Thanksgiving Work Week

It is Saturday morning and I am having fun going over my photos of the last few days. There seems to be so much packed into each day as I look back over it! I worked backcountry over the Thanksgiving period, but also enjoyed TWO (!!) big feasts and great fellowship. Fellow backcountry friends, Mike & Nancy, traditionally bring 20 friends and relatives to the group campgrounds and stay the weekend. They deep fry turkeys and everyone brings a dish to pass so I joined them after I finished patrol that day. Then in the evening a fellow volunteer, Terry, and I drove to Panther Junction to the volunteer coordinator's house where she had baked turkey, dressing, etc. and everyone brought a dish to pass, too!! I only ate a few turnip greens and sweet potatoes at dinner #2 and was stuffed to the gills!

Today I am enjoying a quiet day blogging, writing some letters and cards, etc. Here are some memories of the last 3 days:

I had so much fun visiting for a couple of minutes at the first campsite I visited around 9:00 a.m. Wednesday. There were 4 families with 8 adults and 12 children at the site. As I pulled up the site was busy with parents cleaning up breakfast dishes and getting ready for a day of exploring while all 12 children seemed to be singing with their loudest voices inside one tent. how much fun! I later ran into them at their next campsite and the parents all reported that they were having the time of their lives in Big Bend. Yeah!

That day (Wednesday) I patrolled the north side of our district - from Panther Junction north to Persimmon Gap. There are lots of hikes and landmarks that I had not seen so it was fun for me to find them and learn about each one. I was especially touched by the Nina Hannold gravesite. A quote about her life: "This gravesite is one of the few visible traces of Curtis and Nina Hannold's pioneer homestead. In 1908 the Hannolds moved here from Oklahoma by covered wagon. While Nina took care of the ranch and three children, Curtis supplemented their income by teaching school in Dugout Wells eight miles away. At age 29, Nina contracted uremic poisoning during pregnancy, and died September 20, 1911. She asked to be buried on this hill overlooking the spring where she had often read to the children in the shade of the cottonwoods."

The original arrow-shaped headstone is behind a more modern one. The grave is decorated with numerous coins and trinkets.

One of the things we do in our jobs is dismantle memorials to someone's presence in the wilderness, like this "We were here" sign at one of the campsites.

The same party must have been letting their "inner landscaper" come out as they build rock fences around the creosote bushes. Another "What NOT to do" in the National Parks.

Beautiful rock from Persimmon Gap draw.

Looking down from the area above the pour-off at Persimmon Gap draw. I can only imagine what it would look like when rain creates a torrent of water roaring down the draw!

Two ferns growing in the draw.

Resurrection fern during "wet" season.

Dung beetle. Video to follow below!

PGap draw had tons of tracks & scat! Also this evidence of javelina - prickly pear pads munched - one of javelina's favorite snacks!

Thanksgiving day I started out at the Boquillas Port Of Entry and found a real surprise - a tree in the same area I'd done trimming had dropped a huge fork onto the trail. The fun of the job was that many Mexican's were carrying supplies to their families on the other side, passing me on the trail multiple times with huge coolers, bags of clothing, cans of gasoline, etc. Each one joked about how hard I was working and I teased them about not tipping over their boats with all their goods!

My "quork buddy"! Most of the time if you make crow-like noises and don't scare away the ravens, they will return the calls and look quizzically at the crazy gringo (me!) who is trying to talk to them.

The big tree fork that fell on the POE trail and the job completed below.

Cleaning up a camp fire (illegal in this park). They tried to hide it with stones.

Where there were only rocks and more rocks last year, green galore!

Auto tracks that were made right in front of my eyes! The driver thought he was being polite by pulling off the road to let me pass. I politely educated him about NOT driving offroad and why one cannot do that in the park. Sigh!

A little stowaway - this guy flew into the truck while I was checking a campsite and rested on the stones on the floor mat. He flew out after he was rested. . .

