Big Bend National Park

We've returned from our family vacation and it was wonderful! On Sunday we drove down to Marathon, TX (population 455) and checked in to the last available motel room in town. It only had one bed and enough floor space for one roll away but it was clean and cute. The fact that it came with ear plugs should have been a clue to expect the trains, but it was way too late to be choosy. There are four restaurants in this little town but only one is open on Sunday night luckily for us it was next door to our "cottage". It also had a beautiful court yard and great Mexican food. The town boasts only one grocery store and the "For Lease" sign in the window didn't stop them from opening up in the morning for our provisioning. The cooler had gone out during the night but we bought enough to get by.


We drove in to Big Bend the next morning (only a one hour drive) entering the park from the North through Persimmon Gap and started our adventures with some trailblazing to see if we could find the "three hoodoos" rock formation. We found it easily enough and enjoyed our first trek through the desert. Then we continued on to the Panther's Junction Visitor Center and then to the Chisos Basin camp ground.

While in the park we saw: vultures, hawks, ravens, a tarantula, scorpions, walking stick insects, preying mantises, millipedes, jackrabbits, deer, coyotes, fox, a four inch long wasp, bats, birds and butterflies.

The basin appears to be a crater in the center of ring of volcanic peaks, but it isn't. The peaks were formed by lava pushed up from underneath but there was never a volcano. The ring is nearly complete except for a small gap in the Western wall which they call the Window. All of the rain that falls in the basin collects in a small creek that runs down the center of the basin and out through the Window. This makes it a popular sunset viewing spot from near the camp ground and the lodge. The next day we did the 5 mile round trip out to stand in the window and look out.

We camped two more nights on the Eastside of the Park in the Rio Grande Village. The first night was almost too warm and the second night we piled all four of us in together for warmth. While we were there Sheela lost one of her front teeth so she has two out side by side. We're calling her snaggle tooth now.
We hiked the Boquillas Canyon to see (and wade) in the Rio Grande, to the old Hot Springs bath house (washed away in a Rio Grande flood back in the 30's but the spring is still there and the water is still 105 degrees), and the Grapvine Hills trail to see (and touch) the balanced rock. We drove to the Westside of the park to see the Santa Elena canyon but the rain had moved in and the visibility was too limited to enjoy the sights, instead we left the park and went to Terilingua for lunch and to see the old ghost town.

On the way back home we did some hiking in Abilene State Park just to break up the drive. It was pretty and pleasant, a lot more trees and much thicker undergrowth (since there was something to grow under). We saw quite a few deer, an armadillo (alive) and a buffalo wallow (no buffalo). We got home about dinner time on Saturday.