Monday, February 4, 2013
Santa Elena Canyon-Big Bend, Nov. 8, 2013
The next couple of shots are distant views of Santa Elena Canyon. It is so big that it can literally be seen from miles away!
We decide to take the 1.7 mile hike into the canyon to get a better look. This is the entrance to the trail.
After you walk across seemingly acres of river stone you come to this "entrance".
This tells that the canyon is 8 miles long, 1500 feet deep and as little as 30 feet wide at some parts of the river bottom.
On the right is a speck which is really Jim. This will give you an idea of how immense it is.
Jim thinks it is real easy for Mexicans to walk across the Rio Grande here. It isn't that far but the current looks a little fast here. The point is they can walk across the Rio Grande at many spots.
The river is coming out of the canyon here, flowing east. Out friends, Roy and Shelly Annis, have canoed this river through the canyon. They said you had to lie flat on the bottom of the canoe to see the sky. Roy has lots of stories to tell of their trip.
Jim is starting on the upward zig zag trail.
We did see sea shell fossils in the rocks here but they were very small.
Amazing how flowers and plants will bloom anywhere! It was fun to see!
Jim is at one of the highest points here on the trail. I am also here, which is amazing, knowing of my height phobia.
This is the view of the Rio Grande from that spot. It is higher than you think.
Can you imagine perching on a cactus limb? Brave bird, I say! Asking for anyone to identify him!
Jim continues on the trail when I stop and can go no further because of the narrowness and no guard rails! (Ha, Ha)
This shows the trail and how it is literally on the side of the mountain.
I wish this photo was bigger but if you look closely, you will see the trail zig zag up the mountain. Jim is the small dot near the top.
More flowers to enjoy! There is bauty everywhere.
El Paso to Lajitas and Big Bend, Nov. 7, 2013
This is the south side of El Paso, or in other words, Mexico! We left the Walmart at 8am & arrived at our destination at Lajitas at 4:30pm. We headed east on I-10 to rt 90 which we took to Alpine. From there we took Rt 118 south to Big Bend National Park, then headed west on Rt 170 to Maverick Ranch RV Resort in Lajitas.
One bad thing we noticed in the area and even in Big Bend was the air pollution. I guess we can try to blame Mexico but who knows? Can you see the cloud of airpollution here?
I took some shots of water towers along the way. Well, I was out of lighthouses so water towers and bridges had to suffice.
I don't think this was the same guy we saw the day before. This guy had all sorts of "stuff" on his bike including buckets and flags. Again I admire him but do not envy him!
This scene is near McNary, Texas, where I-10 is still following the Rio Grande.
I guess we were too close to Mexico. Even though we were in the USA, they still made us go through the homeland security checkpoint.
This is an old structure!
Again, we find interesting vehicles on the road.
The one truck is towing the other and both are full of "stuff". I have no idead where they started or where they are going. It would make an interesting story, I'll bet!
Now we are starting to see different types of Cactii.
These are some of the Big Bend mountains...more later.
This cactii are quite pretty but very sharp!
After we arrived we were able to do our laundry and see a sunset. Cool, eh?
I think this is either a Brown Headed Cowbird or a Rusty Blackbird. Anyone want to identify it?
This is our Passposrt America reduced rate campground in Lajitas. It was very nice! We carried our two bikes inside the Jeep and had the older one on the back.
The building in the background was the office. They had a clubshouse and a pool, which was very nice. We recommend the Maverick Ranch RV Resort in Lajitas to anyone! We stayed here 3 nights.
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