Homeward Bound – needs Editing and Pix

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

We left Canyon (Amarillo) today with a strong north wind blowing at us. Nothing what it was like for the past couple of days, but still strong enough to lower our gas mileage considerably.  We travelled through the northern part of Texas referred to as the high plains and across the narrow part of Oklahoma.  This was a continuation of the same rolling country that we have been traversing for the last few days. 

Liberal, Kansas was different.  It’s “gimmick” is, the Wizard of Oz, featuring Dorothy’s House.  We didn’t actually stop to see it as we had reservations in North Platte, Nebraska for the night.  Kansas, at least along US 83, has corn, wheat, cattle and some oil.  They grow the corn under irrigation and around the periphery, beyond the arc of the irrigation machines, they grow winter wheat.  The wheat is now about 2 or 3 inches high in most places.  And the corn…the corn is for the cattle: lots and lots of cattle in huge feedlots.  And the stench!  The stench is unimaginable.  Just driving by made me almost lose it; it was that bad!  That is with the windows closed!

We arrived in North Platte, Nebraska around 6:00 PM, having put in 487 miles.  While we were having supper we heard a knock on the door and a guy said that we had honked at him today.   He was a Manitoban and we had honked at a few Manitobans, today who were also heading north.  This guy just so happened to recognize our trailer in the campground and came over to talk.  He said he was from a little town to the west of Winnipeg called Holland, Manitoba.  As we were talking he said something about Baldur, Manitoba.  I said, “Hey, do you know the Desrochers??”  He said there was a lot of them around, so I named, Sheila and Dan. (I had worked with Sheila at Canadian Blood Services.) Oh yeah, he knew Sheila and her friend Brian.  Big into Belgium bowling!!  Anyway, we asked his name and we gave him our card as he said he was likely going to see Brian in a few days.   This world seems to be getting smaller with everyone we talk to.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Up at the crack of dawn in North Platte, Nebraska.  We were actually on the road before 8:00 am.  We drove through the main street of the city and it seems like a very neat, well kept town.  As we continued northward through Nebraska, the rolling hills seemed to get steeper and there were more little ponds around.  Winter seems to have just let go her icy grip in this area.  We have always liked Nebraska – we have stayed at Fort Robinson on the west side a couple of times and our trip up Hwy US 83 was just as nice as our previous trips. 

Before we knew it and without any fanfare we were in South Dakota.  Not a sign. Nothing.  We entered into the Rosebud Indian Reserve and it appears to be every bit as impoverished as our Canadian reserves.  We saw in the gullies and some of the far away hills patches of snow that still have not yet melted.  A reminder that we are moving north!

Just outside of White River, I looked in my passenger side mirror to see something flapping below the trailer.  When I was finally able to pull over I saw that the aluminum side skirting that wraps underneath the trailer had given way.  I think that the strong winds had managed to rip the aluminum through the screw heads.  Once it got a hold it just ripped all of them out.  So with the trailer rocking with each passing semi trailer I got under and screwed-up the skirting, while Janet pushed it around and handed me screws as I needed them and within an hour we were back on the road.  As we continued through the northern part of South Dakota we saw at least 30 dead dear…I suppose the corn fields are like a magnet to them.  We also saw a large number of ring-necked pheasants feasting on the leftover corn.

We arrived at our campsite around 5;45 and had pizza made and in the oven by 6:30.  North Dakota still has a fair amount of snow in the protected areas and in some of the ditches.  Some of the larger lakes still have a layer of slushy ice on them.  So winter is still in evidence here as well. 

Janet told me that we have been away for 78 days and I think that we are both anxious to get home and see our family and friends.

Lubbock to Canyon – needs pix

Sunday, March 28, 2010

The wind had died down this morning to about 25 mph out of the north.  It was hitting us almost head-on so it wasn’t too bad.  When it hits on the side it can tend to push you out of your lane and can be much more dangerous. Fortunately we only had to drive about 120 miles today to get to our campground just outside of Canyon and the terrain was as flat as southern Manitoba.  As a matter of fact it looks very similar to Manitoba in the spring,with the trees just starting to leaf out and the dry grass in the ditches just starting to green up.

We arrived at Palo Duro RV Park just before noon.  The sites are very long but close together and seems to be very well cared for.  It is also just 8 miles away from the Grand Canyon of Texas – the Palo Duro Canyon. 

We went into the Palo Duro Canyon this afternoon and it was somewhat over-rated.  Perhaps nicer colours than the Grand Canyon but certainly not as GRAND! Only about 800 feet at the deepest point and not nearly as long.  There are a couple of small streams flowing through it – and one that we actually crossed at a low water crossing point that actually had water in it.  (Perhaps 1 or 2 inches at most.)

