for the day.