Kayaking in Big Bend Ranch State Park

One of the perks we have working for the concessionaire here at Big Bend National Park is that they offer freebies.  Some of these are agreements with local companies that provide services in or near the National park including kayaking, jeep tours and hotel stays in Lajitas Tx.  The idea being that if we have a great experience with them, we'll be better able to discuss their services with our customers.

Lupe had been calling one of our favorite companies, Far Flung outfitters in Terlingua, for several months trying to find an open spot for the two of us on a kayaking trip.  Based on the time of year, half-day, full-day, and multi-day Rio Grande kayaking trips are available through Boquillas, Mariscal, Santa Elena Canyons in the National Park, from La Linda north of Big Bend into the park and in Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Far Flung's map showing their kayaking tours

This time of year, July, the trips are exclusively in the state park due to the low water level on the Rio Grande.  As a matter of fact, we found out from our guide that ALL the water in the Rio Grande in Texas right now is coming from Mexico's Rio Conchos.  And that no actual Rio Grande water will be flowing past dams north of El Paso due to 'large agribusinesses in Colorado sucking it all up.. don't buy from Walmart' until October or so.  So the Rio Grande river is actually dry from El Paso to the confluence with Rio Conchos, just North of Presidio.

Rio Grande Dams and Diversions by Kmusser
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21959793

Our guide also thanked Mexico in his talk saying animals in Big Bend National Park are surviving the summers ONLY because of the good graces of Mexico and its Rio Conchos water, which Mexico could use, divert or dam if they chose.

Map of our kayak trip

Anyway, on to our kayaking trip!  We signed our Risk Agreement, had a brief safety talk, boarded the 17-person van and pulled away from Far Fung heading to the State Park. After picking up a family at Lajitas, we arrived at La Cuesta (meaning slope), which was our starting point, excited and ready to get wet.  The trip would take us through Madera Canyon, and we'd get out at the river access past the canyon, with two rapids along the way!

Our guide took some time explaining kayaking safety, proper paddling (use your shoulders), handling rapids and how to deal with getting pushed into the side of the river wall (lean into the wall), among other other things to keep in your head when on the water.  The information was important and relevant to the moment; for example, if you get thirsty on the river your already dehydrated.  Drinks lots of water and stop anywhere on the river for a potty break.

So off we went as each person was helped (if needed) into their kayak.. remembering to sit down in the kayak and don't attempt to stand in the kayak when getting in!

And from there it was a peaceful and pleasant trip down the Rio Grande.  Along the way, the guide would stop and discuss relevant topics including the impact of different river levels, the level markings on the canyon walls and the shape of the river bank and how these are all tied to the flow (or lack of it) of the river.

Midway, we stopped and were treated to light snacks, giving us all a chance to meet our fellow kayakers and guides.

And then we headed into Madera (Monilla) canyon.

Here's my video of the trip. We truly enjoyed the few hours on the Rio Grande Far Flung gave us.  It was a great trip.

Thanks, Far Flung!!

Here's our Google photo Album with all photos and videos from the trip.

Pine Canyon Hike 2018

Pine Canyon Trail is listed as a moderate hike in our favorite Big Bend Hiking Guide, the Falcon Guide to Hiking Big Bend. And even on a Summer day, like the day we hiked in July, if you start early enough you can still have a pleasant hike at Big Bend National Park.

Lupe on the trail

Pine Canyon trail is a high desert trail starting at about 2500 feet in elevation and ending at about 5400 feet (based on my phone).  On this trail, you're climbing up into the high desert mountains about 2.5 miles (the book says 2 miles but it's more) and it gets cooler as you go.

You get to the trailhead from the Panther Junction Visitors center by turning South towards Glen Springs Road, an improved off-road trail, turning right on Glen Springs Road and then right on Pine Canyon Road where you'll pass five Pine canyon campsites along the way.

After a roughly 7 mile off-road drive, you'll get to Pine Canyon trailhead which has its own parking lot.

Trail marker describing the hike

As the Guide describes, heading west towards the Chisos Mountains the trail follows an old dirt road, which is a continuation of Pine Canyon Road, into a densely wooded pine canyon.

Sotol agave grasslands

The uphill hike starts in sotol grasslands and after a mile enters the canyon.  As the elevation increases the plant life changes into a dense forest of Mexican pinyon pine, junipers and oaks.

After another mile, we found ourselves in a creek bed thinking that this was the end of the trail, however, continuing another 1/2 mile, we found ourselves at the base of the 200-foot pouroff, which becomes a waterfall after heavy rains.

pouroff

The hike was exhilarating and had an exciting ending at the beautiful pouroff.  The surrounding, tranquil space created there provided a place to sit and chillax after the hike.

If we can, we'll head back in just after a heavy rain to see the waterfall.