We were just watching the local news, (10:50 PM, 2010-03-28) apparently there was a 4.3 earthquake just north of Carlsbad, New Mexico.  Our tour guide on the King’s Palace Tour of the Carlsbad Caverns had told us that this was supposedly a very stable geological area and hadn’t experienced an earthquake for some time.  Hmmm?

Monday, March 29, 2010

We’re still having problems with the trailer brakes.  I spent most of the day on-line looking at various RV forums and Truck forums trying to figure it out.  I thought it may be a flakey magnet on the electric brakes so we went to see if we could make an appointment at a local RV Service Centre.  A tech there said, it isn’t likely the magnets – they’ve had a couple of similar issues where the truck is the problem and requires a new program.  So reluctantly we took it to a GM dealership where they spent a couple of hours trying to diagnose the problem on the trunk.  The tech finally found a high resistance in the ground wire from the controller and replaced it just before they closed at 6:00 PM.  Just hope that this fixes the problem.

We drove around Canyon just after dinner and it is a nice little university town.  Tomorrow we start our homeward trek.

Wind, Wind, Wind

Saturday, March 27. 2010

We’ve decided to hunker down in Lubbock, as the wind is still howling.  It has changed direction out of the north, the direction that we were heading towards.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Wind power – it isn’t a new concept.  As we’ve travelled we have seen numerous windmills, some still working but many in a state of disrepair.  We’ve often wondered how they worked. The American Wind Power Museum, gives a wonderful history of wind power in the United States.  We arrived around 10:30, and managed to tag along with a guided tour for some grade 4 or 5 students.  Most of the windmills were used to pump water from deep prairie wells while a few others were used to power sawmills or grist mills.  Some wind mills from the early days were used to charge storage batteries, which would then be used to run electrical radios or other small appliances. It seems that some of the modern technology isn’t so modern.  The tour guide explained how a governor works to turn the vanes out of the direction of the wind to prevent the windmill from self destructing. The old wind mills needed almost constant maintenance as they had to be oiled daily to prevent corrosion of the gears.  Larger diameter windmills of 18 to 22 feet were used when large volumes of water had to be pumped or where the wells were very deep at 1600 feet or more.

The Aermotor Windmill Company still sells windmills and parts and has a very good animation and description of how a windmill works.

Outside on the grounds is a modern electrical generating wind turbine similar to those in St. Leon, MB.  There are also numerous working models of the old style wind mills although today the governor was working on many of them.  The wind today was out of the south east with sustained speeds of 30 mph and gusts reported up to 61 at the supper hour.  As we drove back, to our campground we could see clouds of dust lifting into the sky and limiting visibilities in open areas.  The temperature got up to 81 degrees Fahrenheit this afternoon but it felt much cooler with the wind howling.  The trailer was really rocking today!

Some Lubbock Facts:

• Up until 2 years ago the city was Dry.  No booze anywhere within city limits.  Not even at Wal-Mart!
• There are 267 churches serving a population of less that 200,000 people
• In addition to Texas Tech University there are 3 other colleges or universities in Lubbock
• Birthplace and home of Buddy Holly

37 degrees overnight to a high of 81 degrees this afternoon – 44 degree range in Temp.

Carlsbad to Lubbock

Thursday, March 25, 2010

We left Carlsbad, New Mexico just after 10:00 AM.  We drove past lots of oil wells in eastern New Mexico, that I would guess is the western edge of the Permian Basin which includes the Texas oil cities of Odessa and Midland. As we travelled further east into Texas around Seminole, the soil changed to a brick red colour.  The scrub lands of New Mexico gave way to tilled, irrigated fields and the farms and houses appeared to be quite prosperous, with fields of harvested cotton. There were dozens of peanut processing plants and peanut storage buildings and pecan orchards were scattered along the route.  We arrived in Lubbock around 2:30 and just took it easy for the rest of the afternoon.  Lubbock has a population of about 200,000 and is home to Texas Tech University.  The Red Raiders football team held their first scrimmage today for the 2010 season.  Big News around here!  Their sports cast is entitled “Red Raider Nation” – this is university football not professional!                                               

We had a very strong Wi-Fi signal so we called the boys on the Magic Jack phone this afternoon.  We found out that David has received his next placement with Hydro.  He will be posted in Point Du Bois to complete the Electrical generation  part of his apprenticeship.  So it seems that both David and Kevin will be away for the summer; Kevin at the Ash Rapids Lodge near the Lake of the Woods, as sous-chef and David in Pointe De Bois. 

Odds And Ends – Some of the things that I’ve intended/wanted to talk about in no particular order and for no particular reason.

