Big Bend

I've been falling off the wagon lately with blogging, I'll try to get back on track :-) We went to Big Bend

National Park for a long weekend about a week ago. It's a very remote, scenic, middle-of-nowhere area by the Mexico border about 7 hours west of San Antonio and a few hours east of El Paso. It was really nice to just get away for a few days, and with no cell service it was great to be completely disconnected.

We stopped in Marathon, TX the first night, which is about 90 miles north of Big Bend. It's also very remote but has a little tourist scene since it's the last stop on the way to the park. 

Sunset in Marathon. 

The next morning at breakfast Scott was inspired by his coffee and has deemed this "art." Enjoy...

Coming in to Big Bend.

Poor animals...

Mexican nationals from the town of Boquillas leave little handmade crafts for hikers to buy along the trail. You're not supposed to buy any although no one ever searched us or anything. They also take donations.

Boquillas, Mexico.

Walking sticks, little handmade scorpions, and painted rocks. You leave your money in the coffee creamer bottle.

 

Most likely the canoe of the person selling the crafts at this particular location. Although in a lot of places, the river is narrow and shallow enough to just walk across.

A spring. It was an obvious oasis in the middle of the desert, as was the river.

 The trail to Hot Springs.

Hot Springs sounds cool in theory. If it were winter and not 105 degrees, and there was no one else there and you had your own little natural hot tub to yourself in the middle of this beautiful scenery, it would be perfect. However, the air was 105 degrees, the water was even warmer, and although there weren't a lot of people there, there were these two and they weren't leaving.

The river at Hot Springs.

We stayed a couple of nights at a place called "Upstairs at the Mansion" in Terlingua Ghost Town. Nothing was haunted or anything, it's just what the town is called. (Their sign says, and I meant to get a picture but didn't, "Birthplace to all Chili Cook-Offs Worldwide." Now that is a bold statement but apparently they have an annual chili cook-off that brings in over 10,000 people who tent-camp in a field since there is really nowhere to stay except this place and one other hotel.) There were a couple of bars and restaurants in town and a small hotel and that's about it. I don't know that anyone lives there, there may have been a couple houses but it was hard to tell. We checked out pictures online and thought this place looked like a really cool, unique place to stay. And it was, but when you first get there it takes a little bit to wrap your head around it. Most of it doesn't have a roof, but the liveable portion where we stayed had an upstairs room, a downstairs room, a shared bathroom, and a kitchen. Luckily the two bedrooms were air conditioned. We had the upstairs room and as it turns out, our roommates downstairs were an older couple, Chester and Cynthia, also from San Antonio. Luckily they weren't crazy (they voiced the same relief about us) and although we didn't end up crossing paths with them much they were really nice people. No doors locked from the outside, and Cynthia summed it up best the first night when she said, "so I guess we're on the honor system, huh?" We never saw the owner or hostess, and were instructed to leave cash or a check in the guestbook for payment. There was some cash in there from back in January so it didn't seem like they keep real good track. It was a really cool experience and we're glad we went for it instead of staying at the more traditional hotel. The room was really comfortable and it was nice to meet some new people in such a weird way.

I did instragram on some of these pictures, hence the black bars. Not that the scenery needed it but the pictures really didn't do it justice either.

 Scott trying to wrap his head around it when we first got there.

On the porch, still processing everything...

There was a cat there we named Felix, and our roommates said when the girl who cleans the rooms came she said she didn't know there was a cat. And this cat was all over the porch acting like he owned the place, on the table, in chairs, chasing birds...this particular squatter cat sounded like a more active version of Scooter.

Sunset from the porch at the mansion. The mountains are the Chisos Mountains in the middle of the park.

Sunset from the porch to the west. We were fortunate to see some really beautiful sunsets, I don't know if that's typical out there or what but they were amazing.

The next day we hiked in the Santa Elena Canyon. The right cliff is Texas and the left is Mexico. Really beautiful.



Scott wading to Mexico. The Mexico side at this point in the river is also a national park. The mountains are a natural barrier.

Scott in Mexico.

Renee in Mexico.

Back in the park, there are a couple cliffs called "Mule's Ears."

We went for the obvious joke.

 Beautiful, scenic vista. Looked like it may have been one of the highest points in the park.

Inside the Chisos Mountain Basin looking west to Terlingua.

The Santa Elena Canyon from a distance.

 From inside the canyon looking east to the Chisos Mountains.

We took the highway along the river west to Presidio, TX. It was one of the most scenic drives we've ever taken.

Madera Canyon.

Rest stop on the way to Madera Canyon.

Road to Presidio.

Desert flower.

Presidio itself is somewhat less scenic. This is the Ojinaga/Presidio border crossing. It looked like a vehicle fire on the Mexico side. 

Santa Elena Canyon again. These pictures are out of order and our version of Internet Explorer, our computer, or both is making it hard for me to move them.

Middle-of-nowhere near Marathon, TX.

  Sunset over Madera Canyon. We pulled off to the side of the road and caught it just in time. The picture really does not do it justice. There was no one else there, no cars going by, nothing. Very peaceful.

 After seeing the sunset over Madera Canyon, we were in a hurry to get back to Terlingua because the highway is pretty curvy and we didn't want to have to drive it in the dark. On a straightaway, the following

incident took place:

Scott: Hey, do you think I can get up enough speed to coast to the top of that hill?

Renee: I don't know, probably.

Scott: Let's find out....

Scott floors it for a few seconds

Scott: Okay...and neutral...

Several seconds elapse while we try to gage if it's going to work, and then...

In unison: Aaaahhhhhh! Burros!!!!!!

A herd (?) of burros was crossing the road. We stopped in time and were able to get a shot of this guy before they went over the hill. Lucky for everyone involved because they do not move very fast.

 Sunrise from the porch at the mansion. 

Sunrise coming through Big Bend on our way home.

The bridge over the San Pecos river on the way home.

We'd like to go back sometime in winter when the temperatures are more reasonable and do some of the longer trails. It would be nice if it was more accessible but at the same time, we went hours without seeing anyone and that's part of the appeal :-)