Our plan to camp in a dispersed site in the open country here at Big Bend National Park.  It feels closer to the desert with wonderfully dark skies and a true solitary feel.    Sadly, the Ranger said no, nothing dispersed available for a rig our size.  I’m pretty sure she was wrong but we headed to Rio Grand Campground for now.  Perhaps we will scope another location for later in the week

Our first night here at Big Bend the Ranger program is all about these notorious locals. There are four types and none of them too friendly.

The biggest-western diamond back

The badest – Mohave rattler…strongest venom

I have always known to watch for them sunning in the daytime but it never struck me that that meant they actually actively hunt at night. No flip flops at night and be sure to carry a flashlight!

We have been wondering why there are old tires roped together and lying along the right of way of US90. Can you guess? The border police actually drag the fence line with them to obliterate footprints so they can check back later and see if there has been new foot traffic (read undocumented immigrants) passing through. With the lake and local rivers very low, there is a lot of crossing happening here in this huge undeveloped area.

Kent seems to be coming out of his splotchy pink phase.  He has been covered with blotches of calamine for about a week now.  We speculate that he got into chiggers since I plucked a bunch of tiny, many legged black dots off him.  Whatever they were they were busy little chewers.  He has dozens of bites especially on ankles and behind his knees.  Lucky he’s the photographer or there would be some nice embarrassing pics to chronicle his suffering.

This nonprofit works to preserve ancient rock art locations all around the lower Pecos area.  We checked out White Shaman site today.  It is a small cave that they think was devoted to religious ceremony rather than a place to live so it is considered a pretty important find.  We clambered down rock strewn ledges and across some precarious smooth rock.  They spend their money on archeology not trail maintenance so the journey out to the site was a bit of a challenge.  The rock art was pretty intricate and leaves one wondering what message they meant to leave and for whom.  As sort of a two-for, we got a nice view of the Pecos River from the cliffy bank.   There were goats too….they navigated the steep rocky cliffs much better than we did.

Did you know? If you spray a LOT of aerosolized calamine lotion in the house it will set off your propane detector.  Oh yes.  I am sure they could here it three or four sites away.

Seminole Canyon State Park protects the Fate Bell shelter and leads guided tours to the location.  Our guide is a wonderful storyteller and made the trip great fun. Kent captured the images to try to give others a feel for what is here but you really need to see the art in its context to fully appreciate how these people lived.

There isn’t much else around here but it’s worth the side trip to check it out. Besides the cave art we have seen fox, whitetail deer, roadrunners and rabbits.  The climate is weird.  It is desert terrain with desert plants but humidity is 50%+ thanks to prevailing winds from the south and the affect of the huge Amistad reservoir.  It looks like desert but feels like it ought to be much greener.  We did hit the IHOP in Del Rio.  I saw an ad for the double dipped French toast with blackberries and couldn’t resist!  It didn’t quite live up to my expectations but not bad.

The trail wanders along the rocky edge of Seminole Canyon.  It is desert now and the canyon dotted with still pools but I can almost see the wild torrents of water that must have raged down this path through the years to cut the smooth floored sweeping canyon.  The calls of canyon wrens and ravens bounce off the cliff walls.  Mockingbirds serenade us and hearty sparrows dart among the thorny vegetation.   It is ruggedly beautiful.

The trail and canyon make one more turn and all at once it is filled with turquoise water. The dam at Amistad backs up the Rio Grande River into the lower canyon.  This is where we find the main attraction, Panther Cave.  Across the canyon and accessible only by boat, the cave is only partly visible but the huge 4000 year old panther guarding the entrance is still impressive.  Low water makes it difficult to access right now but it looks like it might be a fun paddle some time.

This area is covered with cave art from the Lower Pecos peoples.  It is a fun discovery for us and sounds like archeological understanding of its significance is still in its infancy.  It’ll be fun to see what all the experts come to think this work means and how it fits in the tapestry of ancient peoples that have inhabited this land.

It started out small, cottontails dotted the campground. Soon white tailed deer crisscrossed my path including a beautiful buck with an impressive rack.  Coyotes howled in the distance.  A huge flock of vultures rose from the treetops.  A pair of great horned owls hooted with some attitude as they swooped past me from their treetop perch.  Two tom turkeys faced off with tails spread and wings outstretched to impress a group of hens. The song of dozens of cardinals cut through the quiet morning air.  Flickers and mockingbirds added their raucous calls.  What a great way to start the day!

We just didn’t feel like driving I 10 west again. It is not all that scenic and we have taken that route a number of times.  So the plan is to head toward Big Bend on US90.

First we head out on TX72. This part of Texas is heavily scarred from recent oil drilling.  We noticed flare stacks all along the horizon from Choke Canyon.  Ugly brown patches slash through the already parched terrain.  Wildlife still seems to find a way here.  We saw a bobcat and a group of pronghorn.  Heavy trucks have taken a toll on the highways and we bumped and rattled along at 45mph much of the way.  Three Rivers and the surrounding area must have been booming but with the recent slow down there are shuttered stores and abandoned hotels, company housing units, and RV parks everywhere.  Signs indicated they got $204/week for a travel trailer on a dirty gravel lot back in the heyday.

We reach Pearsall. Oil activity thins out.  Huge walking irrigation sprinklers appear on both sides of the road where acres and acres of cabbage, onions, corn and apparently watermelon (not this time of year I guess) are grown. It was quite a different scene.  A sign claimed “world’s largest peanut”.  I guess they grow those here too.  I will have to check that out.

We pick up US 90 in Uvalde. It is in a bit better shape so we motor on.

Next we encountered hills; they call them mountains here at 1500 feet or so. It’s rocky and dry again but pretty in its own way.

Del Rio is a sprawled out border town with what looks like at least one fast food place for every resident.  We stopped for fuel but otherwise didn’t tarry.  Perhaps we will return to check it out later.

Our destination today; Seminole Canyon State Park.  Our site overlooks the desert.  A steady breeze keeps it comfortable.  Tomorrow we will check out trails to ancient cave paintings along the canyons.  We will probably hop back to Amistad NRA too.  The lake is low and we probably won’t launch the boat but we may explore and bird watch a bit since we are here.

It is nice to be on the move and seeing new things.