• Spring Break – In the states it starts in the first week of March and extends throughout the month for various locations. We heard one news report that said, South Padre Island expects to make 1/3 of its profit during spring break month.  This is like their Christmas.  Anyone that we spoke to told us that “last week was just crazy”.  We learned early in the month that we should make reservations when we travel in Texas in March.
• Farming and Urban Sprawl – South Texas is an irrigated oasis.  Citrus crops predominate, but it would appear as if huge homes/ mansions in large, gated communities are spreading through the area and taking over the farm lands.  It just seems to me that some of these large housing developments should be going into more marginal areas rather than taking over the rich farm lands.
• American Politics – strange and interesting.  Strange – Texas State Representatives have a term of two years and they only sit 140 days every other year (I’m not that imaginative – I couldn’t make this up!)  Primaries,- I thought from all the TV ads that Governor Richard Perry (Republican) was in a fight against US Senator Kay Hutchison (also a Republican) . lots of negative ads between these two.  But, there was also an election among the Democrats for governor between Farouk Shami and Bill White. (Guess who won that one in Texas!!)  This is sort of like electing a party leader in Canadian politics.  Now, if someone does not win by at least 50% of the vote then there is a Run-off election in May.  After that they start the real election campaign that ends in the vote in November.  It seems that they are perpetually in campaign mode.  They also elect Sheriffs and Judges – but not dog catchers.  And this happens in every county in the state.  There are 254 counties in Texas.

Another Day in Paradise

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Correction from yesterday’s post – the fox/coyote that we saw yesterday was in fact a Kit Fox – confirmed by a ranger at the Visitor Centre.

Small World Fact – When we went into the campground office the other day we took a look at the brochure selection of local attractions.  Most campgrounds have something like this.  There was one that was oddly, out of place – it was a brochure for Snow Lake, Manitoba.  I don’t know how it got there but there were quite a few of them.  Very odd.

We returned to the Carlsbad Caverns for another shot of wonderment.  We took the ranger guided tour to a restricted area of the caverns called the King’s Palace – and indeed it was fit for a king.  It is customary in caves to name most of rooms, tunnels, passages and decorations with descriptive names such as the bashful elephant, Rock of Ages and the Boneyard.  There are usually several references to the Devil – Devils Den and Devils Spring.  And seemingly there is always at least one Bottomless Pit in each cave.  Along with the King’s Palace we saw the Queens Chamber, Green Lake Room and Iceberg Rock, a huge rock that fell from the ceiling many thousands of years ago…the size of a school gymnasium.  Fortunately, as the ranger said today, “Most of the rocks only fall at night.”  And they are typically very securely attached to the ceiling.

  The original movie, “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”, with Pat Boone was partially shot in this area of the Caverns.  The King’s Palace floor had been cleared of most of the decoration for this movie shoot leaving it unusually flat and without character.  The Park Service would never allow this to happen today. In the King’s Palace we were seated on stone benches while the Ranger talked about the decorations and caving.  With everyone’s agreement she turned off all the lights.  It was the most profound darkness that I had ever known, but it wasn’t at all uncomfortable as the Ranger continued talking during the 5 or 10 minutes of darkness – you sort of lose track of time.  We later asked our Ranger, Kirsten what she liked about her job.  She replied that she worked in a beautiful Office.  The tour ended back at the underground rest area; we had been gone over two hours.  Janet and I, still had some energy left so we decided to re-do the Big Room from yesterday.  Our intent was to just breeze through it…the Lewis’s never rush through anything.  Even the old people were passing us.  After another two hours, we were finally headed back to the surface.

We went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things and we were back to the trailer by about 5:00 PM.  We are headed to Lubbock, Texas tomorrow to see another museum…we need a museum fix.  We’ll post soon. 

Speleothem – the word of the day!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

As we progressed through today’s tour I was trying to think of some way of describing it in today’s post.  Spiritual is perhaps a good way of saying it.   Janet and I, have seen some really remarkable things during our travels together.  Seeing a whale spout and then breech and seemingly wave his tale fluke at you.  Seeing a grizzly sow with her cubs searching for food in the shadow of Denali.  And today, seeing the Carlsbad Caverns.  Just sheer beauty that sends shivers down your spine; something that man cannot dream of creating.  I tried taking some pictures to capture it and it just doesn’t do it justice.  The area is so vast, the formations so impossible.  

In concrete terms, from the Natural Entrance to the Big Room is a drop in elevation of 800 feet.  The Big Room is the size of 14 football fields (NFL not CFL), or 6 acres.  From the ceiling to the bottom of the Bottomless Pit is over 260 feet.  The elevator descends 750 feet from the Visitors Centre to the lunchroom/rest area and takes a minute to make the trip.  We have visited only two other caves, Jewel Cave and Wind Cave, both located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and both caves have fine examples of box crystals and popcorn crystals, they in no way compare with the grandeur of these. Apparently, the Carlsbad Caverns are not the biggest, not the longest, and not the deepest caves in the world; but they are the most beautiful.  So much so that in 1995, the caverns were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

If you’ve seen the movie the Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, their characters need to “See something majestic.”  Their characters of Carter and Cole, try to see Mount Everest, but it is cloaked in clouds.  Seeing the Carlsbad Caverns is also just as majestic.

