M&T Alpine-Tales: Exploring Big Bend National Park

We spent two days exploring Big Bend National Park. We were here 15 years ago. Someone asked me if much had changed! I'm sure it hasn't.
On this visit, I was struck by the vastness, the grandeur, and the striking variation in topography and landscape. It seemed to fit the Texan image.

I noticed that the ocotillo were abundant and very healthy-looking. Most were green, their tall branches reminding me of fuzzy pipe cleaners. These plants remain dormant much of the year but leaf out within 24-48 hours of rainfall. There must have been sufficient rain and moisture for the ocotillo to be so green.

sotol

I learned about the sotol succulent with its tall stalk produced each spring that bears flowers. Sotol was an important source of materials used for basket making. The stalks were used to make temporary shelters, porches, roofs, corrals and walking sticks. Because the stalks are so straight they were also used as a lance and spear. Other parts of the plant were used as food. Young flower stalks and the seeds were eaten. The heart of the plant was cooked in stone-lined pits for several days. When the sap is fermented it produces an alcoholic beverage called by the same name, sotol.

Driving along the different routes through the park, we saw several tarantulas crossing the road, and a few roadrunners scurrying into the bushes. It reminded me that it was here in Big Bend that I saw my first roadrunner at the Rio Grande Village campground where we were staying back then.
And as we have come to learn, even though we may have explored a national park previously, there is always more to discover and learn on a return visit. The more times you visit, the more you see, and notice. At different times of the year the park looks a little different too.
Big Bend NP lies in a remote part of southwest Texas, spanning over 801,000 acres. The Rio Grande River forms the park's southern international border with Mexico. The name Big Bend comes from the U-turn bend that the river makes as seen on the National Park Service map below:

We drove the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to the dramatic Santa Elena gap with its 1,500-foot towering canyon walls to see the Rio Grande River. The gap is a sight to behold.

the gap is the Santa Elena canyon from a distance

view into the Santa Elena canyon from the overlook a couple of miles away

We parked and walked the trail to the river. The scene was spectacular with the opaque green river snaking its way out of the gap between the massive canyon walls.
We crossed a small running stream to the banks on the opposite side, looking for a way to the trail that leads into the canyon.

The trail lead us up a groomed path to an overlook. It was pretty breathtaking and spectacular.

view across the Rio Grande River looking out of the canyon into the park

view into the canyon

we and Alpine friend Ramona in the canyon

steam engine similar to a toy one
Michael once had

At Castolon we stopped at the Visitor Center which had unfortunately just closed for the season. However there were reader boards which explained that in 1922 businessman Wayne Cartledge began growing cotton in these river-bottom fields. He also introduced steam and gasoline-powered irrigation pumps, the remnants of which are left behind as a reminder of the booming commercial venture that ended by 1942 with the falling prices and mounting costs of cotton. When Michael was a little boy, he had a toy working steam engine that looked very similar to this one here in the photo. Who knew that he would find the real thing in a remote area in Big Bend National Park!

Big Bend NP lies in the Chihuahuan Desert yet is one of the most diverse areas due to the geologic processes that have been constantly changing the land for over 500 million years. Eons ago, this area was once an ocean. In effect, we were driving along the bottom of an ancient seabed along some roads. Millions of years later plate tectonics, upthrusts and rifts, volcanic activity, and erosion occurring during different eras created the varied landscape that we see today. The result is a collection of fascinating dramatic rock formations throughout the park, from the lowest point at 1,850 feet along the river to the highest point at 7,825 feet at Emory Peak in the Chisos Mountains.
The Chisos range is a volcanic remnant, extending for 20 miles, thus making Big Bend National Park the only area in the US with an entire mountain range within its borders. It is also the southern most mountain range on the US mainland. The Chisos are an ecological island marooned by altitude. Although they appear to be treeless, the Chisos' higher slopes are forested with oak, pine, and juniper.

Chisos Mountains, an entire range within the boundaries of Big Bend NP

We drove the road to Chisos Basin marveling at the rock formations. And as we climbed in elevation, the topography changed and looked greener with the appearance of trees, bushes and grasses, in stark contrast to the desert terrain just a few miles away.

I especially enjoyed the large chunky rock formations with their interesting shapes. The rocks glowed in the sinking afternoon sun.

We took a short walk along a trail to take in the view from the gap in the mountains which is known as The Window.

view through the "window" in the Chisos range into the park

This is what the gap known as the Window looks like from the other side -

looking into the "window" in the Chisos range

Another interesting formation we went to see is known as Mule Ears Peaks.

hiking along a dry wash into the canyon to see the pouroff

Michael almost inconspicuous
at the base of the canyon

We did a short hike to see the Burro Mesa Pouroff. It turned out to be a high cliff that after heavy rain becomes a gushing flash flood waterfall.
It's too difficult to comprehend the force with which the water would flow over this massive and high precipice.

the enormous rocks make one feel tiny like an ant

the landscape that holds fossils - imagine the ones that have
yet to be discovered....

There is one change since we were last here. In January this year, a brand new Fossil Exhibit was opened. We went to see that too and learned that not only did dinosaurs roam here once upon a time but significant discoveries of mammal fossils were also made here.

the new fossil exhibit

In 1900, one of the most well-known dinosaur hunters of all time, Barnum Brown, discovered Tyrannosaurus rex in Montana. Then forty years later, he and his field-assistant, R.T. Bird, came to what is now Big Bend. They drove an old Ford deliverywagon into sections of the park that would challenge our Jeep today! They explored many areas of the park and collected a number of fossils. Some of the more significant finds include skull parts of the giant alligator Deinosuchus, a skull of the armored dinosaur Edmontonia, and the skull and limb bones of the large duck-billed hadrosaur called Kritosaurus.

Gazing out to the landscape that preserved all these bones, I could only wonder how on earth one would know where to begin looking for fossils, and how it must surely be a matter of luck to even discover one.

Here are more scenes from this park with its remarkable variance in topography and plants -