5/27/17 Deserts, Elusive Fossils, Dark Skies and City Lights (Nevada and So Cal)

 

Basin and Range Formation with Seasonal Lake, NV

After leaving Canyon de Chelly, AZ and New Mexico, we headed across Utah to Nevada.  It was a long two-day trip to arrive at Great Basin National Park, a national park typical of the basin and range physiographic section of the country. These many alternating mountain ranges and basins stretch all the way from the Wasatch Mountains in Utah to the Sierra Nevada in eastern California.  Most of Nevada, and western Utah are part of the Great Basin, mostly desert with no water outlet; the water runoff accumulates in the lowest parts of each basin as salt or dry lakes, such as Death Valley.  

Wheeler Peak and Great Basin NP

Great Basin National Park is in eastern Nevada in the “town” of Baker, right next to the Utah border, and includes Wheeler Peak, 13,065 feet in elevation.  Wheeler Peak and the surrounding foothills were selected to preserve a representative portion of the extensive basin and range geologic formations that cover a significant part of the Western US.   

 

Wheeler Peak

Wheeler Peak was still covered in snow, so we were only able to enjoy the lower half of the park.  We were disappointed to not see an ancient bristlecone pine forest, which contains the oldest living non-clonal organism on earth.  Some bristlecones have been found to be 5000 years old (germination in 3000 BC) and grow between 9800 and 11,000 feet; the forest was still under 14 feet of snow (this has been an extremely heavy snow year: 170% of normal).  We did some hikes, but had to turn back a few times when the trails became snow covered and impossible to follow.  We did get to see some unusual winter wildlife; even a marmot, which we had never seen before. We enjoyed watching the Kentucky Derby in our Whispering Elms RV “Resort” bar – the one and only bar in Baker along with a very colorful Navy veteran and his wife. 



Shield Formation (rare), Lehman Caves

We visited Lehman Cave in the Park, which was excellent.  Lehman Cave was discovered in 1885 by Mr. Lehman, a rancher and entrepreneur who immediately began marketing tours to see the caves. The cave was not incorporated into a protected park until 1920, and there is a lot of graffiti in the cave from visitors prior to that.  Interestingly, since the graffiti is more than 50 years old, the National Park Service cannot do anything to fix it (anything older than 50 years is automatically protected).  Visiting Lehman Caves was such a different experience from Carlsbad Caverns (see prior post); Carlsbad has huge rooms and formations and is very hard to photograph because of its vast size (even though it was well lit).  Lehman Cave spaces are VERY tight, requiring that you often duck or walk sideways through narrow places.  It was a great experience.  Linda got some good pics using a strong flashlight to fill in the unlit spaces for more interesting photos.   

Stratosphere and Old Strip

From the desolation of Great Basin National Park and eastern Nevada (no cell or internet service), we headed to Las Vegas.  Our time in Vegas was fun and although it is in the middle of a desert, the City was a welcomed change to camping in the desert landscape.  We stayed at Nellis Air Force Base and were reminded about the “sounds of freedom”: F-22s flying low overhead and "Reveille" at 6am for early wake up calls.   

 

Linda and Bob at Hoover Dam

We spent much of our time in the surrounding countryside.  We had an excellent trip to the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.  The dam tour was not available the day we were there due to “operation issues” (not sure what that means).  The dam is impressive and the visitor center has good exhibits about the politics and construction of the dam.  Equally impressive are the exhibits that show the extent of agriculture possible due to water irrigation from the dam, and the hydroelectric power produced by it.  We didn’t know it, but the Salton Sea in southern CA was caused by a massive flood from the Colorado River in 1905 before the dam was built for flood control. It took years to get the Colorado River back into its original course, but the Salton Sea is now the largest lake in CA. Because it is a terminal lake with no outlets, it is very salty; but the water is used to raise seasonal crops in the area. 

Marina at very low water level, Lake Mead

Lake Mead was very low, even with the very heavy snow cover this year; at least 100 feet below the high water mark.  We have to wonder where the water to support all the people in Nevada, Arizona, and Southern California is going to come from in future years.  

