Day 19--Ross Maxwell scenic drive in Big Bend

We managed to dress in the 34° camper, eat breakfast, and make a lunch, and still make the 8:30 ranger hike entitled “There’s a bear (or a mountain lion) in my sandbox!” The ranger led us on an informative hike of the 1.8 mile Chisos Basin trail illustrating what makes the area ideal habitat for both bears and mountain lions. Despite his careful searching, we didn’t see any of the hoped for signs (scat or tracks) of either one. Since there are only about 2 dozen of each in the park and most of the bears are hibernating while their food sources are low, it wasn’t that surprising that we didn’t see them. It was still an interesting hike with fantastic views, the first of many for today. I bought a sotol walking stick from the Gift Shop at the lodge with my Christmas gift card from Mom, a decision for which I was grateful all the rest of our time at Big Bend. Leaving the basin, we took the Ross Maxwell scenic drive south and west all the way to where it ends at Santa Elena Canyon. After eating our picnic lunch we set off on the 1.9 trail into the canyon. We had to cross Terlingua creek, which was very shallow and hardly running today. Then we headed up a switch back trail that climbed along the U.S. side of the canyon. At the end of the trail we scrambled down and over huge boulders that had fallen from the canyon sides. There is a small beach there on the very narrow Rio Grande. Across from us and beyond this point the canyon walls rise 1050 feet straight up! As we made our return trip on the Maxwell drive we hoped to stop at each of the many interpretive plaques and walks along the way. By now the temperature was up to 71°. We drove through the Cottonwoods Campground on the Rio Grande, stopped by the Castolon ghost town, and did some short trails to see Mule Ear peaks, Sotol Vista Overlook, Tuff Canyon and several other stops. When we got to Burro Mesa Pour-off we decided to take the 1 mile trail to see the dry waterfall in the box canyon. This easy trail ended with the spectacular towering scoured wall that attested to the large amount of water that must cascade through after summer thunderstorms. By then we were feeling pretty conversant about the Chihuahuan desert including plants such as sotol, ocotillo, Century Agave, and lechuguillo; volcanic terms like tuff, dikes and silicate rich lava; and the habitats of bear and mountain lions. After a quick dinner in the camper we walked to a ranger program at the amphitheater on “The Four Seasons at Big Bend”. We marveled at the incredible stars on our walk back and finished our evening with a Northern Exposure on the computer. It was a very good day.