FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

It does not get any better than this.

We try to get to Terlingua and spend a few days in the parks at least yearly.  Such a quirky place.  We stay in a shipping container, one upscale shipping container, in Terlingua.  It is on a hill outside of town and takes a beast of a vehicle to get there.  As with most of the roads we drive searching for wildlife don’t drive your Corvette, or your Prius.  So, we were out first thing both days and as usual a good time was had by all.

***************The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.

For all your wading needs.

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Big Bend National Park – Day 1

Our day started off with the drive to the hot spring on the Rio Grande.  It is near the crossing into Mexico where folks visit the town of Boquillas.  Of course, since Covid struck things have changed.

Our first morning hike on the Rio Grande and a test run on the knee surgery.  All good.

We took a short hike to test the knee and she ain’t broke down yet.  The weather was beautiful on this trip, except for that evening.  I have been in some wind in my life, including have a boat overturned on my head but that evening was special.  If I were guessing it blew somewhere around 60 – 70 mph plus.  From our place we watched a big yurt type tent bite the dust.  And the folks staying in the bus across the hill abandoned ship at some point.

It is a new day on the border.

These folks were right across the river from the hot springs.  Since the border has closed at the town of Boquilla being out in the desert in the middle of nowhere have lost their income from folks using the legal crossing.  They were selling lots of stuff, including tacos and would bring them across for you.  At several places across from the border you see hand made goods for sale.  Separate families had their own stuff, and it was all on the honor system.

Of course, they are not “allowed” to do it, and in the past, it was just one or two spots.  Now it is a lot more, but I appreciate the Park Service not being a pain in the ass about this.   These folks are suffering, and we sure hope they get the crossing open soon.  They are just trying to feed their kids.  And of course, we did not buy anything, we made a few “donations” and they gave us a “token of their appreciation”.   From there it was off for our real ride.

Plenty of history in the park.  Not sure why but folks place coins on the cross.  This was also an omen for one tough road.

Searching for wildlife in Big Bend is no easy task.  Not only is it a rough and tough landscape that can only support so many animals, with folks basically concentrated on the main roads stuff is in the way back.  As we do and will be doing in a couple of days in the Great Smokey Mountains next week, we get out there.  Time in the outdoors translates to encounters no matter which park you visit; it is just a matter of how bad you want it.  I wanted to drive a back road we had not driven before, Old Ore Road , which is 25 miles of some really narly stuff.

As we started down the road there were 3 folks behind us when we stopped at the grave, and then another truck came from the other way.  Apparently, he gave them the scoop on what they faced and they chickened out.  And with what they were driving that was a great choice.  So how narly?  It took us over 5 hours to drive 25 miles!  Can you say high ground clearance?  And then it paid off.

The Boss made a great spot.  Think he was the lookout.

We see you.

My favorite shot of the trip.

All of a sudden, the scream – Stop the truck!  She spotted 2 sentries on a big rock quite a way off.  Turned out they were the lookouts watching over a big group off Audads, one cool animal.  If you are not familiar with them, they are known as Barbery Sheep a native of North Aftica.  Basically, brought here for hunting ranches of course they escaped and now inhabit lots of the deserts of South Texas.   The parks consider them invasive, and in the state park when they do the Bighorn Sheep count via helicopter, they shoot them.  Another tell-tale warning on importing species that do not live here.  But they sure are cool animals.

Mom was wary!

See the baby?

As we moved forward around the rock another – Stop the truck!.  Momma was feeding her baby.  By time I got the truck stopped the baby hid, and momma gave us the hairy eyeball.  This is why we bought a long lens camera and why we spend as much time as we can on our search.  The desert is not Yellowstone, so it takes work to score, and today we did.

Everything is armed and dangerous.  It is a tough unforgiving life in the desert.

The first bunch of Javelinas run amok!

And then on the way back to the abode for filets on the grill that evening we spotted our first Javelinas.  Then we saw another bunch, they were definitely on the feed.  Some folks call them pigs, some call them skunk pigs, though they are far from a real pig.  They are actually of the Peccary of the Tayassuidae family.  (New World Pig)  There are 4 kinds ranging from South Texas into northern South America, and interesingly enough the island of Trinidad.  Tough little critters and cool to see.

We called day 1 a success and looked forward to tomorrow, though I was threatened with a whooping if I took her on anything near as tough as Old Ore Road.  But that is why I bought the Trail Edition 4Runner and the beast gets it done.

Day 2 – Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Always on the list when on the border.

It is about an hour from Terlingua and on the way we spotted a couple of buck Mule Deer which still had their horns.  For some reason they were not willing to stop and pose.  Last year we saw a big buck in the park, this year the viewing was a little tougher.

Hand and fingerprint petroglyphs in a rock shelter.

I have always been infatuated with the writings of the ancients.  It is too bad that there is not a better way to preserve so much of it.  Those of you who read this know I was adamantly opposed when the government started to cut funding to parks and wanting to sell our public lands.  That was so shortsighted and obviously proposed by folks who consider the outdoors to be a city park.

As we have traveled the outdoors extensively in the last 5 years and continue to do so, we could see it coming.  On this trip there was more people in the park than on our other 4 prior tips, combined!  The line waiting to get in the Starlight was around the building with a 2 hour plus wait.  We need to preserve every inch, they are not making any more land.  Plus look at the couple of pictures below.

The park is big as all outdoors.

What was the end game, filling lands as old as time with condos?  Maybe a mall? To improve the view?  We still need places where we can connect with our genetic heritage.  The lands and the animals are part of us and can never be replaced.  While solitude is getting harder to find we love seeing the “kids”, who’s numbers have really increased.  Camping, hiking, biking, and just hanging out, they will be the defenders of the public lands in the future, and I am hopeful for the future.

Everything in the desert will bite, sting, or scratch you, just ask my truck.

What do you see?

We took a hike into a canyon, spent some time at a watering hole, and just enjoyed the park.  The only thing was saw was these Javelinas crossing the road.  Behind #2 in line is her baby.  Look really closely.  As small as it was it could not have been that old.  As it got to the berm created by the road grader it was too small to make it and piled up and the next one stepped on it.  As they made the bush, I tried to get another pic as momma picked the baby up and took off to keep up with the others.  It is a hard world out there and these little guys are some of the toughest.

While we did not see much else, other than the sheer beauty of the desert we did stop at the ranger station and get some good advice for the next trip.  There is a one-way road to deep in the State Park that leads to a big valley with no other access which is now on the list.  Great petroglyphs, ruins, and home to most of the park’s bears, sounds spectacular.  The ranger said his wife thought the drive was a little sketchy so obviously we will be on it next trip.

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So let us review where we have been the last couple of months.  Moab, Arches, Aransas Wildlife Refuge, Big Band National and State Park, and will be headed to Great Smokey National Park in a couple of days.  Of all things we met some folks from North Carolina on a trail in the park who gave us some great tips on the area where we can hopefully see black bears, the purpose for the trip.  Since the covid our travel has changed, and we have kept most of it in country, which has been great.  Our first real big trip coming is Alaska, but I just learned that the Boss has reserved a train ride across Canada while I am at the Chandeliers in October.  She really has a travel habit for which there is no cure.

And last, today is the Boss’s birthday.  I cannot put into words how I feel about her.  Our life together has been full of adventure, she opened my eyes to the world of travel.  The memories it has given us, and those to come are priceless.  Get outdoors and see all this great country has to offer.  I love this country and the freedoms we enjoy.  Keep stopping in, will have more soon, and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines