Big Bend and Stillwell's

 
I'm still in Texas, and am tempted to stay another week or more at Stillwell's. They (the campground and ranch) host a trail ride, starting this weekend. People from all over bring their horses and some wagons. The Stillwells hire a gourmet camp cook. There's music, and dancing, and all have a great time. I'd be more tempted if I would actually do the trail ride, but I don't have my horse with me.

 

 

I couldn't remember if I had been to Big Bend when working around the country with Penelope. My nephew said "Go." A couple guys I met in Bandera said, "Don't bother." But, I'm here, and loving it. I spent Saturday going through the park. I hiked out on some short trails, visited the hot springs, saw some deep and beautiful canyons. I also saw some pictographs, drawn by the native people 3,000+ years ago. One of the most interesting things was finding a number of mortar holes, which the native peoples used to grind their grains, flowers, etc. for food, paints, or ?? Some were deep, some shallow. Different holes must have been used for different purposes.

Sunday I went to the Superbowl party at the campground. Oh well!

 

 

Monday, I went on a jeep tour. Last week, the owner of a ranch next door to the Stillwells, tested a jeep tour with some people from the Stillwell Camground, and decided they'd try it out. So, lucky me, I had the opportunity to go on the second tour. This was through the owners land, climbing up the mountains, and visiting his house, and his parents' house. What a trip! I was also lucky enough to be able to sit on the high back seat of the jeep the whole time. We saw the remnants of an operation where they would extract the wax from candelilla plants. They also had built a dam in the hills to secure enough water for the operation. This product is used in gum, lip balm and ?? We saw a couple sink holes which were quite large. One was discovered when a CAT backhoe or ??? started sinking. The spot had been a dry lake, which would hold the water very well, but no more. The guys were joking about going down there and discovering another Carlsbad Caverns. I didn't see any bats, but it was early.

We passed by caves in the rocks used by native peoples 3000 - 9000 years ago. We saw a balancing rock which was amazing. How much longer will it remain? Who knows. We also saw some deer, and quail. We probably would have seen more wildlife, but it is so, so dry.

The owner of this ranch put in a well years ago (1700 ft deep), and pumps water to different places on the ranch. The horses he keeps, and the wildlife, drink from the troughs around the ranch. The current drought has lasted 4-5 years. His main income is from hunters who pay a pretty penny to stay and hunt on his property. With this drought, there wouldn't be anything to hunt, if he didn't provide water. Even so, this hunting season, I think he said there was only one deer shot. It is sad, to think of the continuing damage there will be, if the drought continues. I offered to do a rain dance, but they said, "Please don't."

It's a hard life in these parts: hauling water miles for a ranch or ??? At this point if you didn't have a well 1500' or more, you would have moved. A number of the people I have just met are from old Texas pioneer stock, and try anything to keep the ranch going.

And the views!!!! Waking up in the morning on the top of a mountain, with a view down into the canyon, is pretty good. I've always liked the wetter climates better than the dryer climates, but the Rio Grande has made some pretty country out here.

So, I didn't stay for the trail ride, and started off through Big Bend to camp one night on the other side to do 2 more things in the park. But I had another important lesson to learn, and it was expensive. I burned out the engine of my tow vehicle. There were actually pieces of a crankshaft and piston on the road. I towed it to the Ford dealer in Odessa. They'll have it about a week, and have told me what I receive back will be as good as new. Ah well, it could have been worse!!