Bob’s Best of the Big Bend

When I noticed that Far Flung Family Center was asking for people to submit favorite photos of the Big Bend for their Facebook page, I thought I’d post a few of my own favorite images from my past visits to that magnificent area.  This place is dear to Ann’s and my own heart.  We visit there around twice a year, and always find new thrills.  These photos are not of birds, but some of my own favorite images from Big Bend National Park

Rio Grande with Santa Elena Canyon in background

Above is one of my favorite images in Big Bend National Park.  We were on the Ross Maxwell Highway heading down towards the eastern entrance to Santa Elena Canyon.  Aproximately five miles before reaching the canyon proper, the Rio Grande makes a bend towards the highway.  I used a wide angle setting on my 24-105mm zoom that was attached to my Canon EOS 7D.  With that, I was able to compose the picture to include the canyon in the background in the upper right.

Santa Elena Canyon

This is the eastern delta of Santa Elena Canyon.  The Rio Grande comes out of the canyon here on it’s journey to the Gulf coast.  As you can see in the picture, the water is running pretty shallow at the time of this photo.  You can see some canoers  getting ready to paddle upstream into the canyon.  The walls soar upwards to 1,500 feet, and you might see Peregrine Falcons flying overhead, as they nest in these cliffs.

Mountain Paintbrush

One of the wildflowers that you might see in the Big Bend is this Mountain Paintbrush.  I love the vibrant, glowing reds of the blossoms.  Mountain Bluebonnets are plentiful here in the spring, also.

Desert Storm

A desert rainstorm can pop up anytime, with cooling rains.  Those tall desert plants in the foreground are Ocotillo.  They are tall with glowing, fiery red blossoms on the tips of the stalks.  We have two in our yard at home that are about 18 feet tall.

Mountains in the Mist

This is an image that was taken on a really, really wet day, early in the year.  Heavy, water laden clouds were everywhere.  The mountains of the Chisos range were peeking about the lower clouds.  I was having difficulty keeping my cameras dry, so I was photographing from the car window.  That is not a difficult task, however.  Fortunately, traffic was very light, mostly because of the obvious bad weather.

Desert Butte

On drier days, this is a very familiar sight in Big Bend National Park.  Great vistas of mountains and buttes.  In such an environment a person has trouble in deciding which way to aim the camera.

Bobcat photographed near Rio Grande Village Campground.

Wildlife abounds Big Bend National Park.  High in the Chisos are approximately thirty black bears.  Throughout the rest of the park are bobcat, deer, rabbit, birds, hawks, small varmints, not to mention about two dozen or more mountain lions roam.  Recently, desert long-horned goats have been introduced to the area.

I was fortunate to photograph the Bobcat near the Rio Grand Village Campground in the eastern part of the park, near Boquillas Canyon.  As I drove through the deserted campground, he, or she, leaped from the brush and promptly sat down near a tree.  I used my 100-400mm lens from the car for the photo, before it loped off, nearly in the path of a hunting coyote.

Mule Ears Peak at dusk.

Another of my favorite images from the park, is the photo of the Mule Ears Peaks, taken near dusk.

I hope you have enjoyed this pictures and narratives.  Prints are available for sale if you are interested.  Just contact me for particulars.  Click on any image to see an enlargement.

Adventures from the Big Bend – Wednesday – Day 3

In yesterdays’, Day 2 Tuesday post, I forgot to mention our evening dinner plans.  We were tired, but we thought a cold margarita and a steak would be good.  We went to the LaKiva Bar and Restaurant.  It is a place that you could only call unique.  It is more or less a cave-like structure.  It is actually built into the banks of Terlingua Creek, so it is partially underground, so to speak.

This being a Tuesday, it was Karoke Night.  In previous visits there I had got up and sang a couple of tunes myself.  Not this time though.  We got there at 5:00PM, had our margaritas, (me – two), a delicious steak filet and we were out of there before 7:00PM.  We went back to the casita and sat on the porch for awhile.  I guess we’re getting too old for shenanigans. 🙂

Now on the morning of  Wednesday, Day 3, we decided to take a guided Jeep tour through the back country around Terlingua and Study Butte.  It is another service that is provided at extra cost by the Far Flung Outdoor Center.  Thinking that the Roadrunner Deli didn’t open until 8:00AM we opted to eat at a nearby motel restaurant.  Our tour was scheduled at 8:45AM.  A young lady, Laura, was a very informed guide, and she gave us an education about the geological history of the area.

