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Big Bend National Park

A vast and rugged place: Chihuahuan Desert. Rio Grande River Valley, and the Chisos Mountains.

Also the ubiquitous US Customs and Border Patrol: Coming out of the park on State HWY 385  at the Border Patrol stop outside of Marathon, TX we met a young Border Patrol guy who recognized the license plate and shared that he was from New Hampshire as well: Dover, NH. Exchanged smiles and had a nice chat amid all the necessary questions. An ice hockey player on the fringes of the Chihuahuan Desert courtesy of the US Border Patrol. Finally a sense of humor and a touch of genuineness.

Like all of Texas be prepared to drive distances but the destinations are worth the effort.

Do get up early and stay out late for the sunrises and sunsets.

Go with water, lots of it. Wear hardy footwear and pants.

Line you bicycle wheels with old inner tubes with the nozzle cut out and the tube split down the middle. Tires and tubes are no match for the spikes and prickers found everywhere in the desert.

For the RVers following this photoblog: Cottonwoods Campround down the Castolon Road near the Rio Grande has no hook-ups and does not allow generators, the Chisos Basin Campground in the Chisos Mountains has no hook-ups as well and limits the RV size to 24′ and generator hours to an AM and PM window in only one row of the campground, Rio Grande Village which I saw the least of does have a limited number of hook-up sites and no size limitations.

All the images in this post were captured at the Dorgan-Sublette Ruins a short walk/hike off the Castolon Road above the Santa  Elena Canyon and the Rio Grande River.

Expanded Big Bend NP Image Gallery

Big Bend National Park – Vol 2

Big Bend National Park – Vol 3