Boquillas Canyon and Rio Grande Village

On March 9, 2023, Melissa, our guide, drove our Off the Beaten Path group east to explore the Boquillas Canyon region, including the nearby Rio Grande Village. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

From the parking area we first climbed a short ridge.

At the crest, we could see the lazy arc of the Rio Grande, and on the left shore, Mexico.

As is common in this isolated area, far from population centers, the border between the U.S. and Mexico is informal. No barbed wire or steel beams scar the view.

 

We were standing near grinding holes in the rock (for nuts, grains, seeds) from when indigenous peoples lived here.

After descending from the ridge, we walked towards the mouth of the canyon.

Soon, the stone walls towered in front of us. Google Translate says that "boquillas" translates to "nozzles," and I can see how the canyon earned its name.

We looked for birds exploring the canyon's nooks and ledges. Alas, most of them were beyond the range of my camera. Here's an example of the best I could do.

In the river, a few turtles moseyed below the surface. They were almost invisible in the greenish-brown water, but I punched this photo to make one more observable.

Burros wandered down to drink.

We had come about as far as we could into the canyon without getting our feet wet.

On our return walk, we were graced by a close view of a roadrunner.

A blooming cactus.

A wanderer on horseback was wading the river.

We rejoined the van and started towards the Rio Grande Village campground. On the way, we stopped at a viewpoint where the Mexican town of Boquillas del Carman was visible (just barely).

Here hand-made souvenirs were spread to entice us to buy something. No storekeeper was visible, but Melissa told us that someone was almost certainly watching.

A closeup of the handiwork.

We had our lunch in the shade at the Rio Grande Village. According to the National Park Service website, "Open year-round, only 24 campsites are available May 1 - October 31 due to the extreme heat (100-115 degrees) and reduced demand for sites." Not my cup of tea! The best feature for Joan and me was a group of wandering javelinas, very pig-like creatures but in a different family (Tayassuidae) than true pigs in the Suidae family.

After lunch, we explored the Rio Grande Village Nature Trail. (Remember, click on the image to enlarge!)

Approaching the entrance.

Setting off.

Turtles in the wetland.

The trail wound eventually wound uphill.

In this dry zone, away from the water, we admired this red ocotillo.

A closeup of the blooms.

Finally, we checked out the visitor center, which sported this excellent 3-D display. The green mountainous patch is the Big Bend National Park.

After a long day, we were ready for dinner back at the Chisos Mountain Lodge. I took a moon-influenced photo from the restaurant's porch as dusk settled.

A long but wonderful day it was.

On to Chisos Mountain Lodge

 After lunch in Marathon (March 8, 2023), our group headed south towards the Chisos Mountain Lodge. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

Nominally, it's a 90-minute drive, but we'll be making stops along the way. Our first pause was brief, at the Border Control Checkpoint just a few miles south of town.

Why so far  from the Mexican border? Because US-385 is the only passage through a gargantuan area of mountains and desert, the station can do its job at this convenient location.

In our case, the officers glanced into the van and asked if anyone present wasn't a US citizen. Then, off we went. Next stop: the border of the national park.

Springtime flowers were poking up.

And these big bend bluebonnets.

The road ahead, mountains on the horizon.

And a historical marker.

Further on, we stopped again to visit the Fossil Discovery Center.

In eons past, this area has been an ocean bed,

and a lush environment for the giants of the past.

Dinosaur through the glass.

Quetzalcoatlus is probably the largest flying creature ever.

Then came the "modern" era.

Rank upon rank of mountains in the distance. The Chisos Mountains are the southernmost in the lower 48 states, and the only mountain range entirely within a national park.

After a stop at the Panther Junction Visitor's Center, our van began climbing the mountains. (The highest point, Emory Peak, hits 7,825 feet elevation.) The lodge and campground sit in the caldera of the extinct volcano.

Joan and I ensured that our companions, Pugsly, Davis (the javelina we adopted at Fort Davis the day before), and Pig-O had a good view from our room.

After dinner, I grabbed this shot of the sunset seen through the "Window," a geologic feature our group would visit later in the trip, from both above and below.

Tomorrow, our van will take us to locations where we can stretch our legs.

Chasing Lucy is here!

I’m pleased to announce that my memoir, Chasing Lucy, is now available on Amazon.com.

To find it, I recommend searching for “Chasing Lucy Benson Branch”, or you can just click on this link: https://tinyurl.com/mf7dbxcm. Both eBook and paperback editions are there.

What is the memoir about? I’ll copy the back-page blurb here. It’s written in a blurb-ese tone, of course:

Black market drugs – first marijuana, then psychedelics. Ben was searching for something, a deeper sense of meaning. Then he stumbles across Transcendental Meditation (TM), which enables him to quit drugs and excel in university. While living a normal life of employment and marriage, he continues on a fifty-year journey towards enlightenment, diving into Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's teachings, joining retreats, and acquiring advanced practices such as the TM-Sidhi program. While this path sustains him, the road holds potholes as well as smooth paths. He encounters both fascinating experiences and bitter disappointments. He wonders how to resolve all this into a coherent vision, as you will see in this memoir.

Fort Davis, Texas

Before breakfast on March 8, 2023,  Joan and I inspected her ankle. Although still swollen and purple, it fit into her hiking boots. We decided to continue with the group rather than bail out and go home; Joan was willing to just sit on the porch or in the van as necessary. Who knew when we'd get another chance?

 

Our Off the Beaten Path group spent the morning at the Fort Davis Historic Site. From 1854 to 1891, Fort Davis protected emigrants, mail coaches, and freight wagons on the Trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road. From 1867 to 1885, it was staffed by black "buffalo" soldiers, starting with the Ninth U.S. Cavalry. At the visitor center we saw exhibits and a video narrated by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and then headed out. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

The walk from the visitor center towards the site.

The old (and poorly built) trooper barracks were now just footprints.

A hike option was offered.

Joan chose to meander slowly among the ground-level buildings and exhibits, including this story of the maligned and dishonorably discharged Henry Flipper, whose reputation was restored by the Army -- in 1976.

The rest of us chose to hike up to an overlook.

It was steep and switchbacked at first.

The view from the overlook.

Joan spotted us and waved, but I didn't see her.

The rest of the hike introduced us to desert flora and fauna. I didn't realize that javelina can eat prickly pear cactus!

The blooming yucca is left, and the tall stalk of Texas Sotol (Dasylirion texanum) is right, but is not a true yucca.

More cactus species are here, such as this hedgehog cactus.

Soaptree yucca was useful.

That's this plant.

Critters live here too. Here's an ornate tree lizard.

This rock wren photo was taken with full zoom.

Argarito/Algeritas is used for making jelly, and is a safe haven for birds.

The plant itself ...

A final burst of pink flowering Davis Mountain mock vervain,

Joan enjoyed herself prowling around the grounds and inspecting various exhibits. After gathering together again, we piled into the van for lunch at the V6 in Marathon, roughly an hour away.

After lunch, our heading was due south. Nominally, it's an hour and a half to the Chisos Mountain Lodge, but we're gonna make several stops along the way, as you'll see in the next post of this series.