Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Santa Elena Canyon, Big Bend NP day 4 part 2

Howdee all,

After checking out the Dugan/Sublett farm houses we took a drive to

Santa Elena Canyon.

Santa Elena_002A short 1.7 mile round trip

an easy hike..

The first part of the hike is through sand…Santa Elena_005

Then to the Rio Grande River..Santa Elena_013 Flowers along the way..Santa Elena_012 Santa Elena_011 The Rio Grande is green… at least it was when we saw it..Santa Elena_017

The trail hugs the American side of the river…Santa Elena_018   The trail then switchbacks up stairs..to several platforms..Santa Elena_021

We saw this turtle ..any ideas of what kind?

Santa Elena_019View to the north…Santa Elena_022

As we hiked higher..better views of the Rio Grande and the beach we crossed. Santa Elena_025

Shear cliffs on the Mexican side

Santa Elena_029Green and Gray Santa Elena_028

Green, Orange and GraySanta Elena_032   The gray rocks had a very shiny finish..and quite slipperySanta Elena_037 Who's are these?Santa Elena_040Rocks, Rocks everywhere..

Sicksta Dell will be jealous.. Santa Elena_041and no Sicksta, I didn't pick one of these up to bring home for you…

If I wasn't in a National Park..I would have..:) Santa Elena_042 A beautiful hike…short and easy!Santa Elena_043With the bonus of wildflowers..Santa Elena_044 Santa Elena_046

Day 4 part 3  next..

7 comments:

  1. I can't believe you take us to so many beautiful places Dawn! The sand is so white, it's beautiful. I wonder why the water is green? Odd little footprints too.

    Yes, best to leave the rocks behind where they belong ; )

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love those rocks! And love that turtle! It's beautiful country. Wish I could join you. Thanks for letting us come along.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Breathtaking Dawn! You take your blog readers places that most of us will never see in person own...THANK YOU!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a gorgeous place! Did you ever find out whose footprints those were??

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for this post, Dawn, brought back memories... when I was in college a bunch of us took a two day rafting trip down through Santa Elena Canyon ending up at the location described in your blog.

    It was gorgeous, fun, and quite exciting (I guess exciting is how one might describe nearly drowning.) Bunch of know-it-all kids doing something way beyond our real knowledge. Still, everyone survived, many with a new perspective on life and amazing memories.

    Imagine floating for hours down the river with those sheer rock walls on each side of the river with only a slit of sky above. Oh, and the rapids! Yahoo! Yikes! Glug-glug-glug. A genuine adventure.

    Glad you are having a great time and seeing this grand scenery.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Awesome place & photos Dawn! You got me curious as to the type of turtle (all I know is it's some type of softshell but, not sure if it's the spiny softshell) and those mammal prints hmmmmm. If you find out please post.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks Friends for you comments..I really do appreciate them!
    I hope to visit your blogs soon when I get better internet..seems like when I get to the east coast my internet is so much better.
    I hate being behind in my blog reading..i want to know what everyone is up to..OK thats enough of my whining..

    Big Bend is an amazing place..we are here just a little over a week..I am hoping to spend a month here some winter/spring.

    Felicia and Donna..
    Still dont know whose prints those were or what kind of turtle that is ..I havent been able to find a similar image of the turtle..
    will keep looking..

    Bosque_Bill
    Glad you didnt drown in the river..
    I bet they were great memories!

    ReplyDelete

ok what do you really think?????