The tour was over at 11:00AM, so we had some light snacks and headed for the Chisos Mountains, in Big Bend National Park.  The Chisos are the center-piece of the park, with peaks rising to over 8,000 feet.  Our destination was the area called the Basin.  After driving up through Green Gulch, the highway tops out and about 6,000 feet, then you drive back down into the Basin which is at the 5,000 foot elevation.

Drive through Green GulchGreen Gulch and Mt. Casa Grande

On the floor of the Basin are campgrounds, and the Chisos Lodge and Restaurant.  If you visit and want to stay at the lodge, you need to make reservations about two months in advance.  It is surrounded by peaks, including Mount Casa Grande, not the highest, but the most photographed peak in the park.

Mt. Casa Grande

All the water that is collected in the Basin is drained at the pour-off at the bottom of  The Window, a vee-shaped formation on the western side of the basin.  A trail leads to the bottom of the “vee” where you can look over the edge to a  several hundred foot drop to the desert below.  A shorter trail takes you to an over-look where you have a spectacular view, also, looking far out over the Chihuahan desert for many miles.

The Window

 That drive into the Chisos took up all the afternoon.  After returning to our casita, we freshed up and decided on pizza at Long Draw Pizza.  On our many visits to the Big Bend area we passed this established many, many time.  We always ignored it as it, from the outside, looks like just a half of a large mobile home.  Drab looking with just a simple sign outside in a dirt parking lot.  You could kinda picture a red-neck cowboy, behind the bar and serving beer.

But we had recently heard that it really had the best pizza in west Texas.  We were delightly surprised, when walking in, discovered a nice looking, very inviting atmosphere.  Never judge a book by it’s cover, right?  We sat down and were greeted by Nancy, the owner, cook and dishwasher.  The pizza was fantastic and the beer was ice cold.  We ordered a medium size and had enough left for the following evening.

So then back to our room for a good night’s rest, because on Day 4 we are heading up Ross Maxwell Drive for some more photos to show you.

Until then, click on the images to see enlargements and enjoy.

Big Bend Series, Part II – The Fun Things

In Part I, I mentioned the dangers of the Big Bend Country, including a recounting of one of my experiences.  But now, I will talk about the enjoyable things to do while visiting the area.  Things like rafting, hiking, bird watching. etc.  Sit back and enjoy.

Rafting.  Rafting the Rio Grande is one of the fun experiences that Ann and I have indulged in.  While we’re not fans of the Class V White-water trips, we did go on several of the half-day float trips that the Far Flung Adventures people offered.  On that trip, we were carried by van upstream to the Grassy Meadows river access. 

Rafting the Rio Grande

There we put on life-jackets, and started our short journey back to Lajitas.  A guide accompanied us, of course, and naturally he done all the work.  We just sat back against the gunwhales of the raft and took in the magnificent mountain scenery.  I took the above photo from our raft.  We passed by occasional deer or javelina, and once we saw a crocodile.  Yes, that’s right.  Apparently, someone had a pet and decided to dispose of it into the Rio Grande.  It stayed there for a couple of years, but hasn’t been seen now for several months.  Speculation is that it probably died of lonelinest or old age.  Somewhere back in my archives I have a photo of it.  If I come across it, I’ll post it here.  I was shooting film then and it is probably amongst my many boxes of negatives.

There are many raft trips available, depending on your budget and/or your available time.  There are one-day trips through the lower canyons.  There are multiple-day trips through Santa Elena Canyon, including at least one that brings a chef with catered gourmet meals.  Candles included.

Hiking.  Trails abound in Big Bend National Park, some easy, some very difficult.  In Part I, I told you about the Grapevine Hills Trail.  Many trails are in the Chisos Mountains including the famous Window Trail.  It is one of the popular ones because of the scenic beauty. 

The Window at Sunset

The Window is a large V shaped opening in the western side of the Chisos.  It is down through that opening that all the rains drain out of the Chisos Basin.  It is about a two mile hike from the Basin parking lot that decends about 800 feet to the large slippery pouroff at the bottom.  It is about a 300 foot drop-off at that point.  The trouble with the hike is the strenuous climb back up the trail to the trailhead. 

Santa Elena Canyon

Another popular hike is the Lost Mine Trail that takes you in to the high country.  Then there is the trail to the South Rim, a very difficult, strenuous hike to the south part of the Chisos high country.  Awesome views of the Mexican Sierra Del Carman reward you when you get there, not to mention a 2000 foot drop off to the desert.

