We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas
Jay and Sandi Mengel
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
More hikes in Big Bend
Just two days ago we spent Thanksgiving at the Visitor Center. We were expecting nearly 400 visitors to come through but we did not even have 200. The weather was forcast to change from the balmy 80 degree temps we have been enjoying to below freezing temps with rain and snow. Although the Park did fill up for Thanksgiving, there are quite a few visitors departing early because of the cold, rainy conditions we have now.
We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Lodge in the Chisos Basin in the center of Big Bend National Park with Bob and Deb Hamilton. Bob is a seasonal ranger that we met here last spring on our way to Yellowstone only to find out that he would be working with us at Yellowstone. He's back here in Big Bend so we went out with him and his wife Deb for a nice dinner and evening.
The weather has gotten cooler. A very cold rain is falling and I expect that snow is a probability. We have the next few days off and will probably just stay inside until the weather starts to warm up again into the 70s by mid-week.
We have taken a few hikes. I put on my pack and took off across the desert for a couple of days. I wanted to try some desert wilderness camping. Except for about a mile or so, I was never on any trails--just bushwhacked up to the base of Persimmon Mountain then followed the Santiago Mountains to Dog Canyon where I cut through and returned.
It was my first experience with desert hiking and camping and I am ready to try it again. I really did not see much other than the great scenery and the desert plants. Lechugilla, Prickly Pear cactus, Christmas Cactus, and Cholla--all made hiking difficult. I found a nice campsite not far from a dry streambed and the evening under the desert sky was awesome. On my hike out I did see one tarantula spider,
a few mule deer and stumbled upon an indian tipi circle. It was on a remote hill and the site was only large enough for the one tipi. The circle of rocks outlined an extremly smooth flat area. All rocks had been removed and the remaining sandy soil was a deep sulphur yellow. My guess at this time is that this may have been a vision quest location for a Comanchee or Apache shaman and the soil was colored by the smoking or burning of herbs and the like. I'll be going back to get some photos and information to take to the park archeologist.
Sandi and I took our Special Project day to visit many of the roadside display sites in the park, look at some of the drive-to back country campsites, and took the hike back Grapevine Trail to the Balancing Rocks.
Except for the short clinb up the mountain at the trail's end, the hike was an easy stroll for about a mile through an arroyo or dry stream bed. this is one of the favored hikes in the park. We drove down 7 miles of dirt road to get to the trailhead but the hike in was worth the drive and the effort. Like most of the park, this is Chihuhuan Desert with overwhelming geologic features and an abundance of cactus and other desert plants armed with wicked spines. This Prickly pear cactus did not do Sandi any favors.
We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Lodge in the Chisos Basin in the center of Big Bend National Park with Bob and Deb Hamilton. Bob is a seasonal ranger that we met here last spring on our way to Yellowstone only to find out that he would be working with us at Yellowstone. He's back here in Big Bend so we went out with him and his wife Deb for a nice dinner and evening.
The weather has gotten cooler. A very cold rain is falling and I expect that snow is a probability. We have the next few days off and will probably just stay inside until the weather starts to warm up again into the 70s by mid-week.
We have taken a few hikes. I put on my pack and took off across the desert for a couple of days. I wanted to try some desert wilderness camping. Except for about a mile or so, I was never on any trails--just bushwhacked up to the base of Persimmon Mountain then followed the Santiago Mountains to Dog Canyon where I cut through and returned.
It was my first experience with desert hiking and camping and I am ready to try it again. I really did not see much other than the great scenery and the desert plants. Lechugilla, Prickly Pear cactus, Christmas Cactus, and Cholla--all made hiking difficult. I found a nice campsite not far from a dry streambed and the evening under the desert sky was awesome. On my hike out I did see one tarantula spider,
a few mule deer and stumbled upon an indian tipi circle. It was on a remote hill and the site was only large enough for the one tipi. The circle of rocks outlined an extremly smooth flat area. All rocks had been removed and the remaining sandy soil was a deep sulphur yellow. My guess at this time is that this may have been a vision quest location for a Comanchee or Apache shaman and the soil was colored by the smoking or burning of herbs and the like. I'll be going back to get some photos and information to take to the park archeologist.
Sandi and I took our Special Project day to visit many of the roadside display sites in the park, look at some of the drive-to back country campsites, and took the hike back Grapevine Trail to the Balancing Rocks.
Except for the short clinb up the mountain at the trail's end, the hike was an easy stroll for about a mile through an arroyo or dry stream bed. this is one of the favored hikes in the park. We drove down 7 miles of dirt road to get to the trailhead but the hike in was worth the drive and the effort. Like most of the park, this is Chihuhuan Desert with overwhelming geologic features and an abundance of cactus and other desert plants armed with wicked spines. This Prickly pear cactus did not do Sandi any favors.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Recent sightings
Don't have any photos readily available but Sandi and I have been fortunate in our outings to have seen some of Big Bend's interesting wildlife. The Big Horn Sheep we saw near Dog Canyon were special. The photos are on the last post. This past week we hiked Persimmon Draw and were fortunate to see a herd of Barbary Sheep (Aoudad). There were five of them -- relatively far off in the distance but they sure watched us. They were about 700 yards away which is too far for my camera to get a good photo. Maybe the next time. Park Service rangers acknowledge that seeing either of these animals is a rare sighting so I guess we were really lucky. Hope our luck holds out and I get a look at a Mountain Lion.
