Dean &
Ginny's excellent adventures... Main
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Texas--04/11:
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The first rays of the sun on the visitors center. >>
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We loved the sunrise from the trail at the top of the
canyon. You are allowed to hike to the top of the canyon without a
guide, just not into it. The sunrise was beautiful.
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And sure enough, the first rays of the sun lit up
the interior of the cave.
After the sunrise, we walked along the Windmill
Trail to the spring. This spring is one of the main
attractions to this location, both for the ancient peoples and the
more recent ones. The railroad company installed a windmill
here to pump water up to the top of the canyon for their horses. We
watched for birds here for a while.
Then
it was on to Ft. Davis and Davis Mountains State Park.
Downtown Ft. Davis looks like it could be a set for
a western. Except for the cars out front, the bars on the upper
windows and the facade of the Fort Davis Bank give it that old
western bank look, just waiting to ward off a famous bank robber. >>
The town hall and Hotel Limpia add to the
charm.
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Here we pull into the mouth of the valley where
the campsites are located.
There are miles of hiking & horse trails, wildlife viewing areas, and Indian
Lodge. We spent several days here.
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Here is our campsite with plenty of sun exposure
for the panels. The whole camping area is located on a valley floor
and this flood gauge would let park officials know how high the
river gets. At this point it's a xeric zero.
We biked from our campsite to the wildlife viewing
area. Dean sneaks up on the wildlife browsing around the area--a doe
and fawn mule deer. Very cute!
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<< We also
saw wild boars or javelinas and lots of birds at the viewing area.
The boars scared off the birds while they got a drink and ate some
of the birdseed.
We did see the rare Montezuma quail, but they blend
so well with the tan backdrop that we never got a good photo of
them.
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There was wildlife everywhere. The
lined skink patrolled our campsite; the vultures gathered in an oak tree
to warm their wings; and a mule deer helped herself to some birdseed
near the rangers' station at the park entrance. (For Star Wars fans,
we thought she could have been the inspiration for Jar Jar Binks.)
 
Above left, an acorn woodpecker next to our
campsite. Barn swallows inhabit the rafters of the Indian Lodge.
 Indian
Lodge, a carefully-crafted stucco hotel and restaurant in a beautiful
setting at the back of this valley, was built by the CCC in the 30s. Very
picturesque--we had a hard time choosing only a few photos for this
page...
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The CCC crews used locally available materials.
For instance, they harvested cane from the shores of the Rio
Grande, which they used to finish the ceiling
between the beams. They also built the
furniture with local wood.
Dean looked for his dad in the photos of the workers posted on the
wall--he had worked for the CCC as a young man in Texas. He
didn't see him.
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We registered with the ranger to hike a
trail (for people and horses). We hiked about five miles up over a hill and
back. Just gorgeous, and we had the whole place to
ourselves.
We loved the surprise of finding wildflowers
amongst the dried grasses. The one on the left is a milkweed; the
others are beautiful mysteries.
The blue agave with its purple spines is
perfectly arranged on the hillside.
The trail was marked by a few signs, but mostly
by piles of rocks located at turns like this one shown in the
above left photo. Don't you think the cholla cactus in the middle photo looks like a little cowboy?
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On
Sunday, we were relaxing in the lobby of the Indian Lodge when we
got word that a prairie fire had started in Marfa, but was still a
long ways away. I took this photo from the lodge
porch.
To us this didn't look far away. >>
We left the lodge and headed back to our campsite,
but in order to see for ourselves, we climbed the hill in front of
our site. The fire was not far away at all--the photo below
is the view from the top of the hill. It was extremely windy up
there.
We hurried down the hill and started packing. Soon
thereafter, the rangers drove through the camping area with their
loudspeaker saying, "Get out now! Get out now!"
As we left, I shot these photos of the fire coming
over the hill into the park's valley. You may have noticed
how brown and dry the vegetation was. Scary!
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 The RVs and car campers
head out in a long line past the McDonald
Observatory. We had planned to go to their open house
that evening, but it was not to be. The smoke became thicker
as we drove away and the sun set.
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It was after six in the evening when we were evacuated and it was
a slow, single-file trip out of the mountains. There were no nearby
parks where we could stay, so we spent the night at a Flying J gas
station in Pecos with a number of other RVs. You can see the smoke
in the air behind the Pecos sign.
Later we read that the fire had swept through Ft. Davis and many
homes had been destroyed there. We also heard that the Town
Hall and the Limpia Hotel were okay. While the fire obviously came
through the park, the Indian Lodge and the other structures were
fine. The park remained closed for many days and was used to house
firefighters.
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We headed northward to Lake Abilene State Park.
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On to Lake Abilene State Park >>
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