Yesterday I got to check out our backcountry campsites for a couple of hours, but then did the dreaded "traffic control" at the hot springs. We usually have to stay there the entire afternoon until some time between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. depending on when everyone decides to go home and cook dinner. It is mostly entertaining to see spring break families try to pack as much "adventure" into this short few days.
Besides young families the other half of the crowd is college students. And boy, can they pack miles of hiking and SO much alcohol into the same few days time period! For the most part I want to believe that people try to follow the rules. The yukky part of my job is that we have to clean up after them when they do NOT follow the rules. For example, there are no ground fires allowed in the park. If they have a fire we have to shovel the ash and coals into buckets and make the soil appear pristine again. Same for latrines. I won't bore or horrify anyone with those details again.
Most of the people we meet during this time are very nice, polite, smiling and out to have a good time. Other times of the year our visitors are seeking solitude. Out in the desert it is sometimes so quiet all you can hear is your heart beating or the soft sound of a lizard skittering from the shade of one bush to another.
Although I've never been here once the temperatures are consistently high, park information states the ghround temperatures get up to 180 degrees!! No wonder all the critters - bugs, lizards, snakes, mammals, everyone - stay underground until night time.
No photos today! Walt and I are going to ride in the same vehicle today as we've been hitting the roads pretty hard this week and need a little break. On tap today is helping Alyssa with a project, taking some recycle to PJ and ???? High winds and a temperature drop are predicted for later today or tomorrow with associated Red Flag Warnings. High possibility of fire in the Chisos so pray that folks don't do anything stupid with sources of ignition!
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