Saturday at Big Bend

We took a ride and did two hikes in the park. The first was to Dugout Wells which was a spring fed oasis in the desert. Settlers built a small ranch here and it was a stop for weary travelers who were crossing the desert.
The second hike was at Grapevine Mountain, and we hiked up the hills to "Balanced Rock" a huge boulder balanced precariously on top of two other huge rocks. We had beautiful views here of the mountains around us and the desert below. The temperature got into the high eighties so we were treated to a beautiful warm day with clear blue skies.

The windmill at DugOut Wells

Rainbow cactus in bloom.

This park has more varieties of cactus than any other place in the U.S.

The rugged Grapevine Mountains

Balanced Rock, a favorite hike in the park

Nancy on the back of Balanced Rock

A lizard along the trail

These rock were veined with dark colors, it looked like massive tree trunks with rings.

Davis Mountain to Big Bend

We really liked Davis Mountain State Park, we were only there for one night, but wished we had longer. The park is nestled in the Davis Mountains which were very picturesque with lots of things to explore. On Thursday morning we made the 150 mile drive from there to Big Bend National Park. This is one of the biggest national parks in the country with a very beautiful diversity of geography. They have the Chichauhan desert, the river bottoms along the Rio Grand River and Mexican border, and the Chisos Mountains in the center of the park. A mix of habitat that lures over 400 varieties of birds and many species of plant and animal life.
We have made a couple of hikes and are planning to explore new areas in the five days we have here.
Yesterday we drove to the Boquillas River crossing area where you can legally cross the river into Mexico. Boquillas is a small village with just over two hundred residents where you can shop for trinkets, have lunch and walk the streets in town. This border crossing was closed after 9/11, but recently re-opened and now helps with the towns economy and tourist trade.

A flowering yucca cactus at Davis Mountains S.P.

Some type of Buckthorn in bloom.We saw quite a few new types of plants at the Davis Mountains

Desert Lupine in bloom

Another yucca. They looked like pineapples on top of the yucca plants

The Davis Mountains

Arriving at Big Bend

They are not pigs, they are related to antelope! Peccaries or Javelinas

A  look at the Rio Grand River. I threw a rock across, again.

Cactus and palms at the hot springs in Big Bend N. P.

Canoeing on the Rio Grand

The ochitillo bushes were starting to bloom

A Mexican entrepreneur set up a small gift shop on the U.S. side of the river.

This was his headquarters on the Mexican side!

The border crossing at the park

Boquillas Canyon and the Rio Grand

The end of another fine day

 

Davis Mountain State Park

We wound up at Davis Mountain S.P. today on our way to Big Bend National Park in southern Texas. This is a very nice campground in the Davis Mountains but we are in the midst of a cold snap that has moved through the south west. Fortunately we are west of all the rain that the Texas gulf coast has been getting and we had only a light rain this morning. The weather tops out at around 60 degrees and starting on Saturday is supposed to clear and get back in the seventies.
Our trip is going well and we are saddened that the weeks are rolling by so fast. We now have about seven weeks before we are back in Michigan for the summer.
Life is good!

Brantley Lake State Park and Carlsbad Caverns

We are staying at Brantley Lake S.P. just north of Carlsbad, New Mexico. Yesterday we took a ride to the National Park and walked through Carlsbad Caverns. I never cease to wonder at the beautiful formations in the cave here. The cavern is huge, and the Big Room eight hundred feet below the surface is bigger than two football fields.
We walked down the trail into the depths of the cavern and since the elevator has been out of commission for the past four months (government red tape and bureaucracy hinders getting it fixed), we walked the path back out to the top.
We were once again mesmerized by the huge stalagmites and stalactites and all of the beautiful formations on the floor, walls and ceilings of the cave.
Today the sky is threatening rain, if we get it it will be the first rain we have had since we were in San Antonio at the beginning of January (other than Maui, but it rains there all the time).

White Winged Dove at camp. This is the fourth species of dove we've seen this winter.

A jackrabbit at camp. Look at how long the legs are!

The gate at the Caverns

The big room eight hundred feet below the surface.

