Paddling through Hot Springs Canyon

 

A thick blanket of white clouds hung like a vast sea in the desert with the high mountains as islands.  We descended into the cold clouds to Panther Junction where we loaded up a canoe and gear. We drove through the gloom to Rio Grande Village. The ceiling lifted but it was still cloudy and cold when we pushed off and paddled upstream towards Hot Springs Canyon. We waved at an old man sitting next to the river in Mexico (he looked surprised to see people canoeing upstream), then entered into the walls of a low canyon. We worked our way up this interesting canyon, through a few shallow rapids where we had to drag the canoe. The water was significantly warmer here than it was during our trip into the Santa Elena Canyon a month ago. At the Hot Springs, we encountered some extensive rapids, so instead of continuing to battle them, we turned and rode them back down through the canyon.  

                     Hot water pours off of the Springs at the western end of Hot Springs Canyon.

A warm sun came out, accompanied by a piercing blue sky. We stopped for lunch at a large rocky outcropping, then rode the rapids back through the rest of the canyon, passing beautiful, ancient rock walls on the way to our car. It was a fun day on the Rio Grande!

 

 

 

We had to do quite a bit of dragging the canoe upstream when it got too shallow to paddle.
 

A Mexican horse on the Texas side!

 

 

 

 

Paddling through Hot Springs Canyon with the distant cliffs of Sierra del Carmen in the distance.

 

 

Much better going downstream than dragging the canoe upstream!

Exploration of the Davis Mountains

 

We have long been planning to visit Fort Davis National Historical Park, where Mike worked a 2 week detail as a seasonal law enforcement ranger 13 years ago. We set off on Thursday, passing through Terlingua, then Lajitas (quite an attractive little town which features a golf course, made possible by its proximity to the Rio Grande, and also has 2 caged goats which are deemed to be the mayors of the town), and then into Big Bend Ranch State Park. The road through the park is scenic and surprisingly topsy turvy, almost as if our car was on a roller coaster. We hiked the Closed Canyon trail, which was quite challenging and fun. The canyon gradually narrowed and descended to a point where it must have become dangerous, because it was closed to further exploration. Jasper had a ball rock hopping and climbing on the walls.

From there, we drove to Fort Leaton State Historic Site, which is part of the same state park. It was an interesting old adobe structure with some furnished rooms, interpreting the lifestyle of the families that lived there in the 1800s. It's one of the largest and best maintained historic adobe structures in Texas, and provides a glimpse of life at a fortified trading post on the US-Mexico border beginning in the turbulent mid-1800s. There was a fairly large enclosed area where the cattle were kept at night, to prevent them from being stolen, and a humongous ox-cart, which was so large it was sometimes pulled by a dozen oxen. 

Our next stop was a spontaneous visit to a Mexican panaderia (bakery) in Presidio. I was the only English-speaker inside, and they seemed a little taken aback at my presence. I could tell they were relieved when I spoke little bits of Spanish. The baked goods were all beautiful and looked very appealing. We had some of them for breakfast the next morning.

By the time we pulled into the town of Fort Davis, the sun was setting. We were hungry and nearing the point of crankiness when we saw a Mexican Restaurant and quickly decided to eat there. We chose to sit outside on the patio, as nobody inside was wearing a mask. It was our first visit to a restaurant (other than a few take-outs) since last March, due to COVID precautions. The food was quite good and very filling, Mike's fajitas in particular.

About an hour after dark, we arrived at our campsite in Davis Mountains State Park. We had expected to have close neighbors, as all the sites showed that they were reserved online, but there must have been a lot of cancellations. We set up our tent in the darkness, enjoyed looking at the stars as we walked through the campground, and then climbed into the tent to read for an hour before falling asleep. 

The next morning, after our traditional breakfast of oatmeal and supplemented by the Mexican pastries, we drove up the Skyline Drive, in the park, where we enjoyed 360 views of distant mountain ranges. Our next stop was Fort Davis NHS. From the website, “Fort Davis is one of the best surviving examples of an Indian Wars' frontier military post in the Southwest. From 1854 to 1891, Fort Davis was strategically located to protect emigrants, mail coaches, and freight wagons on the Trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road and on the Chihuahua Trail.” We took a short hike to a viewpoint, where we could look down on the “parade grounds” where the soldiers practiced marching and conducting drills. Several of the houses were beautifully appointed with antique furniture, uniforms, and other items such as medical equipment (in the hospital). Signage told the stories of inhabitants who were killed, either by disease (quite common) or violence (much less common, since the fort was never actually attacked). Occasionally the sound of bugles would break the silence, representing the call to meals, change of guard, and various horse-related chores typical of the fort when it was inhabited. During non-COVID times, even more buildings are open to the public, and the historical reenactments would add a lot to a visitor's understanding of the fort's significance. I'd definitely recommend a visit.

