Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Texas Travels with Longhorn Willie - Part 2


We arrived in Big Bend National Park about 3pm on Friday April 25th.  We drove approximately 1 hour into the southwest corner of the park to Cottonwood Campground. When we pulled in we saw another Four Wheel Camper, a 2010 Hawk.  We introduced ourselves and Gordon and Lois came down to our site for a visit.


Yucca Cactus in bloom

From Cotton Wood Campground





Claret Cup Cactus

Century Cactus in bloom



Sana Elena Canyon







Sana Elena Canyon



 

 





Prickly Pear Cactus


Claret Cup Cactus

Dessert Marigold






Volcanic Ash



Volcanic Ash











Mule Ears




 Tuff Canyon






We spent two nights in Cottonwood Campground along the Rio Grande River.  We were mostly in  a desert environment.  We spent a lot of time driving to different marked viewing areas to read the signs and observe the geological formations.  Lava formations were observed along with volcanic ash that was white or off white in color


Red Vermillion Fly Catcher




Great Horned Owl at Cottonwood Campground


Male Great Horned Owl












The Window











We hiked the Window Trail, 2.03 miles each way.  The elevation drop from Chisos Basin to The Window was a little over 800 feet.  The hike took us 4 hours and this was Susan's first full hike.

We saw numerous jack rabbits and road runners during our stay in the park.  We saw a Javelina along the road as we were leaving.  There are over 450 bird species that spend time in Big Bend National Park.We spent the second 2 nights in the mountains at Chisos Campground.  Temperatures got into the 40's at night and we even turned the furnace on for a few minutes.

Big Bend is an amazing place that should be on everyone's bucket list.  Being able to experience a desert environment and then go up into the mountains was a real adventure in itself.  We even drove into the southeast corner of the park and saw Boquillas, Mexico and part of the Boquillas Canyon.



1 comment:

  1. Looks like you two caught it just right for desert flowers, very nice!

    ReplyDelete