Bats were, what led to the modern day discovery of the caverns.  A young boy thought that he’d seen smoke coming from a hill side near where he lived.  He went to investigate and saw that this smoke was millions of Mexican free-tailed bats exiting the cave searching for insects.  The bats migrate south to Mexico in the winter and return to the caves each summer.  Every summer evening they make the nightly trip in search of food and park rangers give a talk about the benefits of bats.

After spending over four hours underground we came to the surface.  We spent some time and and helped the American economy in the book store.  Afterwards we took the Scenic Desert Drive along Walnut Canyon.  As we were progressing through the various sign posts a small coyote or kit fox crossed the road about 30 feet in front of us.  Janet jumped for the camera to try to get a shot but it seemingly disappeared into the underbrush.  It soon came out and start to climb the lower limbs of a juniper bush and started eating some of the berries.  We shot a number of pictures before he had eaten his fill and then moved away from us.

I had noticed on the scenic drive that the wind had come up and I was concerned about the trailer awning which I had left out.  With the wind gusts of 40 miles per hour I was sure that it would be in shreds by time we got back to the campsite.  Not so!  It was nicely rolled up.  I asked our neighbour who was just retrieving something from his car when we drove up, if he had done it.  He replied that he and his wife had rolled it up about a half hour ago when the wind started picking up.  We thanked him profusely for this act.  There are good Samaritans wherever you go.

Speleothem – a cave formation, usually as a result of water action - often referred to as decoration here at the Carlsbad Caverns – it includes stalactites, stalagmites, columns, draperies, soda straws.

Mountains and Deserts – Fort Davis to Carlsbad

Monday, March 22, 2010

We left Fort Davis just before 10:00 AM heading north along Texas 17.  The first section of this route was very scenic.  On our left was the basalt cliffs of the Davis Mountains and on our right was Limpia Creek.  As we’ve travelled around Texas we’ve noticed a wide variation in the progression of the seasons.  The giant Cottonwood trees area is just now starting to leaf out beside the creek, where just south of here they are already in full leaf.  The other thing is that just a couple of weeks ago this area had a huge dumping of snow.  We intersected with Interstate 10 West at the little town Balmorhea, Texas.  This is a nice little farming town close to a state park.  The irrigation canal that services the farms runs through the middle of the town and supports large trees along the main street.  We were soon clipping along the interstate headed west towards “the west Texas town of El Paso” - (a line from Marty Robbins song that I had to use on this trip!)

We stopped for fuel at the Exxon station in Plateau, TX just outside of Van Horn.  When I came in to give them my credit card I was amazed the clerk also asked for my driver’s licence.  It is quite customary to either pay up front or leave a credit card when fuelling but also asking for the driver’s licence was a bit much. Being a Canadian I complied without complaint.  At that moment a young woman asked if they had any restrooms, to which the clerk replied NO.  The young woman muttered that they had everything else in here, but not restrooms.  I agree – pretty shitty – no pun intended.  Shame on Exxon or the franchisee for not having a functioning restroom.   My rant for the day!

Back on the Interstate till we hit the town of Van Horn and we headed north up Texas 54, a two lane undivided road with no shoulders that parallels the Sierra Diablo Mountains for much of it’s length.  This is a dreary, arid drive with at least 55 low water crossings in it’s total 55 mile distance.  We experienced some heavy wind gusts which are quite common in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, which is the highest point in Texas at 8749 feet.  Shortly afterwards unbeknownst to us we had crossed the border into New Mexico.  (The only way we were aware of this is the mileage marker suddenly started at 1.)

We got to our campground, just outside the city of Carlsbad, New Mexico and basically took it easy for the rest of the day, anticipating a big day for tomorrow.

Opinion – Neither Janet nor I, like the desert scenery.  It tends to be drab and dreary compared to the mountains or even our prairies.  At least on the prairies the farms seem to be able to support life where the desert ranches seem hardly able to support a few head of cattle.  We have learned on this trip that the desert is not for us!

Frontier Fort to High Tech Telescope

Saturday, March 20, 2010 – First Day of Spring

Well it might be the first day of spring but those Damned Canadians sent in a cold front last night.  The water hose was darned near frozen – just a trickle coming through the tap until we ran it for about 5 minutes.  Snow flurries in the air.  Kids outside catching the snow flakes in their mouths.  People had video cameras out taking pictures.  Propane furnace on and trying to warm up the trailer.  And a fierce north wind that howled all night and kept the trailer rocking and rolling. Prompted the National Weather Service to post wind warnings for the area just north of here in the Guadalupe Mountains. Got down to about –4 Celsius in the night.  To think we were in shorts and T-shirts yesterday. The temperature was warmer in Winnipeg!!  Brrrrr!!!!!