Friday started out not-so-good. I was on my way to check the vehicles of backcountry hikers at the Marufo Vega trailhead parking area when the sun blinded me. Even though I was going only 15 mph in those 2-3 seconds I wound up off-road big time! (Yes, I realize how close I was to rolling the vehicle down into the canyon!) Daisy and Steve came up with her truck, "Darth Vader", and pulled me off the precipice!

Notice I did NOT make this photo "extra large" - No way!

The rest of the day was awesome!! Terry, a visitor center volunteer, and Joan, an archeological volunteer, both joined me for the patrol down Glenn Springs Road to East River Road and South Black Gap. We saw the Mariscal Mines and all the backcountry campsites and river pull-outs. Unfortunately we did not get any photos of the two huge hawks that flew up right in front of us or of the equally big and beautiful coyote that flew like the wind in front of the truck. We were not sure if he was chasing a jackrabbit or if he had startled it in the process of scampering across the road.

Visiting at lunch time with two visitors on a multi-day river float trip.

A "fortified" campsite! Unusual - I think they were worried about people driving into their site. We had to move their stuff temporarily so I could turn the vehicle around to get out.

Oops! This does not constitute storing the food away from animals. Only a bear box or inside the vehicle is safe.

The next few pictures are of us patrolling the Mariscal mine residence ruins.

Joan with her bag of empty water bottles which visitors hid instead of packing it out with them.

Cactus sprouting out of the ruins.

Terry in foreground, Joan in back.

Okay - I'm in this one!

This is the Talley take-out area where I saw the trespass horses last year. Way more water in the river this year!

More green!

Ruins on the Mexican side that none of us had seen in previous visits.

 That is all for today!

Wild, Windy Pre-Thanksgiving

Everyone who has ever served in Big Bend 3 or more years swears they have never seen weather like this here! Well aren't we the lucky ones! A couple of days ago it was near 90 every day. In contrast the last 2 days haven't gotten above 43. The winds have ranged from 35 to 55 mph gusts, the road into the Chisos Basin was closed part of the day because of ice, rain was just now pelting the windows and things are generally yukky.

This would normally be a very busy time in the park but one would never know it to look at our east side roadways. Today I had to go up to headquarters and was surprised at how busy they were! Then I found out they are sending everyone to the hot springs! Just think - at 43 the Rio Grande Village is the warmest place in the park and the rangers are sending everyone here! Imagine soaking in 105 degree water, emerging wet and having to make a quarter mile dash back to your car to get back to your tent! All of them were so bedraggled and red legged scampering along the trail. Ah, life in Big Bend.

Tonight I had my park radio on and I want to repeat an old saying about going outside your home at night, "Nothing good happens after dark." Actually I think it is supposed to be "after midnight" but what the hey. . . Tonight's chatter was by law enforcement about 3 young people, the males with numerous driving and drug violations and in possession of a gun. The situation was under control. A big part of me worries so much for our law enforcement people and the other part of me is glad to be a sensible adult snuggled in for the night. I must be getting old because I find myself wondering what the kids are thinking.

Some photos of the Hot Springs Trail 2 days ago:

Dead Ocotillo draped over the trail. I had to remove this one so visitors could pass safely.

An eddy in the river where 4 huge carp and 7 turtles were feasting.

A resurrection fern in the resurrected state.

Later in the day I helped search for some overdue hikers and patrolled some backcountry roads:

A Sonoran Gopher Snake - so pretty but lounging in the middle of the road. I took some video below then moved her about 10 yards off road.

The next day (Friday) the wind set in. I enjoyed watching Mr. Vermillion Flycatcher trying to stay put in the tree. I did not see Mrs. Flycatcher out and about.

I usually see a covey of scaled quail at the 9-mile marker towards Panther Junction, but today they were in the housing area behind PJ.

I'm off to sleep to the sound of roaring wind and pelting rain . . .

