Sunday, November 13, 2011

November 11-12, 2011

Big Bend National Park

Thirty eight mile drive through desert to reach the northern entry station of the park.  Twenty five more miles at 45mph to reach the visitor center in the center of the park.  Twenty one more miles to reach the campground on the banks of the Rio Grande River.  Nice oasis in the desert.  Actually used to be the location of a decent sized farming operation with extensive irrigation. IMG_0030002

Road runner in campground

In the afternoon we drove to site of a former hot springs ‘resort’ and then the other direction to an overlook of the river.

The ‘Grande’ part of ‘Rio Grande’ must refer to the length of the river.  Certainly not the width or depth.  The Pecos river was much more impressive than the parts of the Rio Grande we have seen.  Both spots we saw today could be crossed by wading ten to fifteen yards and not getting your knees wet.  Mexican nationals do it all the time.  They wade over and leave an assortment of trinkets on a prominent rock along with a price list and a receptacle for money.  Some of them sit on the other side and watch the action at their ‘tables’.  I had pictured that a river that was the border between two countries would be more substantial.  The Feather, American, and Sacramento rivers are far more impressive.  There is one place that is very impressive  but the smallness of the river was the eye opener.

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Hot spring in foreground.  Not very inviting.  Rio Grande just beyond.

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Rio Grande River.  Note Mexican leading horse.

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‘Merchants’ coming to check on their wares.

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From overlook.

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This kid did not want to get his feet wet.

On Saturday we drove the rest of the paved roads in the park and twenty mile section of unpaved back road.  The key word in ‘Big Bend’ is BIG.  This place is vast.  Large expanses of desert with mountain ranges and isolated peaks popping up everywhere and plateaus dropping dropping to desert plains with rivers (mostly dry) running through them. 

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Vast

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Plateau overlooking river valley.  Note notch in plateau beyond.

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Note the notch

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Mexico on the left.  USA on the right.  Rio Grande River in the middle,

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Interesting what a little (a LOT actually) sand, water, and time can do.

 

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This abode is in the middle of the desert.  We were twenty miles into a gravel back road.  The man who lived here did ranching and farming.  He had several wives and many children.  He died in this house at the age of 108.

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Formation called ‘The Window’.  Looking into the desert from within a mountain range in the middle of the desert.  Whole different ecosystem in the mountains.



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