 

 

Valley of Fire State Park, NV

Red Rock Canyon, NV

Petroglyphs, Valley of Fire SP, NV

We spent several days visiting the beautiful canyons to the northeast and northwest of Vegas.  The Valley of Fire State Park and Red Rock Canyon are both beautiful, with spectacular red rock cliffs and rock formations.   In Red Rock Canyon, the major geologic feature is The Keystone Overthrust Fault:  Older Paleozoic Limestone moving east over younger Cretaceous Sandstone.  You can easily see all these geologic features because there is no covering foliage.  In the Valley of Fire, we saw one of the more extensive petroglyphs collections found in a single location on a large sheared-off boulder.  The drawings were very high up on a very steep, almost sheer, cliff; the ancient people must have really wanted to make these drawings!  

Basin and Range, NV

We wanted to see if we could find some fossils at the Tule Spring Fossil Bed National Monument, only 15 miles northeast of Las Vegas.  This is one of the newest National Monuments. Interestingly, and unlike some of the other newest monuments, there does not appear to have been any opposition from realtors or landowners to making this land into a monument.  It does not yet have any roads, parking areas, a visitor center or even roadside exhibits. We even talked to a park ranger before we got there, and he was unable to provide any additional information.   We were completely on our own, which made for an “interesting” hike. There are not even good directions on how to find “The Big Dig” – a 1962 excavation that found a huge trove of fossils dating from 250,000 years ago to just 10,000 years ago….an incredibly long span of time for fossils in one area. During this excavation, scientists discovered an abundance of large animal fossils, such as mammoths, camels, bison, ground sloths, and the Giant North American lion. In 2004, almost 10,000 fossils were removed from the southern portion of the area and curated in the San Bernardino County Museum in California. We walked out onto the wash but couldn’t find the dig or anything resembling a fossil.  After about an hour and a half we left…pointless, but a fun exploration anyway.  

Graceland Chapel, Vegas

We are NOT gamblers, so we just enjoyed the “Vegas entertainment”.  We spent a day on the historic old strip, the Las Vegas Boulevard State Scenic Byway.  This is old Las Vegas:  tattoo parlors, bail bondsmen, wedding chapels (including a Graceland Chapel where you are married by Elvis) and old casinos, all mixed together in a seedy part of town. 

 

Old Stardust Neon Sign, Neon Museum, Las Vegas

We visited the Neon Graveyard and Museum, a museum filled with neon signs, some dating back to the 1930s. Each of the 200 + signs came from local casinos, businesses or hotels.  It was pretty cool to see and to hear the history of these iconic places and famous people stories.  We also visited the Mob Museum; a museum about the history of the mob and mob influence in the US; a different side of history than we normally see.  The displays included lots of conspiracy theories, the most notable being that Kennedy was assassinated by the mob because he was targeting them through the Attorney Generals office. The Stratosphere is at the southern end of the old strip.  Great 360 degree views of Las Vegas.  

Slotzilla Zip Line, covered Freemont St, Las Vegas

Our last stop was Fremont Street, an enclosed street on the old strip, which is now a street entertainment venue with bands and lots of outside bars and colorful scenes along the street.  We rode (in the flying position) the zip line that goes the full length of the enclosed street.  We took the elevator to the 10^th story launch platform and zipped about a half mile over the crowds below us…. quite a different experience than zip lining over a rain forest or canyon!  



Chihuly Glass ceiling, Bellagio, Las Vegas

We also spent an evening enjoying a few of the newer, thematic casinos, on the “new” strip.  We started with the Venetian.  It is very elaborate Italian with canals throughout the casino property, inside and out, and even a St. Mark’s Square.  Our next stop was Caesar’s Palace; very Romanesque, with lots of roman columns.  The Bellagio was the most artistic; the entire lobby ceiling is made of Chihuly glass, worth $50 million dollars  (we went to the incredible Chihuly museum in Seattle last year)!   They have a beautiful greenhouse/ conservatory full of gorgeous flowers under a high glass roof….beautiful. Paris, a tribute to Paris, France, hosts the Eiffel tower, Arc de Triumph, and Versailles.   The inside is a little dark, with an at-dusk sky painted on the ceiling meant to be romantic.  After dinner, we watched two street shows:  the Bellagio water show and a volcano eruption at the Mirage.  We were disappointed that we couldn’t see the Treasure Island Pirate Show, a favorite, which was cancelled about 1 year ago. It was a fun evening, just walking and people watching.  

