THE Trip, THE Encore' :: Big Bend National Park, East Side Hike, Trinkets, And - -

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

November 28, 2012

After our lunch, we decided to tackle the Boquillas Canyon Trail, which came recommended by the park staff.  As we drove to the hiking area we pulled off in a "viewing" area.  One of my finds there was this survey marker.  Out in the middle of no where, embedded in a hunk of concrete or rock, a bit of history.  No elevation??  Well, not the first time I walk away from a find shaking my head.

There is the Rio Grande River, and on the other side, Mexico.  The green belt only goes a few feet and then the desert and the 4 year drought take over again.  This was the most green we saw all day.

And what do we have here??

There are official signs posted to not purchase goods from the Mexican populace.  But, we got the feeling that the local residents on the US side just kinda look away when they find these trinkets.  In this area there were probably a number of "stores" set up.  Each has a note, or pricing of the trinkets and a "register" to deposit your $$ in if you should decide to purchase an item.  From what we could see, no sales had been made this day.

The 1.4 mile round trip starts by climbing what they call a "low" hill, then descending down to the edge of the Rio Grande River.  Your goal is to find the point where the Rio Grande disappears between the towering cliffs of the canyon.   The trail head for the Boquillas Canyon Trail, a typical trail, some "stairs" built with logs, sand, loose gravel.  Up we go - -

At the top of the hill, we look out to Mexico and the Rio Grande River:

A few more minutes of hiking brings us to another great view of the Rio Grande River, Mexico beyond.

As we descend towards the river and get closer to the canyon, what do we have here??  Yep, more trinkets.  Still no sales today.

Across the river, in Mexico, rests a canoe.

Story we heard is that Victor can and will sing any song for you, you tell him your request and he will sing away.  Victor was taking the day off when we were there.  Too bad, I gotta say, that it sounds like something just enough on the side of different, that I would have enjoyed it!

The walls of the canyon get closer and closer as we hike in further and further.  I am not the claustrophobic kind, but, this was a bit overwhelming at times.  The walls are soooooooooooooo tall.

This is as far as we hiked in, I believe this was the only flower we saw.  One lonely flower, yellow and bold!

On the way out of the canyon we walked a bit closer to the Rio Grande (ok, so, we temporarily lost the trail, shhhhh, don't tell!)  Look at the results of the long drought.

After we found the trail again we hiked out, watching the sun quickly drop out of the sky.  We would arrive back at Stillwell Store and RV Ranch well after dark, but, quite delighted with our hikes, lunch and the finds of the first day in Big Bend National Park.

We went back into the park the very next day, it was a totally different experience.




* Again, friend Linda comes to the rescue with the identification of the flower, she tells us it is a desert Black Eyed Susan.  Thanks Linda!

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THE Trip, THE Encore' :: Big Bend National Park, Drive East

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

November 28, 2012

After our little stroll through the flat desert we proceeded to head south into the park, heading for the Panther Junction Visitor Center.  We usually stop at the visitors centers at the national parks, they give us some maps, hints on what not to miss, suggest easy hikes, EASY, HAHAHAHA.

We pull off at a number of the displays, learning about the park as we go, camera shutters flying.  By the time we left Big Bend we were impressed by the drought, the immense size, the lack of visitors and the geology.

This second shot was at the same place as the one above.  Amazing how quickly the view and the rocks change.

Below, Man is standing on the rocks that are sticking out in the photo above, the sorta yellow colored ones.

I turned to shoot something else, he gave a shout, and look what he did!  Boys never grow up do they??

After our stop at the Visitors Center we headed east(erly), yes, off there in the distance is Mexico.

There is some pollution in the park, haze, caused by sulfates, organic carbons, nitrates and wind-blown particles.  The pollution comes from both the US, eastern Texas and from northeast Mexico.

Geology, look at that yellow, the stratus of color always takes my breath away:

Did I tell you Big Bend National Park is HUGE??

Another example of geology, the rocks sometimes look like they are little marbles and could come rolling down any minute, I am sure they do come rolling down sometimes.

We stopped for lunch in the picnic area near the Rio Grande Village, this sign was on every table.  We did not see ONE javelina.  Having lunched with them many years ago near Corpus Christie, when Man and I had to sit ON the picnic table, I was very happy to skip the experience again.

After our lunch we will head over to Boquillas Canyon where we had a "real" hike right along the Rio Grande River, and again it is the geology that is the main story, with a side serving of, well, come back and you will see - -




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