The hike out was equally beautiful as we passed Texas Madrone, Arizona pine and bigtooth maple as well as the always-present Harvard agave.

Since Microsoft recently upgraded their Photos app to make it super easy to create videos, I had to try it and made this short video of this hike.  Sorry for the silly animations, I had to try them.  Let me know what you think.   And - here's a link to our Google Photo Album for this hike.

Chow, Bert

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Alpine's downtown murals

On our visit to Alpine Texas to see the Museum and Theater of the Big Bend, we spent some time downtown exploring the Alpine murals created by Stylle Read and community volunteers.  Here are a few of those we saw.

Mural on a train car in the city park

who's that in the caboose? 

'Texas Ranch House Too' mural on N. 5th Street

collage of 3 photos of the Cowboy mural

Serenading 'Poco a Poquito' mural in the Food Truck Lot 

'Big Brewster' Greetings mural in the Food Truck Lot 

There were many more murals we didn't get to, but they can be found listed and mapped on the Alpine Murals Attractions page. 

Day trip to Alpine Texas for outdoor Theater and more

You wouldn't think outdoor theater would be a good idea in West Texas, in July, but we really wanted to get out of the park (Big Bend National Park) and Sul Ross State University's Theater of the Big Bend in Alpine Texas was performing 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' at the Kokernot Outdoor Theater. And we wanted to see the Museum of the Big Bend and explore Alpine's downtown murals.  So, off we went.

downtown Alpine exploring the murals

We headed out early to Terlingua for some lunch at the Chile Pepper Cafe, on the suggestion of a friend that likes his food really, really hot like we do.  And the food was good, and Lupe burned his mouth on a taco (but I don't have a picture of that).

The trip from Terlingua to Alpine was uneventful, sadly, because we were warned about the wild burrows and were on the lookout the entire way. But no burrows.

Once we were in Alpine, we hit the Natural Grocery Store, went crazy on food as you do when you live in the middle of nowhere and get to a real grocery store, and then headed to Sul Ross State Univerisity where we spent several hours at the Museum of the Big Bend.

Museum of the Big Bend 

We were anxious to see the Museum and 'Foto Texas II: People, Place and Culture' a Texas Photographic Society exhibit located in the museum.

The Fallen Officer Memorial outside the Museum entrance

Museum entrance

The museum has a regional topographic display that gives you a sense of where things are located and their physical relationship to each other in this large this west Texas area.

pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus recreation

Among the many interesting things you'll find walking through the small museum, are recreations of the largest known flying creature of all time, the giant pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus, whose fossilized bones are only found at Big Bend National Park and

The Tall Rockshelter display

The 'Tall Rockshelter', a 2-story, prehistoric Native American rock painting found deep in the canyons of the Davis Mountains.  The Center for Big Bend Studies, also on the campus of Sul Ross State University, is currently conducting an analysis of materials and data collected from the artifact.

Also, in the museum are areas describing the Big Bend Legacy with informational displays following the human occupation of the region from the original Indians that settled the region, its discovery by Cabeza de Vaca to the expansion of the United States into the region with the stagecoach and trains.

Foto Texas II: People, Place and Culture

Even though it was closing time, the gratious museum staff allows us a few moments in the exhibit room for Foto Texas II the curated exhibit of regional photos.

panorama of the photo exhibit

Theater of the Big Bend

Then we were off to the Theater.  It had been so long that we jumped at the chance to go to a regional theater, and it was an amazing evening with two friends who also worked at Big Bend.  The first thing they announced as the performance began was, of course, that no photos or videos were allowed. So, I only have a collage of the stage and photos from the playbill.

Stage, Cast & Crew from Smokey Joe's Cafe

The performance by the Theater of the Big Bend of 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' was very energetic.  We all really enjoyed the college student performances, and it all brought me back to my Singing Cadet days at A&M.  Oh, and it was a pleasantly cool evening once the sun when down; so west Texas at 4500 ft isn't so hot after all, in July.

Uncle John was an important part of my life, he passed away this week

My uncle John Hricko passed away this week after being in a coma for several months.  He had a heart attack in early March and went into a coma then.

John was married to my mother's sister, Heidi.  I believe they married in the early 1970's.

1970s Falfurrias

May 2017 visit

Last year, Randy and I were lucky enough to make a trip to see uncle John and aunt Heidi in May 2017 for a weekend visit.  They lived in California, so it was a several-hop trip for both of us.  It had been many, many years since Randy or I had seen John and Heidi. We were lucky to get our schedules to work at the time, and now I'm so grateful that we did get to see them then.

