The Van Horn Hampton Inn treated us to a big hot breakfast this morning. We were moving a little slow after yesterday's long miles, but we still managed to get on the road by 8:30a.
Our first quick stop was in Valentine, Texas. For such a tiny town (population 187), we found a lot to admire. We photographed the only dental office in town, the library, we chased a road-kill-dining dog out of the center of the 80mph highway, and we paused to photograph the "Prada Marfa" which curiously is actually in Valentine, and serves as its "tongue-in-cheek commentary on consumerism", according to The Lonely Planet Guidebook.
When we actually did reach Marfa, it was as if we had stepped into a time-warp and landed in 1950s small-town USA. We visited The Thunderbird Hotel which is a classic 1950s roadside lodge which was re-opened in 2005 as retro-funky hipster vintage motel. We strolled through The Paisano Hotel as well. The Paisano was the location for the movie "Giant" which starred Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean. In contrast to The Thunderbird, this hotel was western elegant.
Presidio is a border town. Our lack of familiarity with this area almost resulted in an unintentional visit to Mexico. A wrong turn put us directly into the port-of-entry line heading south of the border. Cam made a quick u-turn out of the line, checked the rear view mirror for flashing red lights, and veered east along the northern bank of the Rio Grande.
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| Karen dips her hand in the Rio Grande, with Mexico on the other bank. |
Speaking of red flashing lights, we failed to mention that this rear view image is now a familiar one. There was a short stretch of Hwy 60 where a sneaky little sign alluded our attention (Cam's was focused on Karen's Big Bend narrative which she was reading aloud) changing the posted speed from 65mph to 55mph. Officer Pena gave us a warm Highway Patrol salutation (in other words, he pulled us over), informed us that he had clocked our truck whizzing by at 67mph, courteously requested Cam's license, insurance verification, and registration, then asked us to be patient while he checked to see if Cam had any outstanding warrants. Karen continued to read to Cam about hikes in Big Bend Ranch State Park and Big Bend National Park. When Officer Pena returned, he graciously let us go with a warning, wished us well, and sent us on our way with a smile. All in all, it was a perplexingly positive experience.
This park is 11x bigger than the next biggest state park in Texas encompassing 433 square miles. One is not supposed to enter the park without a full tank of gas, a fully stocked first aid kit, 1 gallon of water per person per day, a visitor pass, and a spare tire. It is REMOTE. However, the scenery is spectacular. Lonely Planet states BBRSP is "some of the wildest country in North America". Hiking Texas says, "The route, possibly the most scenic drive in Texas, traverses a twisted and tortured landscape of ancient lava flows and water-cut canyons." The road is a spine-tingling roller coaster of up and down 15% grades (the maximum grade allowable). The transitions from climb to descent are so abrupt that with a posted speed of 50mph, we would find ourselves staring directly skyward as we rocketed upward, then plunging up and over each summit with little warning and no hint of what lay on the other side of each peak as we neared free-fall on the declines.
Our hike for the day was the Rancherias Canyon, amid the Bofecillos Mountains in BBRSP. With today's drive and the various elective detours along the way, we were penalized by a very late start in the afternoon. This trek travels 5 miles up a rocky canyon to a series of waterfalls, then down again. The usual time required for the round trip of 10 miles is 5-6 hours. We only had 4 before dark, so we ventured off with the goal of hiking 2 hours out, then 2 hours back regardless of whether we reached the falls. We met the General Superintendent of BBRSP, Rod Tevizo, with his crew of trail maintenance volunteers as we were climbing. They were incredibly nice (as have been all of the folks we have encountered on our cross-country journey) and offered us some good advice on the remaining climb. Rod encouraged us to try for the summit based on the pace we were keeping. However, at the 2 hour mark, we were not at the waterfalls and decided the prudent choice was to retrace our steps to the car. Upon reaching the parking lot, we found that we had missed the summit by 1/2 a mile, and we had returned to the car in only 3.5 hours, with another hour of daylight available due to the change in time zones since leaving Arizona. Even so, we were tired from the forced march we had just completed in the high 80 degree temperatures, and didn't regret foregoing the extra mile. We did have some animal encounters along the path. Karen had close encounters with a skunk and a cacophonous rattlesnake, while Cam went off-trail to explore a cave and startled a javelina by nearly stepping on him - he ran wee-wee-wee all the way home (the javelina, that is).
After completing the drive through BBRSP, we settled on the Mission Lodge in Terlingua. ($69/night includes a small room with a dirt parking lot, a 30 year old TV, and a semi-functional toilet). The room was cheap, but not the gas - $3.82/gallon. Speaking of gas, we ate a spicy Mexican outdoor dinner at a single-waitress dive called the Chili Pepper. Terlingua (population 267) is a former mining town that died when the mines shut down in the 1940s. There is absolutely nothing to do in this town except relax, watch the wind blow, and enjoy the sunrise/sunset over the mountainous horizon.
We drove 297 miles today.
I hope you guys are listening to Jerry Jeff Walker's ¡Viva Terlingua! live album while you're in southern Tejas.
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