We jumped into our lined jeans, long underwear, gloves, parkas and toques to see Fort Davis National Historic Site.  The fort was first established in 1854, to protect the new “colonists” from attack by the local Apache and Comanche tribes. It was abandoned around the Civil War in 1861 until 1867 when a new fort was constructed.  These are the remains and restored structures that we visited.

Most interesting was the fort hospital which contains some of the surgeon’s operating equipment. Very primitive by today's standards; the main tool was  a saw and other equipment used for amputations.

Colonel Grierson was the commanding officer of the fort and his rank was evidenced by his family residence, the largest on Officers’ Row.  It is fully furnished with period furniture complete with nursery and servant’s quarters.

The fort  was the home to four companies of Afro-American troops who were called Buffalo Soldiers.  The Indians named them this, because their curly hair so closely resembled that of buffalo fur. The black soldiers were not treated well by their white commanding officers.  They also were paid $13 dollars/month as opposed to white enlisted men who received $15/month.

 

Sunday, March 21, 2010

We visited the McDonald Observatory today.  The observatory is operated by the University of Texas in Austin and was located in this remote part of Texas for a number of reasons.  West Texas is sparsely populated, so it does not have the same degree of “light pollution” as experienced in the east. (Our guide also quipped that the nearest Wal-Mart was over 90 miles away!) The observatory is located at approx 6800 feet above sea level which raises it above much of the atmospheric pollution and haze experienced at a lower elevation.  At 30 degrees north latitude it can still see a good portion of the southern hemisphere skies. It is also very dry here with less than 12 inches of precipitation per year, offering many clear nights for observations.

When it was first built the observatory housed the third largest telescope of its kind in the world with a reflecting mirror of 107 inches and weighing 7800 pounds.  The total weight of the telescope is 320,000 pounds yet it is so finely balanced that it can be positioned with only a one horsepower electric motor.  The dome of the telescope rotates around the telescope.  This is quite disorienting, as you are sure that the telescope floor is rotating…the only way I was able to grasp this was by looking at the emergency exit door where some light was coming in and then watching the dome move past the door.  Really strange! It was like an ice box in this dome as they keep it as close as possible to the outside temperature and it hadn’t started to warm up yet.  This helps prevent condensation and undue expansion of the mirror – the temperature got down to approx. –8 Celsius last night and eventually got up to about 17 Celsius.

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET), is a totally different type of telescope. It is a spectroscopic telescope which means it gathers light from a star and breaks it down into it’s component wavelengths, thereby offering a higher degree of analysis than can be obtained from an optical telescope.  Furthermore the scientist does not have to be present to capture this information; all he does is submit his list of requirements to a technician who can input these requirements into the computer controlled system and the technician can obtain the information digitally.  The telescope does not have the large classical tube configuration as does the 107 inch telescope, but rather it is an open frame with a tracker mechanism at the top and a series of 91 individual, six-sided metre wide by 2 inch thick mirrors each operated by a motor to keep all the mirrors in synch.  I couldn’t get a good shot of this telescope as there was too much reflection from the mirrors.  Here is the link to see it Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET), I don’t understand all the science behind this but it is indeed fascinating!

The observatory just finished it’s Spring Break program of “Star Parties” last night – they open up some of the smaller telescopes in the amphitheatre behind the visitor centre so that people can experience star gazing “up close and personal”  During the last two weeks they have had two nights with over 900 people for the Star Party.  The rest of the time they only had about 700 per night.  The spring break time frame is the observatory’s busiest time of the year. The Star Party is only offered on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday for the balance of the year.  The exhibition hall has lots of hands-on experiences for young people – obviously aimed at getting them interested in astronomy as a career. I can see this as being a very effective method of doing just that.

Big Bend to Fort Davis

Friday, March 19, 2010

We pulled out of the Big Bend Motor Inn and RV Park at 10:00 AM for the short trip to Fort Davis, Texas.  The drive north on Texas 118 was fairly easy, although we made several stops before we got to our destination.  A trip of only 104 miles. 

We hooked-up and then went to the Motor Inn to check-out.  I found this to be a pain as we are used to paying for our camping up front and then just leaving the next morning.  This was more like renting a room.   We were on the road  and up to 65 mph when I happened to look in the rear-view mirror.  (Normally with the trailer hooked-up I only use the exterior side mirrors.)  There on the diesel slip tank was the bag of garbage that we should have left in the dumpster at the park.  I slowed down so the bag did not go flying off in the time it took me to find a place to turn off.  There was an old RV park with a nice large area to turn around so I pulled in and grabbed the garbage from the back and put it into the back seat behind Janet, despite her protests that it belonged in the bed of the truck.  We were back on the road and within a few miles there was a litter barrel just off the highway where we dumped our load.  We were fortunate that we did not “Mess with Texas” as there is a hefty fine for littering.