this evening we ate at the Lodge in the Chisos Basin with our new friends Russ and Gretchen, We are all fulltimers and volunteers at Big Bend. Russ is also USAF (ret) and tonight was a celebration of Gretchen's birthday. Most enjoyable evening.
this evening we ate at the Lodge in the Chisos Basin with our new friends Russ and Gretchen, We are all fulltimers and volunteers at Big Bend. Russ is also USAF (ret) and tonight was a celebration of Gretchen's birthday. Most enjoyable evening.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Big Bend update
The last week or so has been most interesting. We took a needed break from our training at Big Bend and drove to San Antonio to spend a few days with the Hubbards, friends from more than just a few years back.
Ed was my boss back in my Vietnam days. Had a great visit which included a Louisiana style shrimp boil.
We did get into downtown San Antonio and spent some time in the morning on a boat tour on the river walk. Very enjoyable.
The drive back to Big Bend was also nice and we stopped to load up on groceries. Our closest store from where we live in Big Bend is about 70 miles so we must take any chance to get groceries especially perishable goods like milk, bread, fruits, and vegetables. Milk at the local “stop and shop” store is $5.50/gallon.
As volunteers at Big Bend, we get to spend one day doing nearly anything and counting the time we spend as volunteer time.
Hiking the 200 miles of trails in the park counts and that fits well with us. Each hike we take increases our familiarity with the park and enables us to help park visitors. We also wear our uniforms when hiking which shows official presence. Big Bend has way too few full time rangers to adequately patrol the park. We hiked a 7 mile out and back to Dog Canyon and Devils Den.
Flat terrain made this a relatively easy hike until we started to bushwack (leave the trail and go cross country) in search of devils Den. The rocky, cactus covered mountains are not an easy walk but we find considerable satisfaction in seeing the many different types of cactus, an occasional lizard, or unique fossils or geologic formations. On occasion we get to see larger wildlife. We have high hopes of seeing the occasionally sighted mountain lion or black bear while we are here. No cats or bears this time but we did walk up on two small herds of Big Horn Mountain Sheep.
The first was a herd of males near the mouth of Dog Canyon. What a magnificent animal they are. The second herd was three ewes each with a yearling. Seeing the sheep made for a great outing.
We spend three days a week manning the Visitor Center at Persimmon Gap. I think in time we will get to enjoy helping park visitors from this remote location but the extremely inadequate training makes this tour of duty far from an enjoyable one. I think that once we figure out how to do what we need to do and finally figure out what the expectations are we will probably enjoy ourselves more. The training we got to familiarize ourselves with Big Bend was exceptional and better than any we have been exposed to anywhere but the training for our on-the-job duties is not even marginally acceptable. We finished up our first week at the Visitor Center and were glad it was over. We are essentially teaching ourselves and I expect next week will probably be a little more fun. I sure hope so.
Ed was my boss back in my Vietnam days. Had a great visit which included a Louisiana style shrimp boil.
We did get into downtown San Antonio and spent some time in the morning on a boat tour on the river walk. Very enjoyable.
The drive back to Big Bend was also nice and we stopped to load up on groceries. Our closest store from where we live in Big Bend is about 70 miles so we must take any chance to get groceries especially perishable goods like milk, bread, fruits, and vegetables. Milk at the local “stop and shop” store is $5.50/gallon.
As volunteers at Big Bend, we get to spend one day doing nearly anything and counting the time we spend as volunteer time.
Hiking the 200 miles of trails in the park counts and that fits well with us. Each hike we take increases our familiarity with the park and enables us to help park visitors. We also wear our uniforms when hiking which shows official presence. Big Bend has way too few full time rangers to adequately patrol the park. We hiked a 7 mile out and back to Dog Canyon and Devils Den.
Flat terrain made this a relatively easy hike until we started to bushwack (leave the trail and go cross country) in search of devils Den. The rocky, cactus covered mountains are not an easy walk but we find considerable satisfaction in seeing the many different types of cactus, an occasional lizard, or unique fossils or geologic formations. On occasion we get to see larger wildlife. We have high hopes of seeing the occasionally sighted mountain lion or black bear while we are here. No cats or bears this time but we did walk up on two small herds of Big Horn Mountain Sheep.
The first was a herd of males near the mouth of Dog Canyon. What a magnificent animal they are. The second herd was three ewes each with a yearling. Seeing the sheep made for a great outing.
We spend three days a week manning the Visitor Center at Persimmon Gap. I think in time we will get to enjoy helping park visitors from this remote location but the extremely inadequate training makes this tour of duty far from an enjoyable one. I think that once we figure out how to do what we need to do and finally figure out what the expectations are we will probably enjoy ourselves more. The training we got to familiarize ourselves with Big Bend was exceptional and better than any we have been exposed to anywhere but the training for our on-the-job duties is not even marginally acceptable. We finished up our first week at the Visitor Center and were glad it was over. We are essentially teaching ourselves and I expect next week will probably be a little more fun. I sure hope so.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Visiting San Antonio
Having a great time visiting Karen and Hub Hubbard in San Antonio. They obviously get a big kick out of Holloween!!!
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