You may recall from my post last year that Balmorhea SP spring-fed pool had a structural failure, a wall partially collapsed, so our trip out there did not include a swim in the pool. A recent issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine announced the repairs had been made and the pool was reopening, though the campsites and lodge are still under renovation. We immediately made our plans to visit and swim in the pool on the way to a stay at Davis Mountains SP. The week before we were to leave Balmorhea staff were testing the cleaning equipment and had a flood gate break. Thus the pool was closed once again for our trip west.
With plans already made, we headed out and stopped by to check on the folks there, then went on to our campsite at Davis Mountains SP. A couple of days there included a drive up to the top of skyline drive, a birding hike, a visit and picnic lunch at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Center, and a couple of beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
On the spur of the moment, we decided to go on to Big Bend Ranch State Park where we had quite an adventure. Fort Leaton is on the northwest edge of the park so we stopped there for rest and information. We had already talked with a ranger at SP headquarters and been encouraged to go stay in their Bunkhouse, which sleeps 30 but as of that time no one else was expected to be there. We found out why there was no one else there. It's about 100 degrees at the upper elevation and the last 25-30 miles is an unpaved road. Our poor van took a bit of a beating, but we made it and did indeed have the entire bunkhouse to ourselves. It has a large living room/dining area with comfortable chairs and games to play, plus a large kitchen with all cooking utensils provided.
After our own personal sunset and star party, we enjoyed a good night's rest and hiked their nature trail the next morning before heading back down that road. We had hoped to drive on into Big Bend National Park but it was a holiday weekend and there had been fire a couple of days before that took out 800 acres and a historic building plus campsites. We'll save that for another trip.
Hope you enjoy these photos.
ALL PHOTOS AND INFORMATION ARE COPYRIGHT PROTECTED. AS THE SOLE PROPERTY OF THE BLOGGER THEY MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED OR USED IN ANY WAY WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE BLOGGER.
With plans already made, we headed out and stopped by to check on the folks there, then went on to our campsite at Davis Mountains SP. A couple of days there included a drive up to the top of skyline drive, a birding hike, a visit and picnic lunch at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Center, and a couple of beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
On the spur of the moment, we decided to go on to Big Bend Ranch State Park where we had quite an adventure. Fort Leaton is on the northwest edge of the park so we stopped there for rest and information. We had already talked with a ranger at SP headquarters and been encouraged to go stay in their Bunkhouse, which sleeps 30 but as of that time no one else was expected to be there. We found out why there was no one else there. It's about 100 degrees at the upper elevation and the last 25-30 miles is an unpaved road. Our poor van took a bit of a beating, but we made it and did indeed have the entire bunkhouse to ourselves. It has a large living room/dining area with comfortable chairs and games to play, plus a large kitchen with all cooking utensils provided.
After our own personal sunset and star party, we enjoyed a good night's rest and hiked their nature trail the next morning before heading back down that road. We had hoped to drive on into Big Bend National Park but it was a holiday weekend and there had been fire a couple of days before that took out 800 acres and a historic building plus campsites. We'll save that for another trip.
Hope you enjoy these photos.
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| Balmorhea's historic United Methodist Church |
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| She's sitting on her eggs just under the eaves of Balmorhea SP headquarters building. |
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| Looks so inviting. |
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| Beautiful, clear cold spring water. |
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| From the top of skyline drive inside the Davis Mountains SP. That's the McDonald Observatory off in the distance. |
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| Down below is old Fort Davis and the town of the same name. |
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| A very windy day so we decided not to go hiking at the top. |
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| Someone has been practicing the art of rock stacking. |
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| I thought it might be a cistern but it turns out just to be an observation deck. |
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| I couldn't figure out exactly the purpose of this old CCC structure. Again, it just appears to be some sort of observation post. |
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| We spotted this cave/animal den beside our campsite. We watched it for any kind of animal activity but didn't see any. |
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| A late day visit to the bird blind. |
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| Lesser finch |
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| Blue Grossbeak |
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| Black-headed Grossbeak |
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| A towhee. You will find them on the ground under your car bumper after a trip as the like the bug guts splattered on the car. |
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| This guy is from France. He started in Miami and is riding all the way to San Francisco. |
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| Moonrise |
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| Sue, Park Host on the left, and Pam, local volunteer on the right. Sue and her husband Steve celebrated 50 years of marriage the week of Memorial Day. She sure knows her park birds. Pam moved to Fort Davis a couple of years ago after recovering from a near-fatal car accident that left her brain damaged. She volunteers everywhere she can in the local area since her engineering career is behind her now. |
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| Visitors to our campsite, a doe, and a yearling. |
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| Sam's rock stacking art. |
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| Lest you should think a rock is a rock you can follow the path in front of the research center's visitor center. |
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| Beaked Yucca. |
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| New Mexico Agave aka Century Plant |
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| The Giant Agave Bug loves to suck the juice of the plant. |
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| Goldenball Lead Tree. It's hard to see here but the blooms are little golden yellow balls. |
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| Desert Willow |
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| Agarito roughly translated Angry woman. This is not a plant you want to fall into. |
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| Greenery in the desert. |
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| These two hung out in the tree near the visitor center the whole hour we had our picnic on the porch. |
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| Sunrise over the Davis Mountains. |
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| Moonset over the Indian Lodge. |
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| Just to keep you smiling. |
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| Yikes! |
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| Big Bend Ranch State Park Headquarters |
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| Inside the Bunkhouse. That's a commercial kitchen in the back. |
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| Morning at the Bunkhouse. |
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| A breakfast cricket. |
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| It is ranch land after all. |
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| Yeah, this is the white rock road we traversed for about 30 miles EACH WAY. |
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| The Rio Grande. Mexico is on the far side. |
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| Roadside picnic place. |
ALL PHOTOS AND INFORMATION ARE COPYRIGHT PROTECTED. AS THE SOLE PROPERTY OF THE BLOGGER THEY MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED OR USED IN ANY WAY WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE BLOGGER.
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