Big Bend National Park … Exploring the East Side

Sunday, 13 February 2016 (Part I)
Rio Grande Village RV Campground — Big Bend National Park, Texas
Temps: Hi 75F (24C) / Lo 39F (4C)

Big Bend is a land of strong beauty — often savage and always imposing.
… Lon Garrison …

A week of exploring the “splendid isolation” that is Big Bend National Park (BBNP) has flown by in the blink of an eye.  Tomorrow we move west to explore more of what the barren landscape of the Borderlands has in store for us, including more of BBNP.  But first, I need to get caught up on what we did this week.

Sunrise at Seminole Canyon before we head to parts further west.

We left Seminole Canyon State Park on 7 February — after enjoying a most colorful desert sunrise.  The sun took forever to break over the horizon in this land of unlimited flatness, but it was worth the wait.

The 222-mile (355 km) drive was an easy one.  We traveled through countryside that was mostly uninhabited … or if it was, there was very little sign of it except in the occasional towns where our phones pinged to alert us to cell signal.  Mountains — hills may be a better description — broke the flatness of the landscape, adding interest to the drive.  We stopped at a few of the picnic areas to stretch our legs, but otherwise didn’t dally along the way.

When our phones ping to alert us to a Verizon signal, we pull into this
rest area to call family overseas before continuing the drive to Big Bend.

A photo stop at another scenic Chihuahuan Desert rest area.

We entered BBNP through Persimmon Gap, stopping long enough to pick up an annual pass.  We’re not eligible for the one-time senior’s pass yet, so we paid $80.  A week-long pass to enter BBNP is $25; we will need two of them before we are done with Big Bend.  So even if we end up leaving $30 on the table when the pass expires next year, the price is worth it to support the National Park Service.

Continuing through Panther Junction, we drove to the park’s Rio Grande Village (RGV) area.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the desert landscape with the Chisos Mountains rising in the distance.

Welcome to BBNP — the brighter portion of the map is where we will explore this week.

A short distance beyond this tunnel is the RGV area of BBNP.  At the time we go through
the tunnel, which was built in 1959, we don’t know that the apex is 21 feet … and there
are no markings to tell us how high the tunnel is.  we just trust that we can get
through since over the years many big rigs have preceded us through it.

We booked an FHU site at the Rio Grande Village RV Campground for our week-long stay.  It is little more than a parking lot.  We actually ended up not minding it much since we were out exploring BBNP during the day anyway.  Due to our 40-foot size, we were assigned Site 25 and told to take the two adjacent car spots and park at an angle so as not to hinder the traffic flow in and out of the campground.  We did even better and parked parallel to the curb … plenty of space on the driver’s side to sit outdoors in the shade in the afternoon.  The added advantage of this site is that it is right at the edge of the camp store wi-fi range, so we had good internet on most days.  (The Z’s were similarly assigned multiple sites, but on the other side of the campground … so this is par for the course here for big rigs.)

The FHU section of the RGV RV Campground is little more than a parking lot.
The empty spot on the right (left photo) is site 25 and the two car parking spots
before we manuever the Phaeton into place … you can see all the space we have to
enjoy sitting outdoors with our motorhome serving as a shade shelter.

8 February — Panther Junction Visitor Center And Rio Grande Overlook …

We woke up in the wee hours of the morning — 2:53a to be precise — to the Phaeton shimmying and rocking quite noticeably.  For several hours the wind blew strong and steady, sounding like a freight train bearing down on us.  Turns out we were being buffeted by winds that the Beaufort scale categorizes as strong breeze (25-31 mph) and moderate/near gale (32-38 mph).  When the gusts reached 50 mph later that morning, we pulled in the slides and hunkered down … used the enforced down-time to do laundry and a few other chores postponed during our time at Seminole Canyon.

In addition to Greater Roadrunners, there are other birds flitting about the
campground, including a white-winged dove and a yellow-headed woodpecker.

The wind died down around noon and we set out to visit the Panther Junction Visitor Center.  The Z’s had left ahead of us, but we caught up to them when we stopped to take photographs of the landscape … great minds think alike.  I have to admit I was disappointed by the VC, which turned out to have limited informative exhibits … more of a gift shop really.  But we did enjoy the short video, which is shown on demand.  Before leaving, we walked around the Panther Path Cactus Garden on the grounds of the VC … a good way to become acquainted with the local plants.

Nugent Mountain with the Chisos Mountains in the background.

Playing in the Chihuahuan Desert.

Panther Path Cactus Garden

The cactus garden has informative signage about the plants … good for newbies like me.

The February 1 Wildland Fire near Panther Junction was ignited by a power line that
fell during heavy winds.  It took several days to put it out … during which time it
burned through at least 1,000 acres, but there was no damage to park structures.

On the way back to the campground, we stopped at the Rio Grande Overlook, which is just past the tunnel.  The overlook offers no river views — rather, the landscape is of the Rio Grande floodplain and the distant Sierra del Carmens … USA and Mexico.

The Rio Grande floodplain with the Sierra del Carmens of USa and Mexico (far distance).

Thanks to signage at the overlook, I can identify the distant mountains.

Texas Bluebonnet	Lechuguilla & Spiny-Fruited Prickly Pear

We joined the Z’s for a pasta dinner in their rig … with their deliciously addictive homemade pasta sauce … a treat that we always look forward to.