November 13-17th

It is Monday morning and here is the sunrise this morning:

I've got the next few days off and today is a big day as the DISH network person is coming out to install a dish. I've already gotten the receiver box, but DISH operates off 2 satellites - one for the cable stations and one for the national networks. Very difficult for me to find one, much less 2 satellites. The lovely gig with free Direct TV ended the second day I arrived in Big Bend when the receiver account timed out! (What a revolting development! Thank you Darren & Heather for the wonderful year of service! I'll probably retire or sell my VuQube.)

Yesterday (Sunday) was also a day off as both Daisy & Steve and I planned to attend an open house over at Terlingua Ranch. I was so wiped out from Saturdays hike, though, that I stayed home and recuperated. My hike was part of my patrol duties, but I could not do the entire 6.2 miles up because of foot pain. Before I left home this fall I was diagnosed with a Morton's neuroma (always benign) in my left foot. It is simply a pea-size growth along a nerve between the 3rd and 4th toe. In my case when it gets aggravated it causes excruciating, fiery pain. Dr. Easley treated it with an injection but the first one did not help. Another couple of injections and aggressive use of ibuprofen may do the trick. He said he usually avoids surgery at all costs since it often severs the nerve and then I'd have numb toes. So one of my chores today is to seek a doctor in either Alpine or El Paso for the injections.

Besides a  little foot aggravation, I've been enjoying doing my patrols on my own. I told Daisy the little bird (me) was ready to fly on my own! My first day on my own I drove the Old Ore Road and the Dagger Flats Auto Trail. It was a great day and I only encountered one other vehicle on the Dagger Flats. By the way, it is named after the yucca that grows profusely in that area. Unfortunately, it was very overcast so photos of that day are not too impressive:

The ground at this end of the park is covered with a lovely lemon scented plant called limoncilla. Heavenly aroma! below are some of the sights and ruins around the countryside.

Friday was a good day to stay in closer to "home", so I patrolled the Rio Grande Nature Trail, the Boquillas Canyon Trail, Daniels Ranch, and the Port of Entry (POE). There were lots of visitors to chat with and I went back to the canyon trail and POE to cut down mesquite which was overtaking the paths. Most of the time we don't cut brush unless it is on a social trail like these. Social trails are heavily traveled by visitors of all ages. Rarely would other crews groom the backcountry trails as the visitors expect a totally "natural" experience.

Classic Heron Pose

I love the reflection!

Counting the babies.

Diving for breakfast.

Sun worshippers

Pink legs, green tummy!

Saturday was a fun patrol  of an area of the park that I've never seen because I never had a 4WD vehicle to get me there! I got to see Juniper Canyon road, the Robber's Roost and Twisted Shoe campsites, and the Juniper Canyon trail. The trail goes up into the Chisos mountains and intersects with the Boot Canyon trail. As I said, I think I hiked to about 1 mile shy of the intersection before I had to turn around and come back.

This was a most interesting ant hill - they had gathered some fluffy looking material (seeds?) that littered the area 1 foot around the entryway. At this time they were carrying the fluff down into the tunnels.

Saturday was capped off with a very nice potluck at our District Ranger's house. He and his wife, Nancy, had made all kinds of smoked meats and enchiladas and we all brought a dish to pass. Since I was short of time because of the long hike, I made my crackers with jalapenos, cheese and jelly and they were (much to my surprise!) a big hit. It was so nice to talk to everyone: border patrol, law enforcement, camp hosts, campstore manager and clerks, visitor center people and their partners. We even have some kids in the area. Ben and Nancy have a little girl who is about 8 months old and the store manager and his wife (Gary and Maria) and border patrol (Brian and Michelle?) have children. We have a cute children's park in the residence area so every once in a while the place comes alive with the sound of kids playing. Nancy takes her daughter, Marin, and doggie, Gobi, for daily walks. I always know they are around when I hear the clatter of the plastic stroller wheels crunching on the asphalt road. :-)