Big Bend National Park – la tierra despoblada

Big Bend – a rugged wilderness, larger than RI, where the Chisos mountains meet the Chihuahua desert and the majestic Rio Grande is slowly making its way, carving canyons through the desert limestone. Layers upon layers of jagged peaks extend into the horizon and on a cloudy day like today cut into the clouds.

Pictures here: https://goo.gl/photos/79SFKBPkMeDq1bJY8

We arrived at camp last evening just in time to witness the mountains glowing in the orange of the setting sun. Although there were signs some 20 miles beforehand that the campground is full, I decided not to trust them (oko da vidi, ryka da pipne) and drove on. I was wrong. Just as we were getting ready to leave and use the overflow lot, I had the good fortune to hit a rock – damn, those rocks won’t move out of the way – bent the truck’s rim and blew a tire. As it turned out, this was our ticket for the night. Most of the population of the campground was immediately on the spot to offer help. We were swiftly dispatched to the only available site, reserved for handicaps. “We’ve got ourselves a handicapped truck.” summed up in his Texan drawl our camp host, an elderly gentleman from Paris, TX (not to be confused with the other Paris, wherever it was). Other campers also offered tools and help and with the expert advice of Julie and Lilly the job was done in less than 45 min. The closest place to fix the rim is in Laredo, but that’s some 450 miles east and it can wait a few (or more) days.

We woke this morning to some very gusty winds, the temperature has dropped considerably and we may even see some rain! Good news in a place that only get 5–10 in. a year. This all gives a very dramatic outlook to the park, with large clouds racing through the sky and the peaks cutting through them. The camp host came by to see how we’re doing and graciously declined to take money for the night – “you had your share of troubles last night, the night’s on us.” This is in tune with mostly everyone we’ve met in TX – Walmart employees, park rangers, restaurant owners and fellow campers – all very nice and friendly people, calm and unhurried. We seem to rub off some of their calmness, or may be it’s the majestic nature that’s been surrounding us for the last several weeks. It becomes easier to filter out distractions and annoyances from everyday’s life lose their importance. Flat tires will get changed, no cell phone or data is fine, carry on…

We just stopped at the park rangers’ station, where there’s free wifi courtesy of the National Park Service, so I can post this. The kids got a Junior Ranger book in celebration of the centennial of the NPS and are  busy completing the puzzles in the book with the promise to win badges and pins from the NPS. Rangers claim they’ll mail the prizes wherever we are. Let’s see how good the Mexican posts are.

Now off to do a hike and hopefully hunt us some Javelinas for dinner. And who knows, we may see some Mexican black bear, if they make it past border patrol. What was supposed to be a one stay at Big Bend is shaping up into several days. What’s the rush?

Your thoughts and comments are welcome!