9 February — Rio Grande Village Nature Trail & Boquillas Canyon …

With no high winds to disturb us we got a good night’s rest and were raring to go when we woke up bright and early.  And yet, it was mid-morning before we set off on the Rio Grande Village Nature Trail.  It is described as a .75-mile easy loop that starts from the far side of the no-hookups section of the campground.  It was indeed an easy trail even though a segment of it requires climbing to the top of a hill by way of a stepped-path.  But we covered far more than the stated distance by first walking from our campground to the trailhead, and then following a trail that goes to the edge of the Rio Grande (aka Rio Bravo) … mere steps from the border with Mexico.

Irrigation canals like this one run throughout the campground.

Plenty of greater road runners around here … quite tame … which probably means people have
been feeding them.  Roadrunners sunbathe to warm up after a cold night by turning their backs
to the sun, raising the feathers on their backs, and exposing their heat-absorbent black skin.

How can I resist photographing this mural?

Panorama of the restored wetlands at the beginning of the nature trail.
We hear a lot of rustling and chirping; see no feathered friends.

Left: At this pond we stop to check out tiny fishies jumping out of the water.

Right: A Mexican “gift Shop” on the trail.  It’s not unusual to find knick-knacks like this on the trails around Big Bend; they are considered contraband.  Mexicans who live across the Rio Grande cross over to set them up — honor system, with a jar to put money in if you purchase something.  They watch with binoculars and cross over to collect the money and their goods at the end of the day.

That’s Mexico on the other side of the Rio Grande … in some sections the water is quite
shallow, making it quite easy to “illegally” cross between the two countries.

That’s the hill we will climb up by way of a stepped-trail.  Trust me … it’s worth it!

Pyrrhuloxia — aka Desert Cardinal

View of the Rio Grande with the Chisos Mountains in the far distance.

A wider view of the landscape shows the wetlands pond and the campground beyond.

After lunch at home, we set off on our afternoon outing to Boquillas Canyon, which is described as an “evening canyon” because of the way the sun lights up the walls.  It’s located just a short drive from the campground, so getting to it didn’t take long.  We made a few stops along the way to read some of the interpretive signs, but didn’t dally much otherwise.

Left: At the Boquillas Canyon Overlook we get a look at Mexican “shopkeepers”
waiting to cross the river to collect their earnings from today’s knick-knack sales.

Right: From 1915 to 1919, an aerial tramway spanned the desert landscape. It carried
zinc, silver, and lead ore from the old Puerto Rico Mine above Boquillas, Mexico to the
Ernst Valley, a six-mile-long journey.  The system could carry 90 buckets at a time,
delivering 7 tons of ore per hour to the discharge terminal in the Ernst Valley.
From there, it was an 85-mile wagon or truck trip to the railhead in Marathon, Texas.

The hike into the canyon is 1.4-miles roundtrip.  It’s an easy one that requires climbing a small hill by way of a stepped-path in order to then descend to the riverbank.  Of course, what goes up and down in one direction must also go up and down on the return trip — something the sign at the trailhead neglects to mention.  Regardless, it really is an easy trail … although I wouldn’t want to do it in the late afternoon later in the year when the temps can climb into the 100F (38C) range.  The high was only 74F (23C) on this day, but I can assure you it felt a heck of a lot hotter in the sun.

Looking up the stepped-path …	Looking down the stepped-path …

Left side is Mexico … right side is the US … in between is the Rio Grande.

Panorama as we approach Boquillas Canyon.

This is a popular trail, and there were plenty of people on it, but we were all widely spread out so it felt like we had the place to ourselves.  Once we reached the riverbank and turned the corner to walk into the canyon, we heard singing … Jesús was on the other side of the Rio Grande, serenading us with his slightly off-key rendition of Cielito Lindo … a tip jar on one side of the trail.  Enterprising guy.

Cielito Lindo is a term of endearment that means “pretty little heaven.”
So appropriate for this beautiful little corner of Big Bend National Park.

Desert Marigolds near a sand dune at the canyon’s entrance add color to the landscape.

We walked as far into the canyon as we could without getting wet.  We scrambled over a narrow trail barely wide enough for one foot to be placed in front of another to reach a gravel bar before we had no choice but to come to a standstill.  Peaceful … quiet … only the faint musical notes of Cielito Lindo reaching us.  We stood enjoying the scenery for a while.  Another couple came and went; we remained until finally it was time to scramble our way back to the main trail … and from there to the parking lot and back home.

Looking out …	Looking In …	Looking out …

The couple that comes and goes while we’re at the gravel bar kindly takes a photo of us.

Our day was far from over.  Happy hour was at our place, and we had guests to help us eat the ‘heavy munchies’ Mui had prepared.  Mimi and Dave, a Canadian couple that Mui and I met on the White Shaman pictograph tour, joined us and the Z’s for a fun evening filled with laughter and good conversation.  When we called it a night, the pitch dark canopy of the sky overhead was a-twinkle with a million stars.

I tried — really, I did — to squeeze our week at Big Bend into one post, but it’s just not going to happen.  So, rather than fight it, I am going to break our stay into multiple posts.  More to come.

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