FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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Don’t Leave Home Without It.  I don’t!

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                                 The sun comes up over the Davis Mountains. 

It is not all about the fishing all the time here.  We love the outdoors and no place meets that description better than Big Bend.  The people, the mountains, animals, and everything else that makes this place magical.

And turn around and the Super Moon set over the mountain.

We stayed in Alpine at the Maverick as by time we decided to go it was to late and most places were full as it was spring break.  The Maverick was fine as it had a kitchenette so we could do breakfast and lunch as we would be gone all day.  It is around a 50 mile drive to the park, but the drive itself is beautiful so no big deal.  We spent a long day in the park and then a day at the Fort Davis State Park hiking and driving that area.  The sunrise on the mountain in both parks was worth the early morning drive.  Sunrises and sunsets can not be beat in that part of the world.

What is not to like about this?

My must do on this trip was to drive the river road.  It runs along the Rio Grand for around 60 miles in the park.  It is in the middle of nowhere and there are signs warning you to not mess up, because help may be a while, if you are lucky.  So we headed out and when we got close to the end there is a 8 mile road called Black Pass road, a no maintenance road if that gives you a clue, that I wanted to take.  The signs are clear, high clearance 4wheel only, and they were not kidding.  But our truck is the trail edition, and if we had tried that in our last 4Runner we would have definitely got hung up, the extra couple of inches made the difference.  Going through the pass itself was a trip, but one I am so glad we made.  The truck has a few new scratches on it and the tail pipe got flattened going through the pass but overall so worth it.  Where Black Pass goes off River Road there was a bunch of jeep club folks having a brew, I assume after negotiating Black Pass.  I would have done the same if I had one with me.  It was a trip.  The whole 70 miles took us 5 hours, and was the highlight of my trip. One word of caution, if I did Black Pass again I would be sure to go with another vehicle just in case.

On this trip we did not see the usual amount of animals.  As it was spring break there were folks everywhere, which combined with the full Super moon kept the wildlife down.  There were plenty of antelope but not the usual amount mule deer, and we did not see a javelina this trip.  Of course jackrabbits and roadrunners were out.  But the hiking and driving was great as usual, you never know what you will see around any corner.  We made 2 hikes, it would have been 3 but the River Road trip took longer than we thought.

                       One cool animal!                       Buggin’ out!

Supper on the hoof.

Much of the stuff was blooming and it was awesome.  We also stopped at a nature park and some of these cactus were in in their hot house, others we took on our hike.  Amazing how some place so brown produces such color when the time is right.

Cactus of the Chihuahuan Desert

One of the more interesting parts of the trip actually happened on the way home.  As it cracked daylight we saw a cow elk, which are not that plentiful in the area.  And as we are riding along discussing all the things we saw on our drive we joked about seeing some illegals, migrants, refugees, or what ever we are supposed to call them.  (Sorry if that is not politically correct but us old guys get easily confused.)  Should probably just call them people, that is what they are.

                                  Look to your left – Look to your right.

Be there at daylight, always worth the effort.

We were on a long flat stretch not that far off the border, and I mean in an area with not a thing is sight for miles when we came across 3 young guys walking along the highway.  Now no way they were out for their morning constitutional, there was nothing there, and I mean nothing for 30 miles in either direction.  Just then a border patrol truck comes over the hill, flips on his lights, and pulls over.  Not sure whether they missed their ride or what, but they were about to be arrested.  The area was not that far off the border and probably one of the easier walks around as we could see the Mexican mountains and it was flat as a pancake all the way to the river.

We hiked to the top of a mountain and then to the top of this.  On the side was a crow nesting.  I took both of these pictures from the same place.

Then another immigration experience at the check point.  As we pulled up an officer spoke with the truck in front of us waiting his turn.  The agent went around to the front of their truck and messed with the bumper.  Then they pulled up to the stop, an agent and his dog walked around the truck and the pooch set down in front of the bumper.  Jackpot!  What happened was the first agent put some dope in the truck to let the dog find it, which he did.  Then he went crazy for the ball reward.  Guess it was just practice, but it was cool.

I never get tired of this!

So another successful trip to Big Bend.  We love the quiet, and did not turn the truck radio on during our drives.  Though there were a lot more folks around it was great to stop on the River Road and listen to nothing.  And that area attracts an eclectic bunch of folks, the kind of folks we gee and haw with.  Like Colorado, New Mexico, and other places, it is an outdoor lifestyle that our “normal” life does not really include.  Much to be said for that.

Good Luck and Tight Lines