                                            Shared officers' quarters at Fort Davis NHS.

Some of the buildings (like this one, the Commanding Officers' home) are furnished and open to the self-guided tour (even during COVID times).

A glimpse into the fort's old pharmacy. I always think old medicine bottles are interesting. Hearing about the antiquated methods of surgery make me VERY glad to live in modern times!

In the afternoon, we drove the 75 mile Davis Mountain scenic loop and stopped at the McDonald Observatory for a self-guided tour of the visitor center and surrounding area. Most of the exhibits were closed due to COVID, so it was a little disappointing, but we did get an idea of what type of research they do, using the telescopes. The drive was pretty and we felt appreciative of the lack of development on the private lands. We stopped for a short hike at Madera Canyon, on Nature Conservancy land, then finished the drive and had a picnic dinner along Skyline Drive as the sun set on another busy day.

Our visit to that region was interesting and worth a couple more days, to be able to fully explore the trails, visitor centers, and towns along the way.

Camping on the Chisos South Rim

 

We're very lucky to temporarily live in the Chisos Basin, one of the not-to-be-missed sections of Big Bend National Park. Every day, we look up at these beautiful mountains surrounding our home and dream about the adventures we'll have "up there." Earlier this winter, we backpacked up to Laguna Meadows and spent a night, and we did a long day hike to summit Emory Peak. But we hadn't yet made it to the rim.

A couple of weekends ago the weather was predicted to be perfect for such a venture, so we packed our backpacks with the tent, our sleeping bags/pads, cold weather layers, 10 pounds of food, and 40 pounds of water. (If you like numbers, my pack started at 33 pounds and ended at less than 17. Jasper's was almost 15 pounds, and Mike's went from 44 to 26 by the end). If we ever needed an excuse to snack and drink lots of water, we had one on this trip (to reduce the weight we were carrying!)

We hiked up the Laguna Meadows Trail and took a nice break at the top. For some reason, I recalled that the trail flattened out from there, but I was wrong. We gradually continued climbing pretty much the rest of the way (7+ miles that day) until our campsite. Once we hit the South Rim, the views were incredible. The cliff drops straight down to the desert, and there are layers upon layers of mountains wherever your gaze travels.

 

Our campsite was isolated, so we felt like we had the world to ourselves. We ate dinner on the rim, then watched the sun set, turning the sky pink, then orange, silhouetting the trees and grasses to the point that I felt like I was back in the Serengeti.

We were still sitting near the rim as darkness fell. Off toward the east, a pink blur began to highlight the cloudy sky. We kept watching, not knowing what was about to happen. Over the course of a few minutes, the clouds parted and a blood red moon appeared, spilling its hue onto the surrounding clouds. I've never seen anything like it, but we felt privileged to be there, in the wild, enjoying the moment. 

As we walked back to the tent, we saw eyes shining nearby, but this time (unlike in Africa) they belonged to harmless deer. We snuggled into the tent and I fell asleep within minutes. Strong gusts of wind buffeted the tent all night long. In the morning, we watched the sunrise in the chilly morning air, then ate oatmeal and muffins inside our warm tent. 

 

The remaining section of the loop trail led us along the rim for a couple of miles, every curve of the trail leading us to jaw-dropping viewpoints. We descended into Boot Canyon and found some lovely places to stop for rest breaks. Mike cooked up a simple lunch of couscous on our little stove in a dry creek bed, while the always energetic Jasper climbed all the boulders within sight. By the time we reached our home, we felt sore, tired and ... very blessed to have had this experience.

Our Favorite Short Hike #6

Tuff Canyon Trail (about 1 mi/RT)

Along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, there are many places to pull off and explore. This one was more interesting than we expected. From our car, we hiked a short distance to two “balconies,” perched high over the deepest, narrowest part of Tuff Canyon. They provide a view of the white volcanic ash cliffs (aka “tuff”) and the darker volcanic rock below. We followed the trail down into the canyon and explored all the nooks and crannies along the floor of the canyon. There's a bit of optional rock scrambling at the end. It's a short trail, but one that provides some fun exploring for kids in a safe environment.

 

We hope to hike many other trails during our remaining time at Big Bend, but it's likely that we'll revisit each of these "favorites" multiple times!