Though my feet are swollen.
Keep rollin' through Big Bend,
Why hike?
Through wind, sweat, and sunburn,
Take the pack, it's your turn.
Wishin' I was on my bike.
My heart's calculating,
Some ice cream will be waiting.
Be waiting at the end of my hike.
As we overheard yesterday at the Visitors Center: "You have to work to see some of the beauty in this park." Today, we covered another section of Big Bend National Park, with a hike into Santa Elena Canyon. This hike is rated as "Easy." We are older and not in as good of shape as some of our younger friends, like Mark and Diana (who we met through the boat cruising guides they authored). "Easy, Moderate, and Difficult" are relative terms. More on that later.
Izzy wanted to go for a hike today, too. So, out and about...
Yes, she thinks she is a mountain lion. I ducked into the coach for just a couple seconds to grab the camera, and when I came out, there were birds diving at Izzy. She looked at me like: "What the heck did I do???" The birds took off when I came out. Izzy knows I am her protector... may be why she is so brave when we are out walking.
With Izzy comfortable inside the coach, Joan and I took off for another section of the park today: Santa Elena Canyon - shear canyon walls where the Rio Grande River runs through, separating the US and Mexico.
Some views along the way...
The Visitors Center at Castolon is much smaller and more rustic than the one at Panther Junction yesterday...
The building was originally built during the Mexican Revolution, and was to house 20 US soldiers; the revolution ended before the construction was complete, so no US troops ever lived in it. There is also a small store there. And not much else. We checked out both, then back to the CR-V with the goal of hiking the canyon in mind...
Our first view of the Rio Grande River in this area - from a boat launch. The water level is quite low, so no rafting float trips, but you can get out by canoe. Moving on...
A distant view of Santa Elena Canyon (above). A buzzard flying above the river - I guess he heard that we were going to be hiking today...
We drove to the trail head, parked the car, and headed out...
There is a boardwalk at the beginning of the trail, making it easy (and less messy) to walk over the sandy soil. I thought it might be like this all the way to the canyon... it wasn't. Walking on a dry riverbed (the river changes with the rain and runoff upstream)...
Whew! That was quite a walk... what do you mean: the trail starts over here???
The path is well-marked, but not smooth...
The view changes as we climb in elevation...
Joan took advantage of some shade from a rock outcropping...
I put the camera on a rock and set the timer so we could get a shot with us together...
The views are nice either direction as we get towards the end of the trail...
On the way back, this guy ran across our path...
It's hard to tell size from this photo, but he is about 8 feet long and weighs at least 400 pounds. Yes, I am kidding, but he is a LOT bigger than our geckos back home. And, in spite of anything you might hear, I did not scream like a little girl when I saw it.
We picked our way back down carefully, since we made it this far without injuring any body parts. I thought we were doing good... until a family went by us, with two little girls who were wearing sandals zipping by us in the other direction. I think it is because they were fresh, having just started the hike.
Back at the parking area, it was a lot busier than when we first came...
She smiled and said, "We are going to have a history lesson before starting the hike; you are welcome to join us and get in on the lesson."
"Look at me - I AM history! Y'all have fun!"
The A/C in the car felt great. The thermometer in the car read 88ยบ - this valley is a lot lower than the adjacent areas... it felt plenty warm on the way back. Yes, we took (and took in) water with us.
There were a couple other places with short walks we wanted to see...
Nice view of the Mule Ears...
And this looks like a profile of The Thing (for any Fantastic Four fans out there)...
We passed plenty of these today, but this one wanted to be photographed...
A nice view of the valley...
The half moon showed up early today...
About an hour drive back to the coach. There is a small store in town (?); we picked up a few things before heading for home. As we pulled in and started to unload the car, I told Joan, "I wish I had a nice cool stream to soak my feet in..."
She said, "I have some ice and water from the cooler you can use."
I did. It was painfully cold! But, my feet felt better afterwards...
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