Rockhounding the wash

Today was my day to decide what we would do.

I wanted to find things..

I wanted to go rockhounding..

We were told that we could walk the dirt road near the campground to the wash and collect rocks in the wash.

The road takes us past trash and things left in the desert to die..

It was kind of sad to see this part of the desert so full of trash..

It was also kind of cool..

Trucks laid to rest..

After perusing the trash we continued to follow the road south to the wash..

I stopped to take a photo of these two arched Ocotillo

I gave Jeff my Canon SX20 and he was also taking photos..

I LOVE how things grow out of this rock and dirt..

Such determined plants..

We arrive at the wash..

On the sides of the wash I start to find Calcite..

Do you see the greenish stone below?

We walk the wash….this is not sandy,it is one large rock tiled pathway….

On the side walls and on the path we see veins of crystals..

We were able to find a few small crystal rocks..

Most were too large to take with us.

The wash becomes sandy with loose rocks..

Steep sandstone walls line the path..

Crystals everywhere..

The wash ends and meets another wash..

We follow the second wash north..

Our plan is to

loop back to the campground..

We are hoping this wash brings us in the right direction..

We walk up large rock steps

A poor little lost baby doll..

Swallow nests..

Shell fossils..

We found our way out of the wash..

and back to the campground..

where we washed our calcite and crystal finds.

Tomorrow is Jeff's day..I wonder what he has planned?

Upper Burro Mesa hike~ Big Bend NP

Here we are!

We left our friends side yard in Alpine, TX on Friday and headed south.

We are staying in an RV park in Terlingua just outside of Big Bend NP.

We have no cell phone reception and spotty wifi at the RV park. Our mifi device is useless here as well.

Friday we just settled in to the campground and took a brief walk on some public lands outside of the rv park looking for rocks. We did find quite a few pieces of calcite and one large green colored calcite.

Will explore the area more this week to see what goodies we may find.

 

Saturday was Jeff's turn to decide our fate for the day so he took us to Upper Burro Mesa trail.

 

Upper Burro Mesa Pour-off Trail
Difficulty: Moderate; Distance: 3.8 miles round trip
Begin at pull-off, mile 6.6, Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive

This route follows a dry wash downstream to the top of the 100-foot Burro Mesa Pour-off. The trail includes some large rocks to climb down, where some rock scrambling may be necessary. Pay attention on the return hike to ensure that you follow the same drainages. Trail subject to flash flooding.

 

It was a hot day in Big Bend.

Mid 80s and a bit above my favorite hiking weather..

Luckily we had some nice breezes..

Not enough breeze to keep these critters from flying and landing all over us..

Thank goodness they only annoyed us and didn’t bite.

There were many wildflowers blooming.

Desert Marigold~Baileya multiradiata

With its fuzzy stem..

I didn’t have a guide with me to ID these flowers, but when I got back to camp I downloaded the app Flowers of the Trans Pecos area.

This is~

a type of

Phacelia ~not sure which one.

possibly P. crenulata Via Michael Eason

Phacelia 

I didn’t find this one in the guide..

Anyone?

ID via Michael Eason

Streptanthus carinatus = Lyreleaf jewelflower

Another one my app didn’t have.

via Michael Eason

Thymophylla sp (probably pentachaeta)

We followed the rocky dirt trail toward the pour off.

When Jeff and I were here four years ago we hiked the trail to the pour off from the lower Burro mesa trail.

Yuccas are blooming throughout Big Bend now..

Gray False Nightshade growing amongst the cactus.

I couldn’t find this shrub either..

Via Michael Eason

Dalea formosa  
Featherplume

I looked online with no luck.

I am hoping my horticultural friends and family might help me.

We continued on the path..

It became less open and rockier..

Then opened up again..

Our trail met a wash..

See the difference in color?

We came from the darker colored stones..

we met the wash..

We followed the wash..

We saw these critters dashing past us on the wash..

Thanks to John Karges  for the ID

The lizard is a Greater Earless Lizard (southwestern subspecies), Cophosaurus texanus

As the wash rounded a bend we saw beautiful yellow flowers growing on the rocky cliffs..

Rocknettle

We continued the follow the wash..

The pathway became narrower and we walked over smoothed water worn rocks..

and between interesting rock formations..

A window..

The wash widens again and we stop to bird.

It was here we saw Canyon and Rock wrens, Cardinals, Ash-throated flycatcher and a pair of Black-tailed Gnatcatchers

We thought that we were getting close to the dropoff when we reached this point.

Jeff went down first..

At the pour off looking down..

This was the end of the road for us..

Four years ago Jeff and I did the lower Burro Mesa hike to the pour off area..

The photo below shows Jeff at the bottom of the pour off.

Imagine a good rain~ the waterfall must be amazing.

Time to retrace our steps..

I take the climb first.

It looks steeper than it is.

I got my Muther worried when she saw this photo on facebook.

Its ok Mom..not very steep at all.

I ♥ This hike..

The window heading back to the trailhead.

A Big yellow grasshopper on the side of the trail. I went to pick it up and it hopped away..

 

On the way back we  took a break and sat in the birdie area on some quartz veins to have lunch and recharge.

It was a great hike..

Loved the scenery, the wildflowers and the birds we saw..

Could have done without the flies..

But …they were a minor annoyance amongst all the desert beauty.

Thanks friends for your help with the IDs! I really appreciate it~

Birds we saw on the trail

Mar 15, 2014
Big Bend NP--Burro Mesa pouroff
Traveling
5 miles
180 Minutes
Observers: 2
All birds reported? Yes
Comments:  
Submitted from BirdLog NA for iOS, version 1.7.1
 Turkey Vulture
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
 Say's Phoebe
 Ash-throated Flycatcher
 Verdin
 Cactus Wren
 Rock Wren
 Canyon Wren
 Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
 Hermit Thrush
 Northern Mockingbird
 Curve-billed Thrasher
 Canyon Towhee
 Black-throated Sparrow
 White-crowned Sparrow
 Northern Cardinal
 Pyrrhuloxia
 House Finch
 Lesser Goldfinch