Several from A&M Singing Cadet concert and at the trailer

Looking back today I think of the many times our families made trips to see each other.  Of course, my mom, Ingrid, was Heidi's sister.  So, the two were together whenever possible.   I have photos, and memories, of Heidi and John from when we lived in Falfurrias. Way back at the beginning, Heidi helped raise me in 1959 after immigrating from Germany.  After Heidi married John, they came to visit us when we lived on Flack street in Fal around 1970 and later after 1977 when I was in college at A&M.

one of the 1980s visits in Victoria Texas

Uncle John was the kind of guy that was always there if you needed help or if you needed to talk,  and he had that booming voice that was so assuring.

May 2017 visit

It's hard now thinking back to the special family times we've all had together because one more of us is gone.  John, we love you more than ever and will never forget who you've been for us.

4th of July in Terlingua Texas

The 4th of July has always been a big deal for Lupe and his family as they are a large Military family. Being in Big Bend we could not find anything to do in the area that was not less than a 2-hour drive.

Ladies who tossed water balloons at Bert

With that in mind, we decided to drive to Terlingua and get a drink and do some grocery shopping. When we pulled up to Cottonwood our local grocery store (1hr away). We saw a bunch of people lined up for what looked like a parade.

Parade float

Horses that lead the Parade

After talking to the two funny older ladies that work in the store we found out more about the parade and its route. Luckily for us, the route went right in front of the liquor store. 

The Parade was only about 5 minutes long but we were so happy to come across it. 

a snippet of the 5-minute parade

After the parade, we went to dinner at High Sierra Bar and Grill

A little about recycling here at Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park's Landfill

Every day here at Big Bend National Park (BBNP) we work to keep single-use plastic and all recyclables out of the trash headed to our landfill.  Big Bend is one of the few National Parks that has its own landfill and there is real concern about it filling up. At the current pace, park management believes it will be full in 10 years.

Big Bend's Landfill, hidden from public view.
NPS Photo/Lori Michelowski

Even though we have large recycling bins next to our trash cans at most trailheads, all stores, and visitor centers, many people still miss them.

Trash and recycling cans at Rio Grande Village

Or visitors don't care, or don't understand the problem they create NOT putting recycling in trash cans here at Big Bend.

Big Bend National Park's Recycling Program

Big Bend is known to have one of the most comprehensive recycling programs in the national park service and in the State of Texas.  The National Park Service's Your Dollars at Work page shows how park entry fees have been used beginning in the 90's to enhance the park's recycling program to the point where 40% of total waste is recycled!!

Recycling bundled with trash

However, I still am finding recycling and single-use plastic bundled together with regular trash and thrown into the trash can together.

Reusable Albertson's grocery bag filled with recycling

So, I spend a little time each morning at the store pulling recyclables, mostly single-use plastic bottles, out of the trash and putting them into the appropriate recycling bin.  And when I'm doing that, my thoughts always go to WHY we have to even do this.

Trash can at our gas station 

This coke bottle is NOT returnable
Thanks, Coca Cola

The trash bins at our gas station collect a lot of recycling because it's easier to dump it than walk over to the bins :(

Returning this beer bottle would get you a small refund if returned in one of the states listed.  

How recycling began

After reading recent articles on how recycling got to this point and why we have recyclables in the first place (see Coca-Cola and deposit systems, Pick Up Your Shit Day, and  Sustainable design strategies), I realized it is basically because big companies like Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Pepsi switched from reusable/returnable glass containers to recyclable plastic in the 60's and 70's - mainly because it was cheaper and simpler to not deal with returnables and the public liked the 'new' idea.  Then, those same companies helped create recycling programs, and the Keep American Beautiful program, passing responsibility for dealing with this new waste problem on to the consumers.

Enhancing recycling at Big Bend National park

Here at Big Bend National Park, we can also do better.  The park stores do sell lots of plastic bottles and aluminum cans. After talking with a manager, we know there are companies that sell water in (compostable) cardboard boxes (kind of like drink boxes). We just need to find a vendor here that will make them available to the concessionaire, the company that manages the stores, restaurant, and lodge.

Eliminating as many plastic bottles from our shelves would also, automatically, reduce what gets put in the National Park landfill.  The park, vendors and the concessionaire would need to take the steps necessary to start reducing the volume of recyclables sold by

• replacing single-use plastic bottles with cardboard boxes, 
• encouraging visitors to use refillable, BPA-free bottles and 
• making drinking fountains available at every store in the park

One thing we do here at BBNP that is positive and environmentally friendly is that we only use paper bags and don't use the single-use, plastic bags you get at most grocery and convenience stores.  Plastic cups and styrofoam coolers are not sold or used at the park.

A sustainability Initiative to end the use of single-use plastic

As an example of making huge strides in this area, IKEA, from Sweden, is now taking a stand against this problem and recently updated their sustainability initiatives to a "people and planet-positive" commitment.  One of those commitments is to completely end their use of single-use plastic in Ikea stores and restaurants by 2020.  This article shows how Ikea is leading the way and showing us how large companies and organizations like National Parks can become planet positive and take us back to the days when there was no recycling to worry about.