Eiffel Tower, Paris, Las Vegas

Gondola on Canal, INSIDE The Venetian, Las Vegas

Death Valley, CA

We next headed to Death Valley National Park, CA, the largest park, by area, in the continental US.  Although we were early to Great Basin (snow not yet melted), we were late to the Death Valley season.  Much of the park was already closed and summer hours (off season) were in effect.  We were very lucky; instead of the usual 100+ degree weather, we had mid 80s weather.  This was very different from our prior visit to Death Valley in 1986; we took a cross-country tent camping trip with Rob as we moved from New Jersey to Sacramento.  We visited Death Valley during the day when it was over 120 degrees (you could cook an egg on your car hood).  We visited Dante’s Peak at night to see the stars, but even then it was HOT.   When we got down from Dante’s Peak, the only place in the entire valley to cool off was the Furnace Creek Saloon. It was the only place with cold drinks and air conditioning and was packed even at midnight.  There were no rooms available, so we continued to drive all night; it was much too hot to camp or sleep in the car. Just for old time’s sake this trip, we did indulge a cold beverage at the “new” saloon. 

Artist Pallet, Death Valley, CA

We enjoyed traveling the mostly deserted park; Furnace Creek, camped at Stove Pipe Wells, the Ubehebe Crater, and the two highest points on either side of the valley: Aguereberry Point on the west and Dante’s Point on the east.  Interestingly, Dante’s Point is directly above Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the continental US, at 282 feet below sea level; the elevation contrast was awesome.  Artist Drive is a beautiful drive past colorful rocks; Artist’s Pallet, the culmination of the drive, has all kinds of colored rocks mixed together in one small area.  The effect of elevation on temperature was quite evident in Death Valley.  In the valley, the temperature was hotter (mid 80s) than the surrounding mountains; mid 70s at 4000 feet and low 60s at 7000 feet elevation.    

Trona Pinnacles, Trona, CA

Our last desert stop was “boondocking” at Trona Pinnacles, CA. The pinnacles are designated a NNL (National Natural Landscape) by the NPS.  To camp there, we drove 7 miles on a dirt road, parked wherever we wanted,  and set up the motorhome (including our solar panels).  We were the only people there and spent a very silent night under a remarkable clear starry sky. The pinnacles are tufa columns, some as high at 140 feet, that originally formed underwater from calcium carbonate precipitation, between 10,000 and 100,000 years ago, in Searles Lake (now a dry basin). These unusual formations have been used in a variety of movies  including Battleship Galactica, Star Trek V, Dinosaur, Lost in Space and Planet of the Apes. The formations are beautiful in the setting sun.  As a note, Great Basin NP, Death Valley NP, Trona Pinnacles NNL, and even Las Vegas are all in the basin and range formations of the Great Basin.   

Desert Night Sky (NPS Photo)

One of the more interesting features of the many remote places we have visited are the “dark skies”.  Several of the national parks are now promoting dark skies as a way to see the stars, planets, and other astronomical features.  We are very familiar with the darkest skies; while cruising our sailboat,  hundreds of miles out to sea, and no moon, you have VERY dark skies.  Some of the more remote parks (Big Bend TX, Canyonlands UT, Capital Reef UT, Death Valley CA, Natural Bridges UT, etc) are so far removed from city lights, that you can see a wonderful starry sky.  Most of the people living in the US have never seen such a beautiful sky, and we are very supportive of this National Parks effort.    

Our next destination is the mountains and national parks of the Sierra Nevada in California.  More to follow. Feel free to pass the blog link on to anyone who might be interested.   

Best to all,

Linda and Bob  

 

 

 

 

5/13/17 Caverns, Canyons, Sand Dunes and SciFi (New Mexico)

Carlsbad Cavern Formation, NM

While we were camped at Guadeloupe National Park, TX (see out last blog), we visited Carlsbad Caverns in NM.  They are close to each other and run by the same unit of the National Park Service.  Similar to the Guadeloupe Mountains, the topside of the Carlsbad Caverns National Park is in the Chihuahua Desert of southern New Mexico / northern West Texas.  It features high ancient sea ledges, deep rocky canyons, flowering cactus.  We hiked quite a few spring fed canyons to hopefully see some wildlife, but only saw a few rabbits and lots of lizards, snakes and birds.  

