Big Bend

Big Bend turned out to be pretty neat, and we did quite a bit while we were there.  We stayed nine nights in three different locations – two down on the river and one up in the Chisos Mountains.  Once we left Lonesome Dove behind we stayed in the center of the Park.  The Chisos Mountains ae a 25-75 million year old volcanic intrusion surrounded by desert.  The campground is in a depression at the upper elevations (requiring a descent/ascent with 15% grades for the old cramper) and is really scenic.  We did two hikes a day out ofhere and all were well worth it.   From there we went to the east side of the park, and back down to river level.  We had two days where the car themometer read 100 degrees (but it’s a dry heat), so that slowed down the hiking somewhat.  Good photography though – for the half hour before sunset and the half hour after sunrise.  The rest of the time we followed the shade around the cramper and waited for the roadrunners to come by.  One bad thing about Big Bend is that much of it is only accessable on gravel roads that are not very good.  We missed out on a couple of places just because we couldn’t get there.

From Big Bend we took a whole day to get to Falcon Dam.  Spent a couple days there chasing birds and now we’re in Weslaco in the Rio Grande Valley.  Somewhere along the way we crossed the 100th meridian and are now back in the land of humidity (Stegner was right – imagine that!)  Good birding here and we’ll probably be here a week or so.  We got in last night just in time for the hundred year thunderstorm.  McAllen, just to the west of here got hit pretty hard with hail and flooding, but nothing right here.  We were in the cramper, so weren’t worried about tornados.

Santa Elana Canyon

                                                                                                                                                                                                         The Window

                                                                                                                                                                                                         Chisos Mountains

                                                                                                                                                                                                       In The Window

                                                                                                                                                                                                   Metamorphics

                                                                                                                                                                         The Goods

                                                                                                                                                  Delivering The Goods

                                                                                                                                                                      Black Hawk

                                                                                                                                                  Balanced Rock

                                                                                                                                            Scissortail Flycatcher

Deep in the Heart of…..

We’re down on the Rio Grande at the western entrance to Big Bend.  The park has really been interesting, but we’ve had three days of clouds and wind (yes, the trailer is tied down), so the photography has been pretty sparse.  This is the most isolated spot we’ve been.  If you don’t go into the park it’s an eighty mile dead end.  If you remember back to the town of Lonesome Dove, you’ll get the idea.

We spent a couple of days in White Sands up at Alamorgodo, New Mexico, and that was fun.  The dunes go forever and we had some good sunrises/sunsets so it was pretty productive.  We took a day and went up to Carlsbad Caverns, which might be my new favorite National Park.  We were in the cave for over five hours and saw lots of neat stuff.  I ended up deleting images off the front of the card so I could keep shooting.  (Maybe I ought to carry extra cards).  From there we went into Texas and Gualaloupe Mountains National Park.  We did some hiking but there’s a lot left to do.  This will be a good place to come back to.  Next we stayed at Ft. Davis, at the second worst campground in three years (even they will have to get worse to be in Homesteads class).  Ft. Davis itself is a Park Service unit, and they’ve done an excellent job of restoration of the 1859 fort.  The fort was home to the 10th Cavalry (Buffalo Soldiers) which spent a lot of time unsuccessfully chasing Apaches.

We’ll be in Big Bend for nine days at three different locations.  This is a pretty big park. Tomorrow we go to the center of the park to the Chisos Mts.  We had thought of floating the river, but it would have been an inner tube trip because the water levels are so low.  They’ve had an 18 month drought here, and right now this is a pretty sorry excuse for a river.  Good thing global warming is a myth.

Here’s some shots from along the way.

Middle Earth

West Texas Sunset

Montezuma Quail

Windy Portal

We are being held hostage by the wind, with gusts up to 50 mph today and the Interstate is closed.  Last night we came home from doing sunset I told Alice, “Well, at least the cramper didn’t blow away!” Just as we drove into our site here comes the camper guy to explain when he looked out the window of the office he saw the camper sitting sideways. The only thing that held it back from going to New Mexico was the water hose  attached to the faucet.  He had to pull it back with his golf cart.  Guess we were the talk of the campground.  It’s supposed to quiet down tonight, so hopefully we will head for Alamagordo, NM tomorrow.  Unfortunately, this CG isn’t paved, and there’s a lot of dust.  Here’s a shot Alice took from the cramper.

 

And here’s one of the Rec Center – we sit in here with Hawkeye and Trapper John.  (Note the hot tub)

 

I had never been to this part of Arizona before, and it’s really neat.  Portal is at the mouth of Cave Ck. on the east side of the Chiricahuas.  There’s lots of species of both birds and mammals and the scenery is spectacular as well.  Well worth a couple of days.  There are coatimundis here, but I haven’t seen one.

Arizona Woodpecker

Bridled Titmouse

Bewicks Wren

Lincoln Sparrow

Magnificent Hummingbird

Sunset, Chiricahua National Monument

Chiricahua NM

Chiricahua NM

Sunrise, Chiricahua Mts., Portal

Cave Ck. Canyon, Portal

OK, Gunfight at the Corral

All of a sudden, there they were.  Wyatt….Virgil….Morg….Doc, all coming up Allen Street.  These were tough men;  steel-backboned and hard-eyed.  Men born with the bark on.  Men to ride the river with.  One glance and you knew there would be no quarter in this final showdown with the Clantons and McClowerys. They were all business as they rounded the corner and stepped into the OK Corral and their rendezvous with death – and destiny.

Ah, the old west.  Living history.  If it didn’t happen that way, it should have.  Today we went to Cowboy Dollywood, aka Tombstone – the town too tough to die.  However a lot of the residents looked like they were on the Boot Hill work release program.  This must be where the NRA does its recruiting.  It was good for a few laughs though.  We combined it with a trip to Bisbee, an old mining town that has morphed into a new-age, crystal selling boutique.  At least we hit both ends of the tourist spectrum.

Most impressive was the San Pedro Riparian Area, 40 miles of the west the way it used to be.  Amazing what things can look like without bovines.  And it’s managed by the BLM !!!???

From here it’s more history – Cochise’s Stronghold and the Chiricahuas.  And then: I ran into and old geezer on a street corner in Tombstone who had an authentic map to the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine in the Superstition Mountains.  Nobody’s ever seen it before.  For $250 I couldn’t pass it up.  By the next post, we’ll be rich!

Coming Justice

Justice Served

Elegant Trogon

Western Screech Owl

Mexican Jay

Crowded limb – Coopers Hawk and Squirrel

Lesser Goldfinch

Gila Woodpecker

Black-throated sparrow