Mule Ears Peak

Birding.  There 450 species of birds that can be seen in the various birding areas in the park, depending on the time of year.   At Rio Grande Village RV park, on the east side of the park, is a good place for birding.  Also the Cottonwood Campground.  The Chisos Mountains is an area for the Mexican Jay.  That bird is indigenous only to the Chisos Mountains, as is the Colima Warbler.  Peregrine Falcons can be seen at Santa Elena Canyon.  On our recent trip, Ann and I found a nice place to watch birds at the old Sam Neal Ranch ruins.  While there we were over-run by a pack of six Javelinas.    It was while we were birding at Rio Grande Village campground that I came upon the Bobcat that I was able to photograph.

Bobcat

Besides the rafting, hiking, and birding that I mentioned, there also jeep trips, hore-back trips, all arranged by Far Flung Adventures.  The park also offers activities to feature tours about the various flora, and there star-gazing activities.  Big Bend National Park encompasses over 800,00 acres.  Although it is large in size, it is one of the least visited parks in the system.  It is estimated that on the busiest day of the year, there is 200 acres available per person.

More to come in coming days……………

Happy Birding!!

More Big Bend/West Texas Photos

Here are some more photos from our recent trip to the Big Bend area of West Texas.  Click on any image for an enlargement.  Enjoy.

Cactus Wren

 

Indian Pictographs

 

Pronghorn Antelope

 

Hawk on wire

 

Dark-eyed Junco

 

Snow in Davis Mountains

 

Mountain Bluebird on post

 

Chisos Mountains and Cholla

 

Windmill near Sam Neil ranch ruins

 

Desert and Chisos Mountains snow

 

Snow-covered Prickly Pear

 

Mountain Bluebonnets

 

Big Bend National Park

Since we made that short trip to the Big Bend last week, I haven’t touched on it much in my blog.  Now that I have gotten things caught up here a bit, I think I will try to enlighten you a little bit.

First of all, Big Bend National Park is located in Brewster County, Texas.  A

Mule Ears Peak in drizzly rain

 few facts about Brewster County.  It is the largest county in Texas.  It is larger than the state of Connecticut.  It is larger than the combined states of Vermont and New Hampshire.  Now mind you, this is a County that I am talking about.  The largest city in Brewster county is Alpine, population a little over 6,000  and it is the county seat.

Mount Casa Grande

Big Bend National Park covers 801,000 acres.  It is the largest in land area of the national parks, but the least visited.  That honor goes to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  On the busiest day of Big Bend NP it is still less busier than the slowest day in Great Smoky Mountains NP.  It is estimated that on an average day in Big Bend NP there is 200 acres per visitor.  That is lots of elbow room.  But of course, that is by no means a negative against Great Smoky Mountains NP.  I’ve been there twice and I absolutely love it, even though there are more people.  I just wanted to make the point that Big Bend NP is desolate, dry, sparsely populated, but there is a rugged beauty that will leave you in awe.  But you must take care.  Everything there will either sting you, prick you, or bite you.

There are approximately 2 dozen each of mountain lions and black bears.

Santa Elena Canyon

You will also see coyotes, javelinas, white-tailed deer, red coach-whips, scorpians, etc.  But will you will also see awesome rock formations, mountains, and deep canyons.  One of the most accessible canyons is Santa Elena Canyon, formed by the Rio Grande river.  The walls tower above you to 1,500 feet and it is less than 100 yard wide.  It stretches about nine miles along it’s length.  The Ross Maxwell Drive takes you right up to the mouth of it.

The Chisos Mountains is the center-piece of the park.  Towering to an altitude of around 8,000 feet they are hard to miss.  The center of the range is bowl shaped and the floor of it, at an altitude of 5,000 feet, is referred to as the Basin.  There you find the Lodge with excellent accomadations.  Also camping facilities.  There are hiking trails galore in the Chisos, with one that will take you up to the south rim where is there is sheer 2,000 foot drop-off, and a view where you can see forever.

The Window

Two of the most photographed sights in the Chisos are Mount Casa Grande and The Window.  The Window is a large V-shaped opening on the west side of the mountain range.  All of the water that falls in the Basin drains down through that opening.  At the pour-off there is a steep, very slippery, drop-off.  The sunsets that can be seen through The Window are a sight that you won’t soon forget.  And the view isn’t bad either.  You can see for 50-60 miles to the west from that 5000 foot elevation.