Steep Switchback Trail into Natural Entrance

Carlsbad Caverns National Park has over 119 caves, all formed when sulfuric acid dissolved limestone (old sea beds), leaving behind caverns of all sizes.  We entered the original “Natural Entrance”, a steep 1.25 mile tour that follows the original explorer’s route.  The route drops 750 feet down a tall and spacious passage, the Main Corridor.  Alternatively, you can take an elevator down rather than take the 1.5 hour hike in.  If you are in good health, the Natural Entrance tour brings you to parts of the cave you would not otherwise see:  Bat Cave, Devils Spring, Green Lake Overlook and the Boneyard, a complex maze of highly-dissolved limestone that looks like swiss cheese.  You also pass Iceberg Rock, a single 200,000 ton boulder that fell from the cave ceiling.   

Small Park of Big Room, Carlsbad Caverns

The main visitor area, the Big Room or the Hall of the Giants, is the largest single cave chamber, by volume, in North America.  It is the largest chamber in Carlsbad Caverns; it almost 4000 feet long, 625 feet wide, and 255 feet high.  The 1.25 mile trail is relatively flat and some of it is wheel chair accessible so that anyone can see its wonders.   Stalactites (from the roof down), stalagmites (from the floor up), columns (stalactites meeting stalagmites) , drapes (large wavy stalactite type forms from the roof) , and all other cave formations types in all sizes can be seen.  As usual, many of the larger formations are named, although many times you cannot understand how it was names??  We saw the rope ladder used by the explorers in 1924, and the rickety stairs and difficult paths taken by the first tourists.   Much of the cave is not accessible to visitors and there are still some unexplored areas left!   

Candle Lantern Tour, Left Hand Tunnel

In addition to the Natural Entrance and Big Room visit, we took a special guided tour, Left Turn Tunnel,  down through an unimproved section of the cave on dirt trails using only candle lit lanterns. There were some steep, slippery sections, made more difficult by the very low light level. We navigated around cavern pools and fragile formations, trying not to touch them as we passed.   It was very cool to visit the caverns as the early visitors would have seen the cave.  We highly recommend this tour. 

 

Bob and Linda with Candle Lantern

Everywhere we have visited, we are struck by the challenges the early tourists in the late 1800s and early 1900s endured to visit these natural wonders.   The early tourists had incredible difficulties, first to reach such remote places and then to actually visit and see these wonders; they must have really wanted to see them.   

Bats exiting Cave, Dusk, Carlsbad Caverns (NPS photo)

We made sure to see the Bat Flight exit the cave at dusk.  We were lucky to be there after some of the bats had returned from their annual winter migration, usually about mid to late April.  Seventeen species of bats live in the caves, including a large number of Mexican free-tailed bats.  Studies have shown as many as a 750,000 bats in the cave in recent years, but there were only about 200,000 when we visited; many of bats had not yet returned from migration.  The bats started to “boil” out of the cave right at dusk, and incredibly, were still coming out in droves 35 minutes later.  They fly up in a spiral pattern, which looked similar to a tornado.  They head out to hunt insects for food and water and can travel up to 60 miles away during their nightly flight.   Photographs are not allowed since any type of electronic device which emits either light or an electronic signal, can cause changes in bat behavior.   

Bob on rim of sinkhole, Bottomless Lakes State Pk, NM

We drove north to Bottomless Lakes State Park, near Roswell, NM.  This was the first state park established in NM.  The unique lakes in this park are sinkholes, ranging in depth from 17 to 90 feet.   The greenish-blue color created by aquatic plants give the lakes the illusion of greater “bottomless” depth.  The nine small, deep lakes are located along the eastern escarpment of the Pecos River Valley.  The escarpment is part of an ancient shallow sea limestone reef, similar to the limestone mountains of Carlsbad Caverns and Guadeloupe Mountains. High evaporation rates in the shallow seas formed gypsum in limestone which is easily dissolved by underground water percolating through the rocks resulting in sinkholes and lakes.  The present-day high evaporation rate produces brackish (salty) water in the lakes. Only 2 of the lakes support fish and the fish are very small with the largest being about 4 inches long.  We camped at Lee Lake, the largest lake and the only one in which recreation is allowed and is heavily used by Roswell residents and SCUBA divers.  It was an excellent camping base from which to spend a day in Roswell.   

