Big Bend- Boquillas Canyon and Chisos Basin

We try to get out early in the morning here, but it seems like no matter what time we plan to get out, it is 9:00.  So it was this morning as well.

It was 79 degrees so we decided we would make the Boquillas Canyon Trail hike.

We parked our car in the parking lot, there was only one other car there and began the hike to the canyon.  The first part of the hike is uphill, but then levels out.

We're at the top looking down on the parking lot.

We continued on to the other side and saw this pretty little field down by the river complete with a grazing horse.

We continued on,  the beginning of the canyon is just a little bit further.  Just as we get to the canyon, a Mexican National was standing there singing, hoping we would contribute something.  We said hello and continued on.  

Inside the canyon, we were able to go a few hundred yards, but then had to turn around where the two walls almost meet in the back.  The only way you could get through there is in a little boat.  This is the Rio Grande River here too.  We finished about 10:30 and decided to head towards the Chisos Basin.

It's about 20 degrees cooler in the Basin and it was that way today.  When we left Rio Grande Village, it was 95 and when we arrived at Chisos Basin, it was 77.

We stopped at the overlook before driving down.  The village is located in the middle of the mountains.  There is a campground here, but it is closed.  This is where the lodge is as well as a full service restaurant.

We drove around to check out the area and then stopped to take the trail to the Windows View,

and this is it.

It was 1:00 and only 79 degrees, so we decided to do the 1.8 mile Chisos Basin walk.

More views of the window.

 It was a nice little hike, but we were hot when we finished.  Afterwards, we went to the lodge for dessert and free wifi. :)  We are addicted to the internet.

We headed back down the mountains arriving back to the fiver about 4:00 and a warm (or should I say HOT) 103 degrees.  It does start cooling off here once the sun begins to set making the evenings and nights pleasant.

We have one more day here at Big Bend.

Who Knew There Were Hoodoos In Texas

Today, our plan was to stay out of the heat.  Yesterday, wiped us both out.

We decided to head towards Terlingua and take Farm Road 170 towards Presidio.

Our first stop was Terlingua.  

This was actually a pretty booming town in the 1920s and 1930s when a mercury mine here was in full production.  There was even a movie theater.  Now, it's a quirky little town with very few residents.

We continued on Farm Road 170 and the views were pretty impressive.

A few more miles down the road, we came across the Contrabando Movie Set Site.

It definitely looked like a town you would see in westerns.  Movies that have filmed here included:
1993-Rio Diablo
1994-Gambler V-Playing for Keeps
1995-Streets of Laredo
1995-My Maria Music Video
1996-Dead Man's Walk
2000-The Journeyman
Now, we're going to have to go back and watch some of these movies. :)

We continued our drive passing this picnic area.

 The views were spectacular.

We stopped for lunch overlooking this Balanced Rock and Hoodoos.  Who knew? We had first found out about hoodoos last year while at Bryce Canyon.  A hoodoo is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland.

We continued on towards Presidio.  This is not the way I would like to travel this road!

Things begin to flatten out about 12 miles from Presidio, so we decided to just turn around and do it all again!

There is a 15% grade on this section and an overlook right before you go back down.  We actually followed a motorhome going up from this direction, but we're not so sure we would want to try it.

Coming back, we stopped at the little town of Lajitas.  There is a nice hotel with spa here as well as a golf course.  This is a little plaza lined with shops.  Unfortunately, many appear to have gone out of business.

Big Bend Day 2

We woke up to a morning temperature of 59 degrees and it was rising fast.

Here are a couple of pictures of the campground.  This is Rio Grande Village RV Campground, it has full hookups and 50 amps. You can see the "backyard" in the second picture.

We started our day with the Rio Grande Nature trail.  It began by crossing a marshy area

and continued on up some stairs.  

We continued our climb up until we reached the top with views of the Rio Grande and the little town of Boquillas.

After our little hike, we continued on to the Boquillas Overlook with great views.

Next, we were on our way to the Hot Springs Trail. By now, the temperature was 85 with the sun beating down.  It was still tolerable.

As we began to walk up the trail, we noticed a palm tree sticking up from the top.  Who new there was another little oasis out here!  This was a post office, store, and motel for people to come to enjoy the natural 105 degrees hot spring.  The picture on the upper right shows what is left of the bath house and you can still enjoy the hot springs.  On the other side of the wall is the Rio Grande River and the grassy area is part of Mexico.

After a walk to the Hot Springs, we went back to the fiver, had lunch, and decided to continue exploring trying to stay in the car.

We drove the 20 miles to Panther Junction, went through the Visitor's Center and took the little path around that identified the native plants there.

The tree blooming below is a Huisache tree.

Next, it was on to the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.

We stopped at Castolan which used to be a community whose main source of income was from cotton.

We headed on to the Santa Elena Canyon.  It was getting hot now.  By the time we reached the canyon, it was 99 degrees.

We decided to go a short distance in order to go into the canyon.  It was HOT!!!!!

We were both tired out after that and headed back.  The air conditioner in the car was cold and we had water, but it took awhile to get cooled down.


The last stop we made was this formation called Mule Ears.

Big Bend is a beautiful, rugged place.