Category Archives: Big Bend

On a recent visit by friend Jeffrey R, an excellent amateur photographer, we made a swing through Big Bend National Park to document a few of the artifacts of an era of frontier life that is way in the past.  Only remnants remain to testify to the harshness of the land and the reality ofContinue reading “Ghosts of the Past”

If you are a hiker, a trip up to the South Rim of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park is a must.  This is a great hike any time of the year, but it is one of the few that are comfortable for hikers and backpackers during the summer months, due to theContinue reading “The Chisos Mountains South Rim Trail”

I knew nothing about the tarantula hawk.  I have seen them around the yard for years, and even though they make a fearsome showing with their blue-black body and bright red wings, they never seem aggressive, and we leave each other alone.  Until yesterday.  I was hiking with my pack along a county trail nearContinue reading “Tarantula Hawk”

It’s April in the Chihuahuan Desert, and that means road trip.  Jodie and I hooked up the Palomino Banshee popup camper to the Jeep and headed off into the backroads of Big Bend National Park, down one of our favorite, although less traveled roads, the Black Gap Road.  This is the toughest road in theContinue reading “Big Bend National Park’s Black Gap Road”

After two years of drought, following severe freezes of 2010, the desert is finally recovering.  This week, Jodie and I hopped on the motorcycles and covered 550 miles over two days to capture the Texas Bluebonnet, Prickly Pear, Ocotillo, and myriad of wildflowers reaching peak bloom at the lower elevations near the Rio Grande River.Continue reading “The Big Bend is in Bloom!”

Today, it was time to ride!  I just didn’t expect it to be 90 degrees in this part of Big Bend National Park, out on the “Old Ore Road.”  This is one of the least-traveled, most secluded, and most often hottest parts of this huge desert environment.  In a new book, “Death in Big Bend,”Continue reading “The Old Ore Road”

Out on my bike this morning for my daily ride, I came upon a girl just leaning her bicycle against a highway sign.  Suspecting possible bike trouble, I stopped to offer help.  She was talking on the phone…bluetooth earbuds.  She politely signed off and greeted me.  Her name…Jasamine.  She informed me she was from theContinue reading “Jasamine, Coast to Coast”