"Alien" lightpost, Roswell, NM

Linda is an avid science fiction fan; therefore, Roswell was a must stop while in New Mexico.  The International UFO Museum and Research Center focuses not only on the events surrounding the UFO crash in 1947, but also other related UFO phenomena:  crop circles, alien abductions, Area 51, ancient peoples artifacts showing “space ships and aliens”, etc.   

 

 

 

 

 

Sketch by Nurse of "alien" beings

Most of the museum is about the events of July 4 through July 9, 1947.  A UFO crashed just north of town.  Detailed investigations of the events and cover-up, conducted during the early 1990s, are the basis of the information provided at the museum.  Many people witnessed the crash, including the control tower at the army air base, which recorded the crash on radar.  The debris, covering three football fields, was found the next day, along with 5 “small, childlike, non-human bodies”.  Mr. Brazel, the rancher who found the debris, brought it to the sheriff, who notified the Intelligence Officer at the base.  Personnel from the army converged on the site and shut down access to everyone.  Then the cover up started:  the military claimed it was a “weather balloon”.  However, everyone at the base who was involved in the events, were quickly dispersed to other bases around the county.  Local, non-military, people were visited by military personnel, who threaten their lives and family’s lives if they talked about the events and what they saw.  The radio station was threatened with loss of license if they published anything about the events.  Several significant witnesses “disappeared” and were declared dead by the military.    

In 1990, there were many eye witnesses that were still alive and they felt compelled to talk about the events and subsequent cover-up during renewed investigations.  Our culture has changed during those 40 years to allow people to feel comfortable to now talk; these witnesses talked about their own personal observations, their interviews were videotaped, and they signed affidavits as to the events.  If you believe the scientific evidence (metallurgy of the metal from the crash site, etc.) and the eye witness testimonies, you would come to the following conclusion:  “something” did crash in Roswell, the metal is unknown even today, 5 child-sized “alien” beings were recovered, and the remains and debris shipped elsewhere.  

Published Picture of "weather balloon"

The most interesting evidence for a “cover-up” comes from the “weather balloon” picture disseminated by the military at that time and widely published in the newspaper.  In the picture of the “weather balloon”, taken in a military office, the military officer showing the “balloon”  has a piece of paper in his hand.  When it was enlarged and read, the paper is a telex/telegram to Washington, marked urgent and confidential, and states they have recovered flying saucer crash debris and alien beings!  So much for honesty.  Many of the witnesses confirm an UFO crash.  The rest of the museum is dedicated to other UFO events and information:  early people recordings of alien beings and spaceships, crop circles and people abductions.  As you go through the museum, you see much of the evidence is quite compelling…  Linda believes it is very probable that we are not alone and are being constantly visited by other beings, Bob is more skeptical.  

We spent the rest of the day in Roswell enjoying more “earthly” pursuits.  We visited two excellent modern art museums, and then spent some time at the Pecos Flavor Winery tasting some New Mexico wines.  It turns out they have a lot of wineries in New Mexico, many located by Los Cruses, and the wines are surprisingly good.  We skipped the expected sweet white wines, but there is a very good dry Riesling, and some of the reds are very good.  We enjoyed an Italian montepulciano, Syrah, and a petit Syrah, but the Zinfandel was a little too sweet for us.   The music was excellent, so we stayed for a glass after our tasting…we chose the petit Syrah.  For you Elks, the Roswell Elks Lodge is also a good place for a less expensive refreshment and surprisingly full and good menu.  

White Sands National Monument, NM

Our next stop in New Mexico was Alamogordo to visit White Sands National Monument.  Great wave-like dunes of rare white gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert.  The monument preserves most of this unique dune field, along with the plants and animals that live there.  We camped at the near-by Holloman AFB. 

