I quite like Alpine, Texas. It’s small—under 6,000 people—and it still feels full. It’s also not a backwater town. There’s a reasonable library, quality restaurants, and art in public spaces. I grabbed a coffee at the hipster-lite café next to the bookstore. The staff was young and happy. Alpine is a quietly joyful town; I hope it continues to do well.
I continued south through pure countryside. It took an hour to find Terlingua, population 58. I banged a left and found myself in Big Bend National Park, right on the Rio Grande and the Mexican Border. Big Bend is in the Chihuahuan Desert, which is the third major desert I’ve visited so far. The fourth and final desert in the US, the Sonoran, will have to wait for another trip. The land is dusty, without the onslaught of sagebrush I’ve seen in the Mojave, the Great Basin, and the plains. The jagged Chisos Mountains dominate the landscape. This is classic American desert.
On a 90-degree day, there’s not much to do but wait out the heat. I hunkered down in the shade until an hour before sundown, then ventured toward Santa Elena Canyon. On the bank of the Rio Grande, I found my second wedding party of the trip. I thought this location much more suitable than the Washington rainforest. The Rio Grande is heavily dammed upstream, but it’s still wide and pretty. The canyon walls are high and majestic, and the trails take you through the pricker bushes along the edge of the river. It was well worth the wait.
There’s a lot more to see in the crook of Texas, but my time here may be limited due to how unbelievably hot it is. We’ll see how much more sun I can stomach tomorrow.
Your pictures sort of make one want to saddle up, cross the border with Capt. Call and Capt. McCrae, steal some horses from the Mexicans and drive them cattle north into Montana, like they did in “Lonesome Dove.”
Have you met any Mexican kids yet who are still looking for their parents after Trump got through with them?
I’m sure there are still a lot of good people in Texas… but how could they re-elect someone like Greg Abbott?
I can’t remember what time of year it was when we went to Big Bend but temperatures were comfortable, not blazing hot. Might have been February. We found some really nice scenery along the River. I remember the big cliffs you mentioned. Jeff had tried to book a room at a place in the park but it was booked solid for at least a year. Our accommodations in Lajitas at a golf resort were nice but expensive. Glad you are enjoying the park when it is cooler but it’s too bad you have to plan on avoiding the heat of the day. I wonder if you will run into that along the rest of your path through TX. Nice shot of the Rio Grande. I hope I can see all of your pictures some day with you telling me all about them. Love, Grandma