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.