Ten thousand years ago, when the Ice Age was over, the climate in the area became drier, and a large inland sea dried up.  Selenite crystals, formed beneath the clay and silt surface of the dried up sea, eventually became exposed.  The large selenite crystals broke up into smaller chunks, finally turning into sand.  The tiny grains are picked up by the wind and bounce along the desert floor, constantly moving to the northeast, eventually forming the famous white dunes.  

Sand Dunes and Mountain Snow, White Sands NM

We enjoyed a short one day visit and picnic lunch in the dunes, drove through the dramatic landscape and hiked the boardwalk to experience the local flora.  It was quite a contrast to see the white sand dunes highlighted against the snow caped mountains….a true sand and snow comparison.  Interestingly, a lot of people were riding down the dunes using snow saucers – to complete the comparison to snow!  

After Albuquerque we knew we would be many miles away from the next major repair center so we made a short unexpected trip to the Albuquerque Cummins Service Center to get our engine check engine light checked out.  Luckily, it turned out to be a minor, quickly repaired item (replaced the EGR Valve), so we ended up with some unexpected time.  We decided to take an overnight diversion on our trip to Nevada, with a quick one-half day visit to the Canyon de Chelly National Monument in eastern Arizona, in the Navajo Nation.  The monument is run jointly by the Navajo Nation and the National Park Service.  

Pueblo Ruins, Canyon de Chelly, AZ

The Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center was only OK… mostly about Navajo History and not much about the canyon itself. However, this proved to be very relevant information since, for almost 5000 years, people have lived in this incredibly beautiful canyon longer than recorded anywhere on the Colorado Plateau. The archeologic record indicates the settlement history as: first the Archaic peoples (2500-200 BCE), Basketmakers (200 BCE – CE 700), Pueblos (750-1300), Hopi (1300-1600), and the Navajo (1700-present).   

Canyon del Chelly National Monument, AZ

Linda, Spider Rock, Canyon de Chelly, AZ

The narrow canyon itself is beautiful; a verdant green canyon floor against the brilliant red 800-1000 feet high sandstone walls, with a year-round stream. It is easy to see why this was a desired settlement location for almost 5000 years.   Throughout the canyon, you can find Pueblo ruins from the Pueblos people period. The Navajo still use the valley to this day, and there is a lot of agriculture in the valley, and small family farm homesteads.   It is definitely worth a stop, and deserves a lot more time than our diversion allowed including taking a Navajo guided jeep tour of the canyon floor.  Unfortunately, we were not able to do the tour.   

 

We headed north for a two day trip to Great Basin National Park, NV. More to follow. Feel free to pass the blog link on to anyone who might be interested.   

Best,

Linda and Bob  

 

 

 

 

5/2/17 West Texas Deserts and Mountains

Big Bend National Park, Texas

After an enjoyable visit to San Antonio, we headed west and south to Big Bend National Park.  Big Bend National Park is in southwest Texas and includes the entire Chisos mountain range and a large swath of the Chihuahuan Desert.  The Park is named Big Bend NP because of the large, almost 90 degree, bend in the Rio Grande (turns from southeast to northeast), which of course forms the border with Mexico. Two distinctive features of the Rio Grande are the Santa Elena Canyon and Boquillas Canyons, both carved by the Rio Grande, and feature steep limestone cliffs on the Mexican side. The Park is huge and isolated so the night skies are so dark the stars seem to jump out at you. 

Boquillas Canyon, Big Bend

We had previously been to Big Bend, once in 1985 with our son Rob on a cross country driving and camping trip when we first moved to northern California. If you can believe it, we visited Big Bend in late June or early July; the Park was deserted-no wonder with the day temperatures over 110 degrees! We only had a short one day camping stay in the Chisos Basin, but long enough to swim to Mexico across the Rio Grande, so we wanted to return and really explore the park under cooler conditions.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset after Storm, Campground, Big Bend

This visit was very different.  It was spring, and mostly warm, and the desert was in bloom!  With the exception of one very big storm one afternoon/evening, we had sunny, clear weather.  We did a lot of hiking, including to and into the Boquillas Canyon on the east side of the park.  The canyon walls tower over 1550 feet straight up on either side of the Rio Grande.  We wanted to hike the Santa Elena Canyon on the west side of the park, but a flash flood on Terlingua Creek, which you had to cross, closed the trail while we were there.   

