Fort Davis, Texas

After being evicted from Big Bend National Park because of the US government shutdown, I went back to Alpine and then north from there to Fort Davis. I thought I'd be able to camp at Fort Davis State Park (the shutdown didn't affect state parks) but the campground was full (presumably because of all the people forced out of the national parks).

On the way to Fort Davis, I stopped at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center. I didn't know anything about it, but I was glad I stopped. It has a botanical gardens, a greenhouse full of different kinds of cactus, and nature trails. I enjoyed all three. It is amazing how many different kinds of cactus there are!







There weren't many flowering but of course the bits of color caught my eye.







I'm guessing these fuzzy things on the Antelope Bush were seeds?



I enjoyed the nature trails. I was warned about the difficult trail and told to take one of the walking sticks. And, of course, carry water! Neither of which I did. The trail was rocky in spots, but hardly "difficult". There was a nice little canyon, with pools of water.



I stopped in Fort Davis State Park the next day to do some hiking. It is one of the many sites developed by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) in the 1930's. I only saw the lodge from a distance, but it looked impressive.





The hike was good, but the best part is that there were several bird blinds where they had water and bird feeders. (Somewhat of a double standard - you're not supposed to feed wildlife, but bird feeders are ok?) I only spent 10 or 15 minutes at one of the blinds, but still saw quite a variety of birds.

The most common birds were these little sparrow like ones, which I think are pine siskins.



The other common ones were Eurasian collared doves. It's surprising how common they are, since they were only introduced to North America in the 80's



I like the blue of the Western scrub jays.



We get dark eyed juncos at home, but they're still cute little birds.



There were several kinds of woodpeckers. Acorn woodpeckers with their red cap, and (I think) ladder backed woodpeckers.





I don't recall seeing Black-crested titmouse before.



There were also Spotted towhees, but they didn't cooperate with getting their picture taken!

Suddenly all the birds flew away in a panic. Not a one remained. I assume a hawk had arrived although I didn't see it.

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Big Bend Scenery

I'm not much of a landscape photographer, so there are less of these than the nature photos, and a bunch of them are abstracts. I'm not sure why I like them so much. They seem like the opposite extreme from my detailed lifelike images of animals or plants. Something about them pushes some buttons in my brain.

When I arrived at the Cottonwood campground in Big Bend, I noticed the low evening sun shining through the autumn leaves on the cottonwoods. So as soon as I got a site I grabbed my camera and walked back to the road to take some photos. It was a little hard to get a clear view, but I got a few shots that I like. (Seems a little odd to be photographing autumn colors in late December!)





I only did one standard popular hike this trip - Santa Elena Canyon. Last time Shelley and I did this hike I got some good reflection photos, but this time the sun and wind were quite different. I arrived early, hoping for good light, and had the hike to myself. But by the time I was leaving the crowds were arriving. In true bureaucratic fashion, they had locked the gate a mile before the parking lot for the hike. The only reason given was the government shutdown, but I'm not sure why that required them to close access to the parking. (They didn't close the trail itself.) It meant people parked all over the place, including, of course, places they weren't supposed to. Somehow the park still had sufficient staff to hand out parking tickets. I guess it's one way to generate revenue. (Coming early, I got a legitimate parking spot and escaped a ticket.)



The Rio Grande forms the border between the USA and Mexico here. The name "Big Bend" refers to the large curve in the river.



In the Santa Elena Canyon the river is squeezed between tall cliffs.



Outside the canyon, the river meanders through a flood plain covered in bush. I like the colors and patterns that the bushes form.



And there are more cottonwoods, still with their autumn finery.



The bare trees made interesting forms as well, here silhouetted against evening light on Castolan:



The geology of Big Bend is varied, from sedimentary to volcanic, leading to some interesting rocks. This one reminds me of continents on a globe:



and this one looks like some sort of cartoon creature:



This striking area of dark talus lying on white slopes is just north of the campground and visitors center.





And the details are interesting too:





On my way out of the park the weather was changing and a winter storm was blowing in.



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