Grapevine Hills Trail, Big Bend NP Day 7 prt 1

Howdee all

March 25

Grapevine Hills trail to Balanced rock

2 mile round trip

Easy hike..a bit of a scramble to balanced rock

 The trail begins on the 8 mile Grapevine Hills dirt road.

Be prepared to be Stoned…:)

I took lots of photos of these rock formationsThe trail follows a gravel creek bed  Passing thru some incredible rocks..

Indian legend says that when God finished making the word, he tossed all the leftovers in Big Bend.

I can imagine that here

Leftover rocks thrown about

I noticed these quartz crystals all over the ground in this area..

No collecting allowed in National parks..

I think this was one of the most interesting areas in Big BendAs far as the formations..

The park is huge..so many more areas to explore   Probably more hidden beauties like this area…

  Are you stoned enough yet?

This large rock looks like a face side view, smiling face..

That's how I felt out here…

all smilesWhat amazing rocks..

And then… the scramble to Balanced rock

I took a few photos here.. I climbed a few rocks to take photos from the east looking west

  Have you been sufficiently stoned?   I know I was…it was incredible..   This place is awesome..  We had lunch here..and then it was time to go

To our final hike of the day

The Windows..

Big Bend Ranch State Park, Closed Canyon Trail Day 6 prt 2

Howdee all,

March 24

After hiking Cinco Tinajas and Ojito Adentro Trails, we traveled the long dirt road out of this park of Big Bend Ranch State park.

Jeff has had enough of long dirt roads after this one. We had intended to drive the 50 mile dirt road in Big Bend State park, that follows the Rio Grande river…but after this dirt road…..

   Jeff says we will skip it this time, 25 miles on this one was enough

We enjoyed the hikes off of the dirt road..and also took a drive to the Visitor center located further down the road. This seems to be a great destination for those who have horses..

We saw many trucks pulling horse trailers as we left the park.

    Finally on pavement we headed back to Terlingua stopping at Closed Canyon.

Closed Canyon Trail

1.4 mile round trip

Easy hike

Closed canyon is a narrow slot canyon

The canyon cuts through the Colorado Mesa to the Rio Grande River You must be aware of surrounding storms as rain can cause flash floods here.. And there is no where to climb for safety The canyon floor is smooth rock..very slick when wet..We traveled through several small pouroffs about three feet in height before reachng this 7 foot pouroff. 

We weren't sure if we could climb back out of the pouroff, so Jeff waited behind for me to pull me back up.This was the end of the road..a few tanks ,tinajas with very steep slick walls.

I was able to climb back up with no problem, so Jeff went down to check out the tanks himself.I thought this rock formation looked like a face..        The sun was lighting up the hillside ..

See the Rio Grande River below..

Mexico the other side..Oh our way back I spied these way up on a hill..sorry about the fuzzy photo..Baby camera you know..

We found out that they are Barbary sheep..not a native species..and there as been some talk of getting rid of them.Thats all for now..

Only a few days left in Big Bend..Jeff wants to go find some migrating birds!

Stay tuned for a few more Big Bend Hikes

I ♥ Big Bend 

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Birds of the day

Curve bill thrasher,House sparrow.House finch
White wing dove,Turkey vulture, Common raven.Black-throated sparrow
Chipping sparrow,Vesper sparrow,Osprey,Black Vulture,Bewick wren
Pyrilloxia,Lesser gold finch,Brewers sparrow,White crowned sparrow
Vesper sparrow,Cactus wren

Big Bend Ranch State Park Day 6 part 1

Howdee all,

March 24

Jeff and I took a long drive from Terlingua to Big Bend Ranch State park for three recommended hikes.

The drive followed the Rio Grande River

Mexico on the left..

  Texas on this side

We drove 40 miles on a paved road to the exit for two of the hikes..

from there we traveled way to many miles ( 15) on a dirt road to our first hike

Ojito Adentro

1.4 miles round trip

Difficulty…easy

The trail meanders thru desert scrub and continues to a grove of Cottonwoods and Bofecillos creek

the trail winds around boulders and ends at the spring ..

When we first entered I heard what seemed like the distant hum of a freeway..

I looked above me in the willows..hundreds of bees…they looked like honeybees..

    at the end of the trail, a water tankDripping with ferns and water…

We lingered here a bit..listening for birds

on the way back to the car

Another cactus in bloom…

     It was a beautiful day…

The temperature was in the high 7osWe drove 10 miles on the dirt road to our next hike

Cinco Tinajas

Length I mile

Difficulty..easy to moderate

The trail begins in desert scrub

I dont know what the gray scrub is..I really liked the color in this photo..

Lupines in bloom (Bluebonnets)

The trail gains a bit in elevation and overlooks the Tinajas or Tanks.

We then followed the trail down into the wash..

following the washThru some rocky areas..

To the Tinajas

This is a view of the shallow end on the south side

On the north side..deep tanks

It it was warmer I might think of taking a swim here..

The pools looked about four feet deep.

  Jeff and I took another trail out of the tank area…we followed the washpast algae filled pools..     And more Texas bluebonnets..

Stay tuned for

Day 6 part 2

Closed Canyon