 

Santa Elena Canyon, Big Bend

 We particularly enjoyed a visit to the Chisos Basin, a basin inside the top of the Chisos mountain range, which are wholly contained within Big Bend National Park.  The weather in the basin was at least 10-15 degrees cooler than the desert floor.  The most interesting aspect of the Chisos mountains are that they are a “mountain island” surrounded by desert.  Many species of plants and some animals are now “trapped” in the mountains, and would not survive if they left that environment. There are a few bobcat, mountain lion and bears in the high country.  

 

 

Desert Valley through The Window, Chisos Basin

 

Javelina, Rig Grand Village Campground, Big Bend

The most interesting animal we encountered was the Javelina.  These are members of the pig family and travel in small herds or “family groups”.  They are active in early morning and late afternoon, and were found throughout our campground at those times.  They usually feed on cacti, fruits and insects, but have found human food to be easy to get.  They will search in a campsite for food in coolers, or even in tents or cars if left open.  The herd we encountered was used to human interaction.   

Fossil Head, 40 Ft Crock, found only in Big Bend

Big Bend is a geologist’s paradise, partly due to easy observation of the various strata, but also the complex geologic history of the area.  The geology spans from 500 million year old rock at the north Persimmon Gap entrance, to the current sand dunes in Boquillas Canyon.  From about 200 to 300 million years ago (mya), Big Bend was under an inland sea; the sediment accumulated during that time became sandstone and shale bed.   Those strata eventually became mountains that eroded down, and are now found as the oldest rock layer near Persimmon Gap.  Subsequently, a warm, shallow sea invaded some 135 to 100 mya, allowing deposition of lime and sea organisms, which eventually became the dramatic limestone walls of the Santa Elena and Boquillas canyons, and the magnificent cliffs to the south of the Rio Grande in Mexico.  From 100 to 65 mya, the sea retreated forming lowlands which was home to dinosaurs, fish and reptiles.  The fossils found in Big Bend are incredible, including a giant flying reptile, with a wingspan of over 35 feet.  Finally, volcanic eruptions from about 38 to 32 million years ago formed the Chisos Mountains and the surrounding mountains.   Differential erosion is the key to the current topography and landscape.  There is an excellent new Fossil Discovery Center in Big Bend with incredible local early-to-late Cretaceous fossils and a fabulous explanation of the complex geology and environment found at each stage.   

 

 

Bob Hiking, Big Bend

Linda under Balanced Rock, Big Bend
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Illegal Goods", Mexican Art Stand, Big Bend Hiking Trail

There is one border crossing from Big Bend into Mexico that is open part of the week.  Boquillos Mexico is on the other side.  The Mexicans from that town routinely just cross the river anywhere, and use the US side as if their own country.  Several Mexican artists have little “gift stands” set up on the main hiking trails.  They leave their artwork, with a price, and a can for you to put $$ in.  Interestingly, the National Park Service newspaper cautions from buying from these stands since the goods are contraband and illegal.   

Orig Jersey Lilly Bar, Only Law West of the Pecos

We left Big Bend and headed west on Highway 90.  If you go that way, do make a brief interesting stop at Langfry TX (don’t blink or you will miss it), home to Judge Roy Bean-he was the ONLY law west of the Pecos River, and a very interesting story.  

 

 

 

 

Judd Concrete Art, Chianti Foundation, Marfa, TX

We camped and spent a day in Marfa, TX.  Our friends Jeffery and Louise Leibovitz highly recommended stopping at Marfa, but the published reviews were very mixed; some good, some bad.  Marfa has become a cultural center for contemporary artists.  Minimalist, Donald Judd, moved to Marfa from New York City.  Judd acquired a decommissioned military base (Fort Russel), and began transforming the fort’s buildings into art spaces in 1979.  He began to install his art for permanent display.   Since Judd’s death in 1994, two foundations work to maintain his legacy.  We had a tour of the Chinati Foundation (you need a reservation-AM only), and saw art work by Judd and other selected artists.   After seeing it, we would say it was interesting, but not really our preferred type of art.  The most interesting aspect of Marfa town was the eclectic people: old time Texan ranchers, hardworking Hispanics, and young artist/student residents and tourists; many were young millennials and quite a few from New York City….a kind of mini New York art district. Marfa bills itself like this: “New York, Paris, London, Marfa”.  We camped in Marfa with new friends we had just made at Big Bend and dinned together at one the great Marfa restaurants.  It was a fun stop.  Go there and you can judge the art for yourself.  

