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Published: January 18th 2014
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Saturday, 18 January, 2014
Sorry, I got way behind, but we’ve been out of cell phone and wifi reach.
On Wednesday morning we left Uvalde and headed west on Highway 90. We drove through Del Rio, then past Amistad NRA. The water there was a gorgeous blue. We saw along the way some pronghorn antelope and some big horn sheep. We stopped for the night in Marathon, TX.
Thursday morning we headed for Big Bend National Park. We stopped at Panther Junction at the visitor center and the post office, then drove east to Rio Grande Village where we enjoyed nice, hot showers. Then it was back past Panther Junction and on to Chisos Basin campground. We found a fairly level spot and set up without problem. We spent an hour or so sitting and soaking up the afternoon sun, trying to bake out the last of our colds. Just as the sun was starting to disappear over the mountains, we went to the Window Trail to see if we would see sunset through the Window, a beautiful break in the surrounding mountains. It’s the wrong time of year for that angle, but the view through the window
was still pretty special.
Friday morning we saw 3 Carmen Mountains white-tailed deer come through the campground. Chisos Basin is the only place in the USA where these deer are found. After breakfast we drove the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to Castolon, in the SW corner of the park and right on the Rio Grande River. We then drove to Santa Elena Canyon, where the Rio Grande has cut through the mountains. Of course, only half the canyon is in the US, the other half is in Mexico.
Big Bend is such a magical place. It varies from desert to mountains to river valley. The colors are awesome, from pale yellows and white to pink, lime green, reds, browns and nearly black. The mountains have such diversity, too. They are sandy, boulder-covered, smooth, cactus-covered, rounded, flat-topped, pointed, and rocky. The river as it flows through the Santa Elena Canyon is green in color, and for the first hour I was there was smooth as glass. The water was steadily moving, but the mountains on the other side were reflected perfectly in the smooth surface. Once the breeze picked up, that mirror image was gone.
This
nearing Big Bend
Has anyone seen a dragon?
morning, Saturday, we came out the west end of the park , through Study Butte (pronounced stoody byoote) and north to Alpine. From Alpine we drove west to Marfa, where we had planned to stay the night so we could see the famous Marfa Ghost Lights. We stopped at the viewing center to find out if the chances of seeing the lights are better at some times than others, but no one was there. We went to the Marfa Visitor Center, but no one there either. So we said goodbye to Marfa and drove north to Ft. Davis, where we hope to go see the evening program at UT McDonald Observatory.
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Mark
non-member comment
What beauty!
Beautiful country. What a contrast to the ICW. Safe travels. Mark & Linda