Big Bend NP - Part 1

We have been looking forward to some hiking, but wish the park was not 7.5 hours away. For that reason, our four days off included two day of hiking and two of driving. 
We drove through misty rain for the first hour of our trip before the clouds disappeared giving us beautiful weather for the rest of our trip.

This park is huge and includes three distinct regions, the desert, the river and the Chisos Mountain region. After entering the park, we traveled thirty miles through the Chihuahuan Desert before turning onto the road leading into the Chisos Mountains. The Chisos are actually the remnants of an extinct volcano and its attending vents. A ten mile climb brought us to the lip of the Chisos Basin, formed from the ancient, volcanic caldera. A series of hairpin turns brought us to the floor of the crater where we proceeded to our destination, the Chisos Mountain Lodge.
After checking in, we had time to enjoy our own, personal patio before the sun disappeared for the day.

 The morning was crisp and beautiful and we set out to hike the Window trail. This is a view of our destination from the Lodge, three miles away.

 

The trail descended through a varied terrain, the arid soil of the higher elevation,

 then through a region where prickley pear cactus mingled with wind-blown grasses and low brush. 
"No, Larry. This is not a place to take a break!"

 The descent soon took us on a tree-sheltered path along a dry, creek bed. We were hoping to see some javelinas here, but had no luck.

 

 The smooth trail abruptly ended at a narrow, windy passage through the high, rocky walls of a break in the volcanic wall. This was formed when magma poured out from the heart of the volcano. 

A series of stairs are necessary to navigate through the rugged canyon.

 

 And finally we came to the end of the trail and the dizzy height of the drop off. The high wind velocity kept a number of hikers, including us, a safe distance from the edge.

 On a future visit, we hope to hike to the bottom of the drop-off. When it rains, this passage is flooded with water that pours to the valley below. We hope we will be able to see the waterfall created on our next visit.


Next time, some shots from our hike on the Lost Mine trail.
Thanks to our friend, John S., for his trail suggestions! We enjoyed the time here very much.

 

Ohio Flea Markets vs Texas Trade Days

Towns in the hill country take turns hosting Trade Days on selected weekends during the month. Our closest is Fredericksburg, the third weekend each month. Since the weather was warmer than it has been, we decided to spend Friday at what we thought would be the type of event we experience in Ohio and even in North/South Carolina. We found things to be quite different. The site had several barns divided into sections and rented out to vendors. Carpet remnants covered the uneven dirt floors. The wares for sale included antiques, clothes and one booth selling jelly. Beyond the barns, we expected tables with vendors selling a variety of things including produce and maybe cheese and meats. As you will see, that did not appear.

These small structures house a variety of goods for sale...antiques, candles, cigars

Then there are open yards full of everything imaginable.

 Most of this we would send to recycling...or to a landfill.

The variety goes from the strange...

to the down-right scary!!

 For those who also experienced Eastport, Maine...you understand our thoughts when we saw the display above!!


Okay, back to something less creepy. The bike is flanked by the skeletal remains of two old lounge chairs. The display is on the roof of one of the shanties.

 Well, it was an experience we will certainly not forget.
Beyond the $3. for parking, we spent nothing.

It was our mutual decision to drive to town and eat lunch...passing on the Trade Day example of a "food court."

 

 

Texas Biking!

The weather here has been a real yo-yo experience so far. Temps have traveled back and forth between record-breaking cold and above normal. During a warmer swing of the pendulum, we discovered a nice 20-mile out and back with only a pick-up truck now and then.

 Beautiful, rolling, hill country....

There are a few herds of cattle in the area, but many more goats

 

 As per their reputation, goats thrive even when scrubby grass on rocky ground is the best meal. The kids are cute too!

 

LYJO, part 2

In addition to the visitor center, Johnson City is also the location of LBJ's boyhood home.
A nicely designed house built in 1900 by the local county sheriff and purchased by the Johnson's in 1913 when Lyndon was 5 years old.

 The house actually looks much nicer than it did during the family's time there since it now gets regular coats of fresh paint.

 Four porches and numerous doors and windows were 1900's air conditioning on 120 degree, Texas afternoons.

I take visitors on tours of the house while giving them some insight into the parents and small-town, hill-country environment that shaped the man who became our 36th President.

The Johnson family first came to this area in the 1800's. Lyndon's grandfather, Sam Ealy Johnson, came here in his mid-twenties with two brothers to raise cattle, drive them north on the Chisholm Trail to Kansas, and sell them. Grandpa Sam fought in the Civil War and then returned to Texas where he married Eliza Bunton. Their first home is a short walk from the visitor center.

 

 

Somewhere around 1880, Eliza heard hoof beats coming across the grassland. Sam was not there and Eliza knew that bands of indian warriors had attacked and killed neighboring settlers. She grabbed her small daughter and crawled under the cabin. Mother and child stayed there all day and night until the war party left, taking only the horses from the barn and food.