Big Bend National Park

 More desert? Dave needs to see some trees!

After leaving New Mexico we headed for Ft. Davis, TX. Although this area had a few trees along creeks and streams (which were dry) it was still a rocky, sandy, cactus-y terrain. With sand spurs which were tough for Trooper. We were staying in the Davis Mountains; these were showing lots of ocher volcanic rock rather than gray granite and light sandstone, but it was nice to see hills rather than flat desert.

The view from the highest point in Davis Mountains State Park in Texas.
Patches of volcanic rock reminded us of Craters of the Moon in Idaho.

From Ft. Davis we entered Big Bend National Park. Big Bend was another partially-open park. There was no one at the entrance station, no rangers, and no open visitor center. We planned for 3 hikes: Lower Burro Mesa Pour-off (there's another one of those words!), Tuff Canyon, and Santa Elena Canyon, all of which were unrestricted.

The Lower Burro Mesa trail followed a dry stream bed through a canyon with high red rock sides. For about a mile the stream bed was lined with loose, small pebbles, making the trek feel like walking through sand. Some areas were slow going.

 Along the hike we met a couple from Montrose, CO. They told us about the fire damage at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Most of the park, the entire campground area, and all the trees were burned. Only the visitor center was spared, thanks to firefighters starting back fires around it. This was one park we cancelled before we left in August due to the wildfire.

The entrance to the Lower Burro Mesa Pour-off canyon area

The 100 foot-high pour-off would see pounding water coming over the top during monsoon season.
Check out the small pebbles along the stream bed. 

Our second hike was to the overlooks at Tuff Canyon; there was no access to the canyon itself. Tuff has nothing to do with Gen Z slang, or the 1980s-90s rock band. It is a type of igneous rock formed from volcanic ash. The color of this rock was lighter gray and yellow, and was quite different from the other volcanic rock at Big Bend.

A panoramic view of a portion of Big Bend National Park.
Tuff Canyon is the whitish area in the lower left of the photo.

Like so many other canyons in the desert, this one's rock sides were eroded by water.
FYI: Mount St. Helens is another area with tuff rocks.
In reality, they are all tough when you have to walk on them.

Our final hike has become one of my favorites on the trip. Santa Elena Canyon was a delightful combination of climbing, trekking, edging, and wading through both dry and wet areas, high and low spots, uphill and downhill, sunny and shady zones, and another chance meeting with the couple from Colorado.

Santa Elena Canyon can be seen in the distance.

Santa Elena Canyon was formed by the Terlingua Fault, with the Rio Grande River running through it. In the photos above and below, the left side of the canyon is in Mexico, the right side belongs to the USA. 

The entrance to the canyon. Hidden by the foliaged foreground is the Rio Grande.
Notice the 3 "steps" of the canyon wall on the US side. 
The trail was along the lower step.

After parking, we followed a path to the Rio Grande River. Girls were sunbathing, a lady was wading across in thigh-deep water, and a young boy was playing in the sand. Typical day at the river, except there was another country on the other side. 

A look at the muddy Rio Grande and Mexico at the entrance to Santa Elena Canyon.
The river comes out of the canyon and rounds this corner, heading south along Mexico.

It might help you "picture" the area if I give you the trailhead sign showing the layout of the land. In the photo below, the Rio Grande comes down the canyon from west to east, then turns and runs south along Mexico. Coming into the Rio Grande from the north is Terlingua Creek, which borders the US side at the eastern end of the canyon. Terlingua Creek does not go into the canyon. Hopefully this pic gives you an idea of the area we hiked.  

The black line is the driveway and parking area. 
The white line is the trail.

 To access the trail we turned right (staying on the U.S. side) and walked along the Terlingua Creek, which soon turned to dry, cracked ground. We climbed up the embankment about 15 feet and walked along the edge back the direction from which we had come. Foliage was growing here, and required us to walk crabwise to get through. It seemed like a long way down as we scooted by the vegetation, and I sure didn't want to fall! Good thing I had on my new shoes! (Oh, and the left shoe began to squeak only one week after I paid dearly for these babies.) 

The path up began just beyond the people in the photo.
The embankment we followed can be seen where the green bushes on the left stick up above the dry creek bed.

Once we got back to the canyon entrance, we rounded the corner to head down the canyon. We encountered a series of switchbacks to take us up the canyon wall about 80 feet. At last we were hiking along the Rio Grande! 

Looking east from the top of the switchbacks toward the parking lot.
You can see the Rio Grande turn south.

Hiking west into the canyon.

I love the reflection of the canyon in the river.

A look up the canyon wall from the trail. 

Remember the 3 "steps" from the photo above?

We are looking up to the top of step 2.

We can't see step 1, the top of the canyon.

Eventually the trail along the canyon descended to river level. We walked through bamboo and tall grasses. Trees grew out of the caked mud, indicating there were times the water was much higher. 

Deep in the canyon, but the sun still illuminated the US wall.

At river level the thick foliage and height of the Mexican wall shaded the trail.

Sometimes I let Dave take the lead so I can get him in a photo.

Crazy that these plants can grow in such dry soil.

"Deep roots" is Dave's answer.

Wading in the Rio Grande.
Some people splashed over to Mexico and touched the wall.

I wonder what's around the bend?

After I dried off my feet, it was time to go back to the parking lot. Mr. Colorado came around a bend in the trail. When he saw us he quipped, "I don't know many people in Texas, but I know you!" When we hit the switchbacks, we saw his wife in the shade. She didn't look very well, perhaps some heat exhaustion. But she had plenty of water and wanted to wait for her husband. So off we went, back down to the embankment and then down to the dry Terlingua Creek. We weren't alone as we walked; cows were grazing in the dry grass.

Driving back to Ft. Davis we had a rare race with a bighorn sheep. He crossed the in front of us, then ran alongside the truck for awhile. Dave was thrilled to get to see one that close.

Early the next morning I braved the Texas wind to see the Orionid meteor shower. I enjoyed watching Orion's stars with stripes of meteors streaking by. The meteors are caused by Earth passing through Halley's Comet's debris. The next time we come to Ft. Davis, we will visit the nearby McDonald Observatory for one of their Star Parties.

Next up: Meeting up with Dave's sister and her husband to remember the Alamo in San Antonio.