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.

Big Bend 2023

On March 6, 2023, Joan and I flew to El Paso, Texas, to join a small group tour of Big Bend National Park run by Off the Beaten Path. We checked into our downtown hotel and met our fellow travelers and our guide, Melissa, at dinner. This was a reunion of sorts -- Melissa had been our guide on a trip to the San Juan Islands back in 2011!

 

In the morning, the eight of us (including Melissa) piled into our van and began the long drive east and south, soon leaving Mountain time for the Central time zone. Today's track (click on any image to enlarge):

We had a pit stop and snack as we left I-10, then turned south towards the University of Texas McDonald Observatory. In the process, we gained altitude and passed through climate zones. Before reaching the observatory, we paused for our lunch break.

The McDonald, inaugurated in 1939, is remote, with excellent dark skies and a bit of altitude to boot.

The facility sprawls across the mountaintop, including facilities for visiting astronomers. Its dome is a classic.

The parking area is lower down; thus, we hiked the final stretch to the dome along an asphalt drive. Scenic viewpoints popped up along the way.

Some sections of the road had cracks or missing chunks at the edge. As we walked over to a viewpoint, Joan was ambushed by one of the missing edges and fell, injuring her right ankle. We were glad she'd been wearing her hiking boots. However, it was still painful, with the sensation of "shooting stars" in her consciousness as Joan hobbled up to the dome for the Harlan J. Smith telescope, which saw first light in 1968. Fortunately, she was able to take an elevator up to the talk.

The primary mirror is 107" across!

Later, we visited the site of the Hobby-Eberly telescope, which saw first light in 1996.

Its advanced design uses 91 hexagonal mirrors instead of one giant mirror, giving it an aperture (diameter) of 10 meters, or 30 feet.

A model of one of the 91 segments.

Then it was time to drive down to the small town of Fort Davis, where we would spend the night. Melissa had a treat for us; after unpacking we hopped into the van and drove to Alpine for a scrumptious dinner at the Reata restaurant. Chocolate tamale, anyone?

Back in our room, Joan and I attended to her ankle. It was purple and swollen. Ice helped, but we wondered how badly this would affect our trip. Melissa knocked on our door. She inspected Joan's ankle and said, "I don't think it's broken." But she reminded us that the rest of the tour involved a lot of walking. She said if we wanted to return home, deferring this trip for another time, we would have to decide by the next morning. After that, we would be so deep into the "middle of nowhere" that it would be difficult to arrange a return. As we prepared for bed, Joan and I were leaning toward staying with the group.