When we made the trip last week, we were unable to get reservations at the

Mountains in the Mist

Lodge in the Basin.  It books up several months in advance.  We however, had nice accomadations outside the west park entrance in Study Butte.  Our first day we traveled up into the Chisos and the Basin.  We ate lunch there, done a little birding, then we left and proceeded to tour the Ross Maxwell highway.  There are a lot of interesting sights along there, including some awesome scenic view pull-offs.  We stopped at the store in Castolon for a break, then proceded to Santa Elena Canyon.  After doing a little photography there we headed back to Study Butte, for dinner at La Kiva restaurant.  Then back to the motel where we sat outside our rooms and watched the sun set over the mountains to the west.

On Tuesday, we drove back in to the park, all the way over to the east side, to Rio Grande Village.  Nearby is an equally impressive Bouquillas Canyon, but because of muddy conditions, and because we had seen it on two other occasions, we by-passed taking that trail back to the entrance.  Rio Grande Village is an RV park.  There was a massive, devastating  flood in Big Bend NP nearly a year ago.  The Rio Grande was 24 feet over flood stage, the worst flood since the park opened in 1944.  It took quite a toll on the infrastructure, and you can still see the signs of the damage.  But on the other hand, there are great signs of recovery, too.

So, that’s about in on my travelogue.

Happy Birding!!

more photos at www.zellertexasphotos.com

Back From the Big Bend

Wow!!  What a great time we had.  The trip started when we left San Angelo on Sunday morning.  We had a lot of drizzly, wet, and very foggy on the way

Big Bend Moutains

 down.  When we did get to Big Bend National Park we were greeted to scenes like this one.  The foggy clouds drifting in and out among the mountain peaks.  So since we couldn’t see the birds for awhile I decided to take advantage of the beautiful scenes and get some nice images of the vistas.

The weather was pretty much like this through Monday evening.  But we really dodged the showers.  The sun would come out in sporadic bursts and we would catch sight of various birds and wildlife.  We saw several javelinas, a red coachwhip snake, a coyote, a couple of antelope and mule-eared deer.

Later Tuesday afternoon we saw this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk sitting atop a

Red-tailed Hawk

sotol.  He was maybe a 100 yards off the highway, far enough that he wasn’t disturbed by our presence.  I had time to unload my tripod and 500mm lens and get set up.  I took a few shots of him sitting there, then after about 5 minutes he must have spotted some dinner, so he took off.  I was ready for him and got off several shots of him in flight.  One is pictured here.  Then furthur on we came across this meadowlark, sitting on a barbed-wire fence, just singing his heart out.  I had my 500mm resting on

Western Meadowlark

 the floor between the front seats, so I just pulled to the side of the road.  I hand-held the camera for this shot, as I knew I wouldn’t have too much time to make the photograph.  In actuallity I really wasn’t sure if this is an Eastern or a Western Meadowlark.  I just decided to go with the Western for the sake of “convenience”.

During our stay we stayed at the Chisos Mining Company Motel in Study Butte.   A very nice clean and inexpensive accomodation.  We ate our evening meals at a nearby restaurant by the name of La Kiva.  So named becaused it is partially “under-ground”, it is built into the bank of Terlingua Creek.  Excellent food and drink.  Think “margarita”.   It just so happened that Tuesday was Kareoki Night.  I was somehow talked into doing my part to entertain the locals, and rendered my version of a couple ballads.  It went very well, considering I hadn’t sang in public in about 25 years.

So it is good to be back, but I can be ready in a couple of hours, if  someone wants to invite me to go again.

Happy birding!!

More photos at www.zellertexasphotos.com

Headin’ for Big Bend

Tomorrow Ann and I are heading for Big Bend area of southwest Texas.  We’ll

Mexican Jay

 be back sometime late Wednesday afternoon.  I hope to keep posting to the blog if possible.  It depends on if I can find a wi-fi hot-spot.  If not I will catch up with you readers on Thursday.

We hope to spend most of the time in Big Bend National Park and do a little birding.  The Chisos Mountains are home to the Colima Warbler and is the only place it can be found in the United States.  The mountains are also the only place in Texas that the Mexican Jay, seen pictured here, can be seen.   It can also be found in southern Arizona.  I have never seen a Colima Warbler, so it will be a lifer for me if I can spot one.  Of course, I would like the opportunity to photograph the Mexican Jay again.

So check back frequently, and I’ll try to keep you updated if conditions permit, i.e. finding a internet connection.  We’ll be staying in Terlingua at the Chisos Mining Company at Easter Egg Valley motel. 

Happy Birding!!

more photos at www.zellertexasphotos.com.