Big Bend: Heading Out

Sunrise in Cottonwood Campground

The next day dawned just as stunning. I was wondering if every day and night in Big Bend is this gorgeous. It was jarring though that sunrise wasn't until 8am. I packed up camp and headed back up the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. My first stop was at the visitor center. 

Castolon Visitor Center

It wasn't open yet but there were a couple outdoor exhibits on the cotton mining history. My next stop was Tuff Canyon. 

Tuff Canyon

Tuff Canyon

Tuff Canyon

There were 2 overlooks down into it but also a trail to walk through it which I took advantage of. You could see the power of flash floods that had coursed through and there was even a couple pools of water hidden away. The sun on Cerro Castellan across the way was gorgeous.

Cerro Castellan

I drove up to Burro Mesa Spur Road  and hiked the Lower Burro Mesa Pour Off. The trail leads to a dry wash but once you got there no signs existed as to where the trail went so I just hiked up a dry wash until it got too closed off. It's frustrating not to know where a trail goes but since it follows a wash I guess it doesn't make sense to mark it since any marker would just get washed out with the regular flash floods. I saw a few turkey vultures perched up above so I got out of there. 

My last stop was the Sam Nail Ranch. It is remnants of an old ranch and because the windmill is still working it is in a shady lush grove of trees. It was neat to be in a little oasis in the middle of the desert.

Trail to Sam Nail

Sam Nail Ranch

From there it was time to head out of Big Bend. I saw on the map that just outside the entrance was the Terlingua Ghost Town. I decided to stop by but as I drove through Terlingua I was rethinking that. The town is just...gritty. I did not get a good impression and when I got to the ghost town I saw it was a commercialized one where there were shops set up in the old buildings. 

Terlingua Cemetery

Nothing about it appealed to me so I got out of there as soon as I could. I headed out through Alpine and Marfa Texas. I stopped outside of Marfa at the Prada store. 

Prada Marfa

Melissa  had told me about it and I recalled seeing pictures of it. Apparently its an art installation and its supposed to be ironic to see a Prada store in the middle of flat nothingness. The store was kinda dirty so I just snapped a picture and continued on. I got back on the interstate and drove to Chamizal National Monument in El Paso. I didn't realize it was literally across the river from Mexico. It's kind of a neat park because its a living dynamic park that celebrates the Mexican culture with art exhibits and theatre productions. 

Chamizal

There was a small visitor center so I learned about the history of the border dispute. The bridge to Mexico is adjacent and all I could hear was honking horns so it wasn't a very peaceful place to relax. 

Driving across West Texas

By the time I got back to the ranch I had clocked about 1200 miles. It was such a spontaneous whirlwind road trip but I had the time of my life. I am sooooo thankful to Meris and Seth for giving me the opportunity. I had never just taken off like that but it was exhilirating and it was nice to travel with no expectations and just be impressed and awestruck by what I saw along the way. I think this is a turning point for "planning" my future endeavors.