Final Day we went mission hoping

 

San Yselta Mission

Socorro Mission

San Elizario Mission

Big Bend Ranch State Park

 

Tinaja that has been carved into a kitchen.

Pictograph found very near the bowl.

This dog has stayed for 40 million years. 

And old wagon wheel from about 150 years ago.

Photos of Big Bend Texas and the Rio Grande

 

 Santa Elaña Canyon

On the left is Mexico and on the right is the USA. We ended up hiking on a trail to the right that was tucked I the cliffs. And amazing hike be any standards. We saw some shell fossils that were about 40 million years old. The cautionary tale is that one MUST walk in the cold water to get to the trail head.

Cool grasses found along the Rio Grande

The Rio Grande. The water is really very low and depends upon local springs to fill it. Most of the actual Rio Grande is emptied out in El Paso. My heart was heavy the whole time for the flora and fauna that depended on this water for a million years or more and now face extinction. I know that weather patterns change but humans add to the desertification by irrigating crops and controlling water supply.  I'm not mad so much as sad. Even knowing what we know to day, it is hard to change our ways. Perhaps future generation will figure out ways to return water to these fragile riparian eco systems. 

The beautiful Rio. 

View from an out house.

Me and my beloved Alex at the Terlingua Ghost Town. We only stopped for a short while.  

This ghost town has an active grave site for some young ones who died in 2014. 

Closed Canyon hike. It went all the way down to the Rio Grande but we could only get there part way due to the huge boulders. Someone younger and more spry could have handled it. Either way it was a great hike. You could see in the smooth boulders how historic floods wash them smooth. 

Fort Davis

 

Took a great hike around the palisades of this old Fort

We pretty much covered the US side of this map. It was sad that going to Mexico seems so off limits. 

Above is a list of people who died while at fort Davis. Note that no one is over 40.

A bust of John Casey, a Buffalo Cowboy. They were called Buffalo by the Indians because of their kinky hair. Many came from slavery and found themselves out west in pursuit of a new life. 

This was taken because you can see the fort way off in the distance. This trail was full of edible plants. I hope to do a nice review of desert plants in a future blog. 

My travels in Marfa Texas at the Chianti Foundation

 

Pear Play with Laura

My good friend Laura came over yesterday and we played in the studio. 

These were inspired by Anita Lehmans art lessons on beauty.