Februrary 24, 2008

Drove south through the desert, stopping only at the town of Marathon long enough to walk through a couple of galleries (pricey for the product). Then more south to Big Bend National Park. I didn’t really plan on it, but just a few miles into the park there was a two mile hike to Dog Canyon – so I went ahead and did the round trip. Unfortunately the last third of the trail was in a dry creek bed that alternated between sand and rocks, all the while only providing a view of the walls of the creek – until it did run through a canyon which was lined with towering steep red rocks.

I had to do some work so I gambled and went to Terlingua Ranch – hoping that I would not only be able to stay there, but have access to highspeed internet to avoid driving seventy miles north to Alpine for the night then trek back Monday evening to spend more time at big bend. The map didn’t warn me, but ‘road’ is an overstatement – it was more of a sandy path with no marking that went over yonder. An hour later I made it to the ranch – RATS! No internet, but a really friendly woman that I chatted with for about fifteen minutes. She saved me going all the way back to Alpine and pointed me to the nearest hotel with wi-fi, about thirty miles away. If only there was Verizon coverage here.




Today Miles: 159; Trip Miles: 9,417
Starting: Fort Stockton, TX
Ending: Terlingua, TX
Route: 385S, Terlingua Ranch Dirt SW, 183S
Cost of entry to big bend: $20 (7 day)
Hiking Temp: 80
SPF Worn: 0
Current Skin-hue: sutter home white zinfandel
FM radio stations in Terlingua: 0
AM radio stations: 1 (1260am out of Chihuahua)
Cost to stay at the Big Bend Motor Inn room: ~$89
Cost to camp behind BBMI: $12.00
Cost of 6minute shower: $2.00
Filling and delicious dinner at Chile Pepper Café across the street: $9.82 (pre-propina)