Dust in the Wind

Hi Blog!  Tuesday was a first day at Big Bend National Park.  The Big Bend refers to the great southwest U-turn the Rio Grande makes in southern Texas defining the park boundary with Mexico for 118 miles.  To say this place is huge is an understatement.  Here is the view just after crossing the park boundary.

There are five visitor centers.  The closest one to us is 22 miles inside the park boundary.  We stopped there first to load up on maps and advice from the park ranger.  We told her we had a week and she was very excited to tell us all the cool places to go.  Many of the hikes she suggested would take the better part of the day, so we would have to leave them for later in the week.

After the Visitor's Center, we headed up into the Chisos Mountains to have lunch at the Chisos Mountain Lodge.  The Chisos Basin is at 5401 feet, so Great White had a little workout climbing up the side of a mountain.  The environment is very different from the desert below.  The mountains gets more  moisture, so there are more trees and grass than in the desert below.

After lunch, we did a small loop hike around the Chisos Basin.  Here is the view as we started down the trail.

Some cool things about the Chisos Mountains: The mountain range is contained entirely within the boundaries of Big Bend National Park. This is the only mountain range in the United States to be fully contained within the boundary of a National Park. It is also the southernmost mountain range in the United States.  The highest point in the Chisos Mountain range is Emory Peak at 7825' (2,385 m) above sea level.  Because there is more moisture higher up, there is more life including black bears and mountain lions!

The Park Service does a good job marking the trails.  The trail signs were typically sheets of metal stencil-cut with the information, so that they will not wear out easily.

As we walked around the Basin Loop, we were surround by mountains on all side.  We ran into several birders and compared notes.

A cold front was moving in, bringing with it strong winds.  While there was little to no chance of rain, the strong winds stirred up a lot of dust.  As you look into the distance, the mountains seem a bit hazy.

There is a small opening on the West end of the Basin know as "The Window."  The Window Trail follows the Oak Creek Canyon drainage westward and channels all rainwater from the Basin to the desert below.  It also makes a great spot to watch sunsets!

Today was a great start to our Big Bend adventure and look forward to getting to know this area better.