Big Bend

Richard got up at dawn and went for a hike. Nothing was stirring, very nice.

After Breakfast, we went up to the visitor center and store at Castolon, an historic border village. During the Mexican revolution, the US army built a permanent camp, which they abandoned in 1921. The army buildings are most of what we see today.

We drove up to Santa Elena Canyon. The Rio Grande comes out of a very deep and narrow canyon into the broad valley that Cottonwood campground and Castolon are in. Santa Elena Canyon looks kind of improbable, that it should be a side canyon in a continuous cliff wall, but it is the Rio Grande.

After lunch, we drove the truck up to Chisos Basin, around 5000 ft elevation, so cooler. The road is very twisty and steep, too much for our 5th wheel. The lodge there has WIFI access, so we were able to check email and update our blog.

When we got back to the campground, it was hot both in and outside of the camper, high 80s. We just sat outside on lawn chairs, waiting for the sun to drop behind the cliffs. Of course, it got pleasant after the sun went down. The moon rise was particularly nice, like a sunrise on a smaller scale.

Cottonwood campground is one of the quietest places that we have been. All you hear are birds, including the resident wild turkey. The loudest sound we heard was when the turkey flew up into a tree to roost. There are no generators allowed, and everyone seems to speak softly. Nice, but we wish it was not so hot.

Richard and Marianne