The terrain here is quite mountainous and the road curves and dips through the passes and valleys requiring you to stay at a reasonable speed.  As we neared the town of Alpine, we came across a Border Inspection Station and we had to make our third stop of the morning.  We pulled up to the stop sign and I rolled down my window.  The guard asked if we were American citizens and I replied, “No we are Canadians.”  He then asked for our passports, to which I said, that I had left them in the trailer.  He asked us to pull off to the side so as not to block traffic so that I could get the passports.  As I came around to the passenger side of the trailer I was met now by 2 border patrol officers.  As I went up into the bedroom to find the passports, the first officer followed me into the trailer.  As he did so, I thought I heard the second officer say, “Be careful”.  I came out slowly empty handed, as I just then remembered that I had put the passports into one of the pockets of my cargo pants.  After I had handed them to number 1, I exchanged pleasantries with number 2 about Big Bend.  Number 1, took a few minutes looking at the passports before declaring we were OK to go.

We were soon climbing fairly steadily into the mountains and I could see that the transmission temperature was starting to go over 195 and the coolant was rising over 100.  The outside temperature was already at 26 Celsius.  I had not yet removed the decorative grill on the front of the truck but decided I had better do that as we were going to venture into some still higher elevations.  From past experience it is a lot easier to perform this operation at a convenient pullout rather than on the shoulder of a steep mountain road with steam coming from the overflow tank and heat warning bells chiming like a symphony!!!  The pullout came just before Alpine, Texas at a scenic overlook above the town. This area of Texas doesn’t seem quite as arid as the desert that we had just travelled through so it was relatively refreshing despite the fact that the trees are just starting to leaf out here.  I suppose that winter lasts just a little longer here in the west Texas hills.

By the time we had registered at our new campground just outside the town of Fort Davis, it was just after 1;00 PM.  The manager had given us a handful of information and brochures but what we had never seen at any other campground was a printed “Things to do around Fort Davis” list and a scenic loop tour around the county.  After a little lunch we decided on scenic tour.  The first part of the tour took us through some fairly arid ranch land but the second half brought us into the Davis Mountains and some “lusher” land able to support trees on beautiful rolling hills.  We stopped in at Indian Lodge and Davis Mountains State Park. (This is one of only a handful of Texas State parks that offer both Full Service sites and Wi-Fi – we had tried to make reservations here before we left Big Bend but all the sites had been fully booked for mid-term break.)  We took the skyline drive to the top of the basalt cliffs that overlook the town of Fort Davis.  There had been a recent fire on the south slope of the drive but you could already see that the grasses and sotol cactus were already starting to recover. We drove through the campground which was nicely laid out in the trees and then drove to Indian Lodge.  This lodge had been built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), during the depression years as a relief project by then president Roosevelt.  It is a rustic looking lodge made of white plastered adobe.  On the homeward route we passed the MacDonald Observatory and Fort Davis National Historic Site, after which the town is named.  Jefferson Davis was the Secretary of War at the time and it was named after him.  (Jeff Davis later became the president of the Confederate States of America.) 

In Search of the Lost Mine

Thursday, March 18, 2010

We had to travel 29 miles towards the centre of the park today to get to the Lost Mine hiking trail.  This seems to be the most lush area of the park, with canyon’s filled with trees and grasses.  Apparently this is also home to mountain lions, deer and bears. This is a far cry from the desert conditions that exist in the rest of the park. When we arrived at the parking lot for the hike it was already full but a car was backing out and we were able to make a U-turn and got into the parking spot.

The first part of the hike was deceptively easy as it was black-topped for about 50 yards.  The incline after this section was fairly small and we made good progress.  As we were walking I glanced into the bush to our right and saw two deer feeding on tree twigs.  One was a young buck and the other a doe.  They must be quite habituated as we were only about 25 or 30 feet away from them and they did not try to run.  They merely kept a watchful eye on us, as they continued to browse.  I think that we weren’t mountain lions looking for supper so they had nothing to fear from us.  We took a few pictures and were quietly watching them but we could hear a rather loud group (sorry to say this but I think they were Americans from their accents) coming up the trail behind us.  The deer broke and were soon out of sight.

After an hour of steady climbing the path became a little more difficult with rocky ledges as steps and lots of loose rocks.  The grade seemed to increase and then we were climbing a series of switchbacks.  Already my rented coffee was weighing heavily on my bladder and I checked the trail guide to see where the nearest restroom was located.  NOTHING!!  There were no restrooms, latrines, porta-potties or pit-privies!! NOTHING!!!  They did not tell us this at the trail-head, but it was in the fine print in the trail guide.  Of course everyone reads the complete trail guide before starting out.  I didn’t have the guts to tell Janet that there were no toilets on the way, as I knew that her blood pressure medication would be kicking-in right about now.  She was already ticked off because her knees were starting to hurt and I knew that if I told her about the lack of hygienic facilities she may go to an all-out freak-out! 

