Big Bend - a land of contrasts

Big Bend - a land of contrasts

(in no particular order)

Relentless - see Sun, Harsh, Inhospitable

Photographer’s - Nightmare - because there are few places to pull over to take ‘that shot’ and ‘that shot’ and all ‘those shots’

Photographer’s - Delight - where there is a pullover, there is usually a fantastic photo op

Color - wildflowers, birds, cactus

Beautiful - see Ugly

Sky - blackest of black with the brightest of bright stars

       - the moon can be so bright it wakes you up

       - no lights in my campground except very weak and pointed to the ground  as in a “Night Sky City.”  Sodona and Flagstaff are Night Sky Cities and limit outdoor lighting and intensity of lights

       - this Park was known for its blue skies but now air pollution is coming in from outside the area to make it hazy

Vistas - scenic is not a big enough word

Life - plants and animals have adapted to a dry climate - for instance the thorns on cactus are really leaves

       - the javelina can eat cactus, thorns and all

Heat - 114 degrees yesterday at the Rio Grande Campground

         - May and June are ‘get out of town’ months

         - visitor centers at the two Rio Grande locations close during the summer

Altitude - Chisos campground at over 5000 feet is in the 60’s at night

             - water takes longer to boil particularly for my morning coffee

Respite - see Shade, any slice of shade

Osprey - the brand of my day pack with integrated water bladder can hold many liters of water - it is recommended to take a gallon of water per person  per a day of hiking

Trooper - my Prius

Desert - Chihuahuan

Wind - from a little to mostly constant to unsettling - because my tent is pitched on hard top I can not use stakes and must use rocks instead - but rocks can move so I have been forced to take the tent and tarp down twice - one night the tarp was flapping so I used small, but strong magnets to   hold it down in numerous places - the wind picked up and I started to hear the magnets popping off and landing back on the car

Sun - see Relentless

Mountains - the only national park encompassing a complete mountain range

Shade - see Respite

Loneliness - living on a ranch or working in a remote national park

Ugly - see Beautiful

Clean - not a place the masses visit - not trashed

Volcanic - no volcanoes or lava flows - molten rock from the earths core pushed its way into the spaces between the layers of underlying rocks and hardened - those underlying rocks were laid down when Texas was under shallow seas - erosion exposed the volcanic rock

I.C.E. - way too many patrols and stops located in this inhospitable land

Flood - the roads have the same flood signs and gauges as the Texas Hill Country

Unorganized - the landscape is a higgly piggly array of landscape features which seem to pop up helter skelter! - a butte here, a pillar there, a hill, a mountain, a fault, an escarpment, a flat land, spires, eroding tuff, a wash etc. - all in one place or spread out

Water - it is everything and nothing

My plans have changed. Heat and I do not get along well together.  Despite weeks of research and planning, I underestimated the heat I will encounter at lower elevations when I head farther west.  I also failed to take into consideration the remoteness of Guadalupe Mountains and what effect it will have on resupply and the need for ice.  As a  result I will spend less time at Guadalupe and head to Tucson to an Airbnb. Yes, Tucson will be hot, but I won’t be camping in it.

Today I went 66 miles roundtrip to take a 5 minute shower and do a load of laundry.  

Yesterday while hiking out to my favorite vista, The Windows, I found a running stream. The stream started up very close to where it forms a waterfall out of the Chisos Basin. I sat for a rest at the Windows and splashed water all over myself. I might as well have gone in for a soak I got myself so wet. On my hike out, my clothes started to stiffen up. I wondered what was in the water to create such a remarkable situation.  I stopped by today to ask a Ranger. Well, you would have thought I had stolen the Crown Jewels.  The Ranger informed me that the water was not for my use and I should not have indulged!