AROUND THE BIG BEND

Located along the Rio Grande River in southwest Texas, the park consists of 801,163 acres. The terrain varies from the sandy banks of the Rio Grande river to the craggy peaks of the Chisos Mountains.

The river runs through the Chihuanuan Desert cutting spectacular canyons through the uplifted limestone walls. Pat's brother Mike and his wife Donna met us for a week of camping and hiking along the river. We explored the Boquillas and Santa Elena Canyons. The Boquillas on east and the Santa Elena on the west bookend the park.

Boquillas Canyon

There is brisk cross border tourist trade between the rural village of Boquillas, Mexico and the campground village. Cool copper and bead sculptures appear along the trail for sale and the border crossing is relatively easy with a passport. A Mexican guide will ferry you across the river in a small row boat and you can tour the town visiting homes and restaurants with a guide. ( We didn't cross but people who did said it was fun.)

The geology of the park is very interesting. Exploration spans millions of years of earth's history- from seas of the Cretaceous period 135 million years ago - to the volcanic highlands of 38 million years ago - to the desert mountain landscape we see today.

Santa Elena Canyon

Big Bend is too big for one post...more to follow.