At about 1 1/2 hours up we met the first people coming down. They told us that they were the second car in the parking lot and had started onto the trail almost two full hours before us.   We knew then that we still had a long way to go.  I was soaking up the scenery, while Janet kept her head down and kept motoring forward.  I don’t think that she was enjoying the experience as much as me.  Another couple said that we were almost there, just an “aggressive section ahead” and we would be near the top.

The Summit  of Lost Mine Peak 7650 feet above sea level – Two hours and twenty minutes to travel 2.4 miles up 1,100 vertical feet (1:11.52 rise).  I took some great shots at the top and just revelled in the scenery, while Janet found a cool spot under a pinyon pine.  According to legend, Spanish explorers found a vein of silver in this area and enslaved some local inhabitants to mine it .  The workers eventually rebelled and killed the Spaniards and then sealed the mine so that they would never be exploited again.  Geologists believe that this type of rock would not likely contain silver, so the legend remains just that.  The name has a certain cache which keeps people climbing to the peak to find their own treasure.

All too soon we had to start down the mountain, our bladders urging us on.  We passed a number of people on the way…old people on a mission!  I think we made it down in just over an hour and we were in the truck headed for the nearest restroom in the Chisos Basin area.  The first turn out led to a tent campground so we knew they would have what we craved most.  In no time we were making the final dash to the washrooms which were mercifully not occupied. We took a short ride to the visitor centre but the parking lot was packed and after circling it three times we decided to leave the area and find a quiet place to eat our lunch.  We pulled over at a roadside exhibit, where we had a quick lunch and we were soon on our way, back to the trailer. 

Santa Elena Canyon

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

We arrived in Big Bend, shortly after 8:45 this morning, a much more respectable time…there was no line-up at the entrance station and the Ranger waved us through.   We connected with the main road that would take us south towards the Santa Elena Canyon.  We stopped at one overlook where we could just barely see the gap in the mesa that indicated where the Rio Grande had carved it’s path 1500 feet through the solid rock.  This overlook was 14 miles away as the crow flies but about 22 miles of driving distance.  We noticed today that we had not seen any border patrol vehicles.  As we approached closer to the canyon we soon became aware, why!  The sheer cliffs that flank the canyon extend for miles to the east forming an impenetrable barrier to anyone without very good climbing equipment.  The border patrol likely has patrols at the extreme west end of the canyon and depends on the steep slopes of the canyon to prevent any further access.  There certainly were no vendors here.                                         

As I said, the canyon walls are massive especially, .when you get close to them. It seems almost improbable that this little river, barely wider and almost as sluggish as Sturgeon Creek, once possessed the power and ferocity to erode these massive walls.

There is a short trail that leads further into the canyon.  We hiked to the end of the trail and then returned along the same route. There must have been a least a 5 degree Fahrenheit temperature difference between the outside of the canyon and the bottom of the canyon where had walked.  We saw a number of kayakers paddling upstream through the canyon.  They seemed to indicate that the current was strong but not overpowering.  It seemed to me a nice leisurely way to spend the day.

We had our lunch then decided to return along the Old Maverick Road.  The map indicated that it was an unpaved road, which was fine by us as we had driven the Hot Springs road only yesterday and we had also driven many miles on gravel roads in Alaska and didn’t think this would be any worse.  Wrong!  This was barely a dirt track.  Most of the 13 mile length is washboard so we were treated to a bone jarring ride especially since I had not reduced the pressure in the truck air bags.  This road crosses through many washes and low water crossings and seems even worse in those locations.  The vegetation is typical of Chihuahuan desert landscape.  Yucca, cactus, Ocotillo and Creosote bushes abound.  All these plants have interesting adaptations to life in a low water environment.  The Creosote bush emits a toxic resin on the surrounding soil which prevents anything from growing around it, thereby conserving any available moisture for itself.  The Ocotillo, shoots up a stalk with red flowers each spring and will grow leaves in less than 48 hours if there is sufficient rainfall. 

We met about a dozen cars along the route and I couldn’t help but think that they were thinking what I was, “Why am I doing this?”  When we finally arrived at the end of the road the truck was covered in a thick layer of grey dust.  Although some of the mountain scenery is beautiful, Janet and I both agree that we do not like being in the desert.

