Big Bend :: Down by the River

The second morning at Rio Grande Village I awoke to see the sky ablaze with color - the dawn's early light. Taken from just outside the van at my campsite.

The sun was already up and casting it's rays on the mountainside by the time I reached the top of “my” hill. Soon the entire valley would be filled with bright light. This was the view looking away from the sunrise, Rio Grande Village is off to the right. The glow lasted only a few seconds. I had never seen anything like it before.

This morning I decided to follow the trail all the way to the river. Unusual for this time of year, the Rio Grande was higher than normal. Even at this “high” level the water was only a couple of feet deep. I had been told by several people that on previous visits the river was just inches deep and you could easily walk across it. I was amazed by how rapidly the water was moving along. Quite fast.

At some time this area was flooded, now it is dry and the ground is crackling.

The tenacity of living things is incredible to me. The little “trees” in this “forest” were anywhere from 1 to 18 inches tall. Barely clinging to life in the dry, parched soil. However, there were bits of green here and there.

New growth coming on. Their roots must run deep. There is no surface water here.

Just a short distance from the river, these tiny flowers were growing along the path, a trail trampled daily by many feet. Makes you wonder if everyone tries not to step on them. And why does it have two different colors of blossoms?

These were growing amongst stones where there was barely any dirt. How do they get enough sustenance to survive? The plant is wiry and spindly, almost ugly, but the tiny blossoms are gorgeous.

Later that day I drove over to Boquillas Canyon and walked the short trail along the river and spotted these three canoes.

Distances are deceiving. Everything is much farther away than you think it is.