"Star Party" Telescopes, McDonald Observatory

We next headed to Ft. Davis, TX, home of well restored and preserved historic 1860s to 1900 Army Fort Davis, built to protect the San Antonio - El Paso Road used by early settlers and travelers to California.  We made a reservation to attend a “star party” at the nearby McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains.  Research today at the McDonald Observatory encompasses a wide variety of topics and projects, including planetary systems, stars and stellar spectroscopy, the interstellar medium, extragalactic astronomy, and theoretical astronomy, including the newest project to discover the nature of “dark energy”, a mysterious force causing the expansion of the universe to speed up. There are three large telescope facilities for professional use.   

"Whirlpool",  intersecting galaxies, through telescope, McDonald Observatory

The star party program started about 9pm and WAS EXCELLENT.  We started at a large outdoor amphitheater, where there was a very interesting talk about the constellations and the planets.  Without a telescope, in addition to the stars and constellations, we saw the Iridium Satellite Flair, and even some meteors (shooting starts).  There was no moon showing that night (the moon was up during the day), so the stars were brilliant.  After learning about the constellations and why the Milky Way is not so bright and obvious in the winter, we then visited 7 different telescopes to see:  a brilliant Jupiter and 4 moons, the whirlpool galaxy (two intersecting galaxies), a star cluster, a nebula in Orion (some of the youngest stars in the galaxy), a very old galaxy, etc.  They have four large permanently mounted telescopes around the amphitheater for visitor use during this and other events, and some slightly smaller telescopes that are set up for the party.  We finished up at midnight and drove home down a dark road with incredible skies…this is a definitely a dark sky area, similar to Big Bend.  

El Capitan and Guadeloupe Peak, Guadeloupe Mtn Ntl Park

Our last stop in Texas was the Guadeloupe Mountains National Park, the “Texas Alps”. Guadalupe Mountains National Park is in the vast Chihuahuan Desert of western Texas. It’s known for its bright-white Salt Basin Dunes, wildlife-rich grassland and fossilized reef mountains (the famous Permian Limestone Reef which formed about 250 million years ago - too early for any life except the earliest life forms).  Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at 8,749 feet, has fabulous views of El Capitan peak, to the south.  We camped at the base of Guadeloupe Peak.  It was VERY windy during our entire stay, and we had to keep the slide outs pulled in much of the time…this made for much closer living arrangements than we normally have.  Our motorhome rocked and rolled in the wind gusts – made us feel like we were back on our sailboat Villomee, but at least we did not need to worry about dragging anchor  J.  We hiked a couple of the local trails, but not the very strenuous hike to the “Top of Texas”; an 8 hour,  8.4 mile hike, with over 3000 ft elevation gain and into a 20-30 (gusts to 50) mph headwind coming down the valley and 90 degree temp.  We are not quite at that hiking level …yet J, but it is very scenic. 

McKittrick Canyon and Stream, Guadeloupe Mtn Ntl Park

We did complete the McKittrick Canyon hike; a beautiful 4.8 mile hike up an increasingly lush canyon with a year-round stream at its upper end.   This canyon is considered one of the most beautiful in Texas, especially during the fall.  Thousands of visitors come to experience the brilliant reds and oranges of the canyon (maples and other colorful deciduous trees), which contrast sharply with the desert foliage, not seen elsewhere in West Texas.   There is a homestead mid-way up the canyon, which was owned and occupied by Pratt, a geologist, from the 1930s until the 60s.  Pratt donated the land to the park service in 1961. We have seen the generosity of many people in the US, whose donations to the National Park Service and various state park systems, have helped to expand and preserve the beautiful places in our country for following generations. 

We are next headed to New Mexico, starting with Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell and White Sands. 

We continue to be blessed with a great trip and safe travels.  Feel free to pass the blog link on to anyone who might be interested.  

Best,

Linda and Bob