Victor the Singing Mexican

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

We’re getting into some really bad habits.  We (I) slept in until 9:00 am today.  Hardly, a good start to explore Big Bend National Park.  By the time we had breakfast and packed our lunch it was almost 10:30.  When we arrived at the park gate it seems all the rest of the late risers where lining up too.  There must have been 20 cars ahead of us. (Last week and this week has been mid-term break for most of the schools and colleges and the park is full of young families and college kids away for the week.  It seems to be predominantly Texans here.)  After finally getting in we proceeded to Panther Junction, the location of the main Visitors’ Centre and Park Headquarters.  We got some info from the ranger and picked up some books and maps and headed towards the east side of the park.  From the west side to the east side is approx. 54 miles and the speed limit, which is rigidly enforced, is only 45 mph.

By this time of the day the parking lot at the Boquillas Canyon trail head was full so we had to park along the roadway.  The hike was only about 1 1/2 miles but a good part of it was vertical (not strenuous but moderate to difficult) and the rest was over old, rounded river rock.  As we progressed we would see colourful hiking staffs and hand crafted jewellery and bric-a-brac beside the trail.  Beside each location was a jar and a hand printed sign stating that this was a donation for the Boquillas, Mexico school.  I had read some of the literature from the park which stated that this merchandising is illegal in the park and would be subject to seizure.  Just across the river which is quite shallow here were a number of Mexicans watching their wares.  We passed it by and continued on our trek.

We finally made it down to the valley floor and continued over the sometimes sandy mostly rocky trail.  We came across yet another “stash” of bric-a-brac, with a sign that said,    An older gentleman hailed us as amigos and asked if we would like to hear a song.  We said No Thank-you and continued on, he then asked us if we wanted to purchase anything and we again declined.  As we made our way downstream we could hear a Mexican tenor singing from across the Rio Grande, the voice echoed slightly in the canyon and I would say it was pretty good.  At least as good as my voice singing in the shower. We spent about 1/2 hour marvelling at the high cliffs that had been carved by the once powerful river.

We returned to the truck then drove to a relatively  quiet spot on a high cliff overlooking the river.  We had a late lunch and looked across the river to the Mexican town of Boquillas just up the river from us.  We noticed a Border Patrol truck parked at one end of the parking area next to a now typical stash of bric-a-brac.  We could also see a well worn path down the cliff and across the river.  On the far shore we could see someone watching the Border Patrol truck and overhead we could see a National Park Service airplane monitoring the border area. 

We retraced our route towards another overlook further up the river.  This was appropriately named the Rio Grande Overlook.  As we pulled into the parking lot we were greeted by a group of four vultures, obviously looking for an easy meal beside the picnic tables.  We found the sign for  the trail head which stated that it was only .3 miles (yes, that’s 3/10 of a mile) to the overlook.  I’m not sure who measured this distance or how they measured it but it certainly seemed much longer than that.  By the time you calculated all of the switchbacks it had to be closer to a mile, almost vertically.  Now this got the blood pumping and Janet cursing me.  At every step she found a new expletive that I can’t repeat and reminded me of how much I owed her for this ordeal.  We were however sufficiently rewarded with a beautiful view up and down the river.     There were a number of canoeists and people fishing far below us.  We headed back down but not before Janet was poked by a low growing cactus along the path that brought on another barrage of non-Christian words.  We finally made it back down the cliff and walked a little ways to the river to see the same family that we’d seen from above fishing there.  They were talking to some ladies about the hot springs a few miles away.  The husband was saying that he had seen a bunch of hippies there soaking in the hot springs “neked”.  That is Texan for naked.  So naturally being the inquiring person that I am, I thought that we should check out these therapeutic, miracle springs.  As we were pulling out of the parking lot we saw what we thought was a fairly large, dark injured bird on the ground.  As we continued to watch he turned and starting running along…it was a road runner, obviously looking for some prey.  We managed to get a couple of shots from the Acme camera.                                     

The road into the the Hot Springs area is a partially maintained rock road, with a maximum speed limit of 25 mph.  The actual maximum that you can travel is about 15 to 20 mph.  At the end of the road is large parking lot for large vehicles, we were able to proceed through here then along a narrow rock track with sharp turns and barely wide enough for the truck.    At the end of this section of road was a gravel parking area.  We walked a short distance to the hot spring which was overflowing with young people, ALL appropriately dressed.  I estimate that the water was about 120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit.  After soaking for a few minutes several of the guys would climb on the retaining wall and jump into the cool waters of the Rio Grande.  We returned to the truck passing by some examples of petro glyphs scratched into the canyon wall.  It seems that this must have been a popular spot even in the old days.     

As we were driving out we overtook a young couple walking back to the main road with their young (approx. 4 or 5 year old) daughter.  She was trying to ride her little bike along this rough road with her parents at either side.  Janet lowered her window and asked if they wanted a ride.  A huge smile of relief came over the husband and he was loading the bike in the bed of the truck before I could get my driver’s door opened.  We apologized that we had all of our junk in the back seat but they happily accepted the ride.  They were most grateful when we arrived at the main road to let them off at their mini-motor home.  We returned to Terlingua and our campsite on the west side of the park feeling pretty good.