The Hike to the Window

Our main activity for the next day, March 11, 2023, was hiking the famous Window trail. This jaunt would be 5.5 miles round-trip, with an elevation change of 900 feet each way. After a short van ride to the campground we reached the trailhead. An early start meant cool temps and long shadows.

Volcanic mountains and running water created the Window. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

A Havard Agave, which can reach up to 22 feet, impressed us.

We continued down the trail ...

and the heights on either side drew closer.

The ground of the stream bed absorbs enough water to support more vegetation.

We continued to descend.

Soon, we were definitely in a channel.

Here, we're admiring a Texas Mountain Laurel.

We were fortunate enough to see it blooming.

The final stretch was so steep that it required stairs.

We arrived at the window of the Window. We're at the top of a pouroff, the opposite of our visit to the Lower Burro Mesa Pouroff, where we stood at the bottom.

As you would expect, the rushing water has scoured a smooth surface. Walk carefully!

A fellow hiker provided scale for this photo.

Some serious photographers (not I!) brought their equipment, inspected the angles, and waited their turn.

This photo was taken from within the window. It doesn't look flat out there.

Then, it was time to head back ...

On our way we spotted a scrub jay.

After the long climb, including some pauses, we could look back and drink in the view. Six hours after setting out, the lighting was quite different.

Zooming in on the gap created by the Window. The terrain beyond is more distinct at this hour.

Joan and I used the time before dinner to relax. She had done well on this extended hike, but wanted to give her ankle a rest. My final photo of the day is this view of the sunset looking towards the Window. The brighter object is Venus, the lesser Jupiter. The two had formed a conjunction two weeks earlier.

The next day we would leave the Chisos for our two-day return journey.

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.