More Big Bend NP

We made two more trips into Big Bend National Park.  The second time we went up into the mountains.  The highest mountains in the the park are the Chisos Mountains.  And the environment is very different up there.  There are many more trees and grasses.  It is not nearly so barren there.  We took a couple of trails in order to see “The Window” which is a view out between a couple mountains at some of the lesser mountains of the desert floor and the distant mesa at the Rio Grande River.

And here is our backpacker on the Lost Mine Trail with a mountain valley in the background.

 

 

 

Our last trip into the park took us to the Rio Grand Village area.  We took another river canyon hike, this time to the Boquillas Canyon.  There is a small Mexican village across the river, Boquillas del Carmen.  The town used to thrive on the tourist trade from Big Bend NP but after 9/11, the border crossing was closed indefinitely and still hasn’t been reopened.  The town has since lost a third of its population.  But at many places along trails in the park, the Mexicans from Boquillas bring over and leave their goods along the trail with a jar, can or jug for you to put your money in.  The Park has signs saying not to buy these things, but I couldn’t help buying a colorful walking stick.

We also drove this fairly short but scary gravel road trail back to the trail head for Big Bend’s Hot Springs.  These springs are right on the banks of the Rio Grande.  They were a tourist attraction on their own in the first half of the 1900’s before the establishment of the park.  The temperature of the springs is 105 degrees.  The spring pool is in the foreground of the picture with Rio Grande waders and soakers and then the shoreline of Mexico.  Crossing the border is that easy.