CHEE sos....

The guides to Big Bend mention three distinct park areas...the river valley, the desert and the mountain range with drives and hikes which showcase each.

We drove the 30 mile park road to the east end of Big Bend.

Scenic desert terrain, ending at a large tent and RV campground at the edge of the Rio Grande, interesting, although Judy summerized it well when she mentioned being a bit tired of seeing desert and creosote bushes.

The east end does provide the only border crossing in the park, with a bridge to walk across into Mexico to visit a couple of small villages.

Think tourist souvenirs - not our thing.

The east end just had too many people in the area for our liking.

Remember Rule 10: Avoid Humanity...

We did find interesting on the east end, though not terribly unique, was the old 1880's house on the river, actually part of a small village with old post office and just a short hike to the hot springs mentioned in a previous post. 

But enough desert...off to the mountains of Big Bend! 

The park is large, larger than the entire state of Rhode Island (why do little guys always get picked on?)

A claim to fame is that it's the only National Park to have a complete mountain range totally located within its borders.

The Chisos Mountains...locals pronounce it "CHEE-sos", though not Rockies gigantic, are beautiful and visible from throughout the park. 

And I know why Ansel Adam's was so fond of his black and white format...the contrast can be striking when used for grand mountain vistas. 

One of the easier hikes in the foothills, before getting into the high mountains was a dry wash, "the Lower Burro", leading to a high canyon falls...

The guidance indicated runoff could get deep very quickly during the big fast rains, so be aware of weather "up stream"...no worries on this day!

Though an easy hike, it provided significant awe factor with the opportunity to get up close and experience the sheer presence of the vertical rock formations and the ability to physically touch the walls, while looking straight up at the 400 - 500 ft high rock faces towering directly overhead.

It is at times like this...

when I realize, 

so much of the grandeur in the world, 

is not built by human design,

or human hand.

Next was a visit to the heart of the Chisos Mountains...The Basin...

Imagine for a moment, you are driving up a winding switchback road...paved and double laned, yet narrow with canyon walls on both sides.

Up, up, up, and finally over through a notch pass, to then start dropping back down more switchbacks into one of the most scenic mountain areas you can ever imagine.

You're in a Basin, a bowl, with mountain peaks all around you, 360 degrees of beautiful scenery everywhere you turn...

And it's high elevation, so a cooler, wetter micro environment, a hidden gem inside the surrounding desert... with deciduous trees mixed with pines growing in groves up the mountain sides.

Big rock columns, pillars, and boulders, like smoothed river rock, only each bigger than a house making up the mountain ridges...

And of course, it is a wildlife magnet for everything from small lovely upright kangaroo looking mouse critters to posted warnings for mountain lions and bears.

In fact, one of the rangers mentioned a couple of young ladies from a few weeks previous...seems they were feeding a rabbit - which is a no, no.

They happened to look up to see a cat keenly watching the rabbit...and them. 

(Hmmmm...he thinks to himself...this is exciting...a chance to see mountain lions...wonder if we can find some bunnies to feed...)

"... WhatdoyathinkJ???...

Shall we do the 4 mile hike around the Basin...

...it says easy...can we, huh, can we?!!!..."

But...I only saw one graceful feline on the entire hike, in spite of keeping an eye on our backtrail the whole time...

And the V notch, or" the Window" over the Leading Lady's right shoulder is one of the big attractions...a view into another world...to the desert beyond. 

The Chisos Mountain Basin, along with the drive in and out, is a prime example where pictures and words are a very poor substitute for actually experiencing one of God's blessings firsthand.

Let the adventure continue...