Big Bend National Park

The Big Bend National Park is the Texas of the old Westerns.  It has desert, mountains, floodplains, canyons, and of course, the Rio Grande.  The vast Chihuahuan Desert reminds me a bit of our tundra, with miles and miles of remoteness. It does have a history of ranching and mining, however and remnants of those days can be found. Much of the desert was once grassland, but overgrazing striped away the grasses and was replaced by desert vegetation.  Still, the park boasts of over 1,200 plant species and is actually very lush. 

Looking across the Chihuahua Desert.

In the Grapevine Hills.

Hiking in the Grapevine Hills.

More Grapevine Hills.

Balanced Rock.

In the Chisos Basin.

Chisos Mountains

Looking across to the Sierra Del Carmen.

A flowering Yucca.

The Mexican village of Boquillas Del Carmen.

Mexican villagers come over to the park and leave things for the park visitors to buy.

They then wait across the river and watch.

The Rio Grande entering the Boquillas Canyon.

The Rio Grande wasn't as grand as I expected.

Jesus has a pretty good voice and sounded good in the canyon.

Big Bend's Singing Mexican.

Hieroglyphs

Pictographs

Meep, Meep

The sunset over the Sierra Del Carmen.

Mexicans collecting there tips and trinkets for the night.

The moon through the Ocotillo

There is a bobcat in there, really.

Jack

Awesome geology in this park.

The Mariscal Mine

This mercury mine began in 1900 and continued until 1943.

Another shot of the Rio Grande.

Some remains of the Nail Ranch