WEST TEXAS AND BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK

November, 2018

According to MapQuest the distance between Austin and Fort Stockton is 337 miles.  We headed out from Austin through Hill Country, and 40 miles west of Fredericksburg we connected with I-10, and we soon found ourselves driving Amiee across the prairie of West Texas.  West Texas is one of those parts of the country where you could lose your dog for 3 days and still see him (thank you Junior Bugg).  Gene Autry came to mind: “Oh give me land, lots of land, and the starry skies above…” as did Don Swander and Jean Hershey: “The prairie sky is wide and high (clap, clap, clap, clap) deep in the heart of Texas…” as did Vic Mizzy: “Land spreadin’ out so far and wide.  Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside!”

One of the facts about wide open spaces is that the wind blows constantly, and while there were signs warning us about the probability of very strong crosswinds, the signs should have added this warning: “Hey stupid – don’t bring that big metal box through here unless you have nerves of steel, a quick response time to being blown over half a lane, and enough gas to make it to the next souvenir shop that sells gas.”  That’s right – a souvenir shop that sells gas, and advertises every 10 miles or so (think Wall Drug in South Dakota).  Those shops are strategically placed about 75-100 miles apart and nowhere near anything that looks like a city.  So nothing but a continuous upgrade, prairie and wind and prairie for miles and miles and miles and no gas for miles and miles and miles.  Really.  Every so often you might see small communities (a mirage?), but they are places of only a few homes and/or trailers.  We wondered why anyone would want to or continue to live out there, but then again, we weren’t raised in West Texas.  Sonora, Ozona, and Iraan were the cities along our route, and the average population of each of these three cities was less than 2,500.  Barbara commented that the small communities and cities looked abandoned.

We settled in for our week in Fort Stockton, a city of 8,500 located about half way between Big Bend, Carlsbad Caverns and The Guadalupe Mountains National Parks.

Time to get our National Park on!

Big Bend National Park was named after a large bend in the Rio Grande River, and the Park encompasses 801,163 acres – an area larger than the State of Rhode Island.  For more than 1,000 miles, the Rio Grande/Río Bravo Rivers form the boundary between Mexico and the United States, and Big Bend National Park administers approximately 118 miles of that boundary.  The Park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States.  It protects more than 1,200 species of plants, more than 450 species of birds, 56 species of reptiles, and 75 species of mammals.  Geological features in the park include sea fossils, dinosaur bones, and volcanic dikes.  A volcanic dike occurs when a sheet of rock is formed when the fracture in a pre-existing rock body is filled-in with sediment or magma (yeah – we had to re-read this over a couple of times to understand it).  The volcanic dikes as well as the shifting of tectonic plates so many millions of years ago caused the topography of Big Bend to be helter-skelter; just thrown together.  Within the Park are marine and continental sedimentary rocks, intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks, and metamorphic rocks.  Flat desert, rounded hills, mountain peaks, hoodoos, valleys and higher elevations all jumbled into what your eyes can see.  The east side of the park so vastly different than the west.  We imagined that the landscape had been formed following the volcanic upheaval portrayed in the “Night on Bald Mountain” segment of Disney’s “Fantasia.” Our first day in the Park started out overcast and a little foggy, which added to the awe with which we found the terrain.  Couldn’t help but stop along the way to take a few snapshots.

Entering Big Bend National Park

We didn’t realize in practical terms what it means to encompass 801,163 acres.  From the entry gate (glad we purchased a $10 All-Parks pass several years ago) we drove approximately 26 miles to our first official stop:  The Fossil Discovery Exhibit.

The Fossil Discovery Exhibit represents more than 130 million years of geological history.  There have been over 1200 fossil species found in Big Bend National Park including multiple species of dinosaurs, and vegetation such as “petrified” wood.  The dinosaur fossils date back 66 million years, the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary during which the dinosaur extinction event occurred.  Fascinating exhibit!

The world’s largest known flying creature of all time was found in Big Bend. This is Quetzalcoatlus northropi, a pterosaur (flying reptile).  This picture also contains the casting of a Tyrannosaurus and Deinosuchus Riograndensis heads.

The femur bone of Alamosaurus; a dinosaur world vegan

Cast of the head of Deinosuchus Riograndensis; a 35-foot long giant alligator (dinogator?)

It’s another 12 miles or so to the Visitors Center at Panther Junction at which point it’s 45 miles to the southwest corner and 32 miles to the southeast corner of the Park.  In between those landmarks are over 150 miles of trails for day hiking or backpacking trips, and just for reference, elevations range from 1,800 feet along the Rio Grande to 7,832 feet on Emory Peak in the Chisos Mountains. There are also over 250 miles of unpaved roadways leading to some amazing sites, but be forewarned:  the Ranger we spoke with hinted not so subtly that we’d make our own roadway (sic) heading down those paths.

First Day Big Bend National Park In Pictures: West Side of The Park

Exhausted, we headed back to Fort Stockton.  Just outside of Marathon, Texas (population 470) all traffic was diverted from the roadway and subject to questioning and potentially having your vehicle inspected by US Border Patrol.  It looked like this inspection station had been a permanent fixture for some time – not something thrown up in a hurry.  As a dog close by barked and growled at our presence a very pleasant, but well-armed young officer asked if it was just the 2 of us in the vehicle.  We answered affirmatively, and with a “have a nice day” from the officer we were sent on our way.

We stayed on the paved roadway throughout the Park with one exception.  On our second day in Big Bend National Park we found ourselves traveling a short mile-and-a-half off-road on a dirt path that brought us to a natural parking area.  Another mile-and-a-half hike into a canyon brought us past some petroglyphs, down to the Rio Gande River, and to Hot Springs!

Second Day Big Bend National Park In Pictures:  East Side of The Park.  Topography is so much different than the west side of Big Bend National Park!

There’s one more “saw it with our own eyes” to report.  Every so often while we were hiking on the east side of the Park we’d see handmade souvenirs in the shape of animals, reptiles, amphibians and birds made from colored wire; wooden walking sticks, and small canvas bags.  Usually there’d be a honesty box in which you’d place $10 if you wanted to take one home with you.  Couldn’t help looking them over, and then noticed a young man coming up the hill from the River to replenish the supply.  When we started to move along he went back down the hill, hopped into a canoe and paddled across the Rio Grande River back to his encampment in Mexico.  We could only imagine that he did this every day, and we were startled at how easy it was to cross between 2 countries.

Big Bend National Park may be out of the way for many travelers, but being a land full of wonderment and allure it is worth the trip.  Did I mention that it is also a dark sky location for those of you fascinated with our solar system?

We continue to be amazed at the sites we encounter along our journey.

Barbara and Brian