The formation s hanging here are called lions tails. Can you see why?

Hall of giants.

Huge stalagmite columns standing sixty feet tall!

Rock of ages

This calcified column was one of the biggest in the cavern.

 

Draperies

 

These were curtains of calcium that looked like drapes hanging from the ceiling and wall.

I could have taken pictures down here all day, but to truly appreciate this place you have to see it in person. Just like most of the amazing places we are seeing this winter.

On the Move

We only had two nights at Rockhound State Park, so we got our laundry done and some shopping on Friday, then some hikes in on Saturday morning. There is a second section of the State Park here called Spring Canyon and it is at the top of a valley heading into the mountains. We hiked there in the afternoon and ran into some hunters that were after Ibex there. The Ibex were brought in from Peru and released years ago to provide sport for hunters. No0w they are overpopulating and the state does what it can to encourage hunters to keep the numbers under control. We didn't see any Ibex, but one group of hunters were packing one out that they got at the upper reaches of the mountain.
Today we are moving to the Carlsbad Caverns area and will visit the caves again. We were here several years ago and were awed by the beautiful rock formations in the caverns.

Friday night sunset at Rockhound S.P.  We had a campsite at the top of the campground and a spectacular view into the valey and toward town. At night the valley was all lit up like diamonds in the sea!

A view towards camp while hiking the mountain behind the campground.

When I got higher up I took another picture towards camp.

Hope all are well back home.

Last Day at Roper Lake

Tomorrow we move a little further east again, but in the past two days we did some exploring. Yesterday we drove up Mt Graham to an elevation over eight thousand feet. We started from camp at just over three thousand so we gained a mile in elevation! They had a snow storm on January first and they still have the snow above eight thousand feet. The summit is 10,700 and they have an observatory at the top. We didn't want to go any further since the road was becoming questionable and we weren't sure if it was opened to the top.
After driving down the mountain we explored the town of Safford which is just north of the campground. This is an old western town that was geared toward agriculture in the Safford Valley. Safford is quite a bustling large city with lots of conveniences.
Today we drove over to Clifton which is northeast of the campground. This is an old late eighteen hundreds mining town that is still going even though a lot of the old buildings are decrepit and falling down. The neighborhoods are still going and the mine is still operational and appears to be thriving. We saw some bighorn sheep in the cliffs above town. They mine copper and gold here and the mine is eating up a mountain. This is the largest leeching mine in the world. They use water in the mining to sort and move the crushed rock that is produced. The open pit resembles a man made Grand Canyon as it is very deep into the mountain and several miles across and even more miles long. It's amazing how much rock has been moved here in the last hundred and fifty years! Driving to and from Clifton was through the Arizona wilderness and it was amazing to see so much undeveloped country.

A look at Mt Graham while hiking at the campground.

This was at about five thousand feet on  Mt Graham, half way to the top.

The summit at 10,700 feet. The snow is hanging on since the beginning of January.

Bighorn sheep in the cliffs above Clifton, the mining town to the northeast of Safford.

The tremendously huge open pit mine above Clifton. This reminded me of the Grand Canyon!

A burial site at the mine, presumably miners who died on the job and were buried on location. (This was within the huge mining area that is still very active today.

A Vermilion Flycatcher we saw while walking at Roper Lake.

Tuesday at Roper Lake State Park

We made the short move to Roper Lake today. We were on the road for just over two hours and part of that was because of a construction slow down and stop and go on US10. This is a small state park, with a forty acre lake and a natural hot tub that is at a constant 97 degrees!
We rode bikes around the park and checked out all of the facilities. We saw a truck from Page Springs Fish Hatchery dumping rainbow trout into the lake. They were so confused they kept swimming onto the shore, and we had to keep throwing them back in!
 I'm feeling much better today, and we are looking forward to some exploring in the area tomorrow.

Yellow Headed Blackbirds...I've never seen these before, but they are everywhere here. They are attracted by the cattails in the lake.

Eurasian Collared Doves. They look like lovebirds!

Did I mention that the blackbirds were everywhere?

Watching the sky light up over the lake at sunset.

And then it got better!

Peace and love to all!