Thursday, March 25, 2010

Ernst Tinaja trail, Big Bend NP, day 5 part 1

Howdee all,

March 23

Another hot day in Texas..funny how that happens. We arrived to very cool, almost cold weather in the 50s. It warmed up to the 60-70s and the last few days it has been 80-90s while hiking…we bring lots of xtra water on our hikes.

Today Jeff and I decided to hike the,

Ernst Tinaja trail

1.4 mile hike

Difficulty.. easy

A four and a half mile long drive up Old Ore Road to get to the trail head.

Be prepared for a bumpy drive.

Ernst Tenaja_133We stopped along the way when we saw this beauty.

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  The flowers were almost as large as the cactus itself.Ernst Tenaja_130I got lost in its Yellow glow…Ernst Tenaja_129A real beauty in the desert.    Ernst Tenaja_117 More beautiful, narrow white dirt road…be prepared to pull over for oncoming cars.Ernst Tenaja_115 While traveling to the trail head I spied this poor little critter…How do you suppose he met his demise? I suspect a Loggerhead Shrike decided to roast him before dinner. Shrikes sometimes spear their prey onto objects and come back to eat them later.

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The cactus are budding..some of these buds are new leaflets..others are flower buds.

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This is the start of the Ernst Tinaja trailErnst Tenaja_104

The trail follows the wash, over water shaped rocks..

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And GravelErnst Tenaja_097

Into the Tinaja or Tanks

and canyon of highly-convoluted rock layers.Ernst Tenaja_090These tanks hold water ..year roundErnst Tenaja_089

   Be careful near the tinaja's edge. Over the years deer, javelina, and even mountain lions have been found drowned in this tinaja.

Ernst Tenaja_088 We stopped here for lunch.

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After wandering further upstream

to check out this strange formation.Ernst Tenaja_085This is a nice trail for families i think children would love to scramble around on the rocks..

Ernst Tenaja_082 More desert bloomsErnst Tenaja_080   Ernst Tenaja_081 We traveled further into the canyon..

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    Up a few dry waterfalls
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Until we reached this area…Jeff poses before climbing up.Ernst Tenaja_065

   This was the end of the line for me…too difficult to climb up. Ernst Tenaja_058

So back down the trail…things always look different in another directionErnst Tenaja_055 You notice things you hadn't before..Like this huge boulder below.

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flowers growing out of rock creviceErnst Tenaja_052

Cactus spines being lit up by the sunErnst Tenaja_047

A nice hike both waysErnst Tenaja_045

I notice this little home? in the overhanging rock. What type of bug made this?

Ernst Tenaja_044 Spring flowers, glowing in the sunlight

Ernst Tenaja_040And then back down to the very strange rock Ernst Tenaja_041

with colors of gray, orange, yellowErnst Tenaja_039 Greens, blues and orange Ernst Tenaja_029 Pinks and orangeErnst Tenaja_028A very nice place to linger…Ernst Tenaja_033

This hike was very easy, except for the last part when we had to do some scrambling. We were told you can follow the canyon out to make this a longer hike, but you needed another car waiting at an access point.

From here we went on another small hike..

To be continued ..

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Richard and Muther..I changed the photos so that the source picture would be larger. I don't know why it changed to a smaller size in the first place..let me know if you like the size or if I need to make them larger.

Richard, if there are certain pictures in previous posts you would like larger to use, let me know.

9 comments:

  1. Very cool hike sicksta! Loved the cacti and the rocks and the tanks.

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  2. So much park, so many trails. Enjoy!

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  3. Wonderful pictures! I have not been there, but my son's have both been.

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  4. that green and yellow glow almost looks like fluid, amazing
    great shots dawn

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  5. WOW, Dawn. I can't believe I never went there. The geology is incredible!

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  6. Wow! Great pictures! LOVE the yellow cactus flowers!!!!!!! Waiting for the next installment. :) Great job!

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  7. Did you see the claw marks at the edge of the pool?

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  8. beachgrl
    Thanks Sicksta..

    Jim.
    We really enjoyed your backyard..wish you were there too..hope all is well ..maybe will catch you next time around.

    Weekend Cowgirl
    Oh you must go..but maybe not now ..wait for cooler weather..

    forestal
    Thanks Dan! Yeah..the glow is kinda neat isnt it?

    dguzman
    I cant believe you havent been either..Have you left Texas altogether to go up north again?
    well next time in Texas go to Big Bend..

    Beverly
    Thanks..glad you liked..and thanks for coming to visit.

    Albert
    Claw marks? no i didnt..have you seen them?

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  9. I've been to Big Bend annually for the last 45 years and Earnst Tinaja is one of my favorite places. On Christmas Day 1979, one of our friends fell at the spot you gave up at and broke her back in three places. It was a major ordeal to carry her on a backboard a mile out of that canyon and then 130 miles to the Alpine hospital. She had no nerve damage but hasn't been back to the Park since. Perhaps it was that "I had a spine tingling experience in Big Bend" T shirt her husband had made for her. My grandchildren are the fourth generation of the family to make the annual trip. We just got back a week ago and my eight year old grandson backpacked South Rim with me for the fourth time in three years.

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ok what do you really think?????