Journeying Geographer: Day 68: Big Bend National Park

I'm playing catch-up on my blog again (due to no Internet for two days, very slow connections for the next two nights, plus sheer exhaustion from long days exploring and taking photos and still fighting the cold that refuses to go away). We spent two days in Big Bend NP and saw much of the park. I took about 1500 photos in two days -- a record for this trip. It was unequivocally my favorite place of the entire journey so far.

Friday, November 7 we left Marathon, TX and drove south to the park. We explored the eastern side, traveling to Rio Grande Village from Panther Junction. It was cloudy much of the day, but didn't rain. It had rained about five inches the past two days, though, with additional rain the three days prior to that. Before that, we were told it hadn't rained in about 18 months! The downpours caused flash flooding and today most unpaved (and some paved) roads were closed. We still had plenty to explore, though. Big Bend is one of the largest national parks in the contiguous 48 states, but it's the least visited (due to its remoteness).

The scenery here is breathtaking, and changes every mile: rugged, high mountains, colorful badlands, barren plains, steep-walled canyons, dry washes (arroyos), stream channels, and river valleys. The vegetation is equally varied: ocotillo, prickly pear, mesquite, yucca, agave, and in the higher elevations even douglas fir trees. We also saw four roadrunners (one briefly flying), four cottontail rabbits, and numerous birds.

We ended the day in Study Butte, TX, just outside the park's western boundary, and drove 140 exquisitely enchanting miles today (9,190 total miles for me now).