Terlingua, Tx: Bones, Booze and Bikes

9/28/2016; Big Bend National Park, Tx

Terlingua – must see tourist destination

The original Terlingua is now a ghost town, the current Terlingua just a few miles away adjoining Study Butte.  Terlingua was a mining town – mining cinnabar, from which Mercury is derived. Study Butte and Terlingua were also important points of commerce in early pioneer history and have a rich history of trade with and development by Mexican nationals who lived and worked in the area before the borders became as rigid as they are today.

It is also one of the few places one can get a cell signal near or in the park.  Wi-fi is generally available at the private concessionaire RV Park at Rio Grande Village, at the Chisos Mountain Lodge and at the Visitor Centers.  While there are convenience type stores within the park, there is a small grocery store in Terlingua.  You can also get gas and propane a bit less expensively than in the park.

As a town, Terlingua/Study Butte is not very attractive.  It’s spread out, half ghost town itself, and doesn’t look like it’s ever seen an urban planner.  There are businesses dedicated to tourists – a few motels, RV Parks, curio shops and River rafting, horseback tours and helicopter tour outfits.  A few bars and diners round out the offerings. 



The cemetery seems to encapsulate the town effectively.  To my eye, completely disorganized and largely falling apart, there was a mix of old, abandoned graves, well-tended gravesites for a religious subset of the community, and an eclectic set of gravesites seemingly belonging to the ‘booze and bikes’ section of the community.

Well tended

older, but still well maintained

many, like this one - unknown and decaying

somehow, however well-intended, I can't see the bottles as respectful

Island in the Sky - Chisos Mtns - Big Bend National Park

9/27/2016; Big Bend National Park, Texas

Bigger than the state of Rhode Island

BB NP covers over 1200 square miles tucked into a bend of the Rio Grande River.  Three major ecosystems to explore are the river area, the Chihuahuan desert and the Chisos Mountains.  There are 2 campgrounds on either end of the park along the river, and a 3rd up in a basin of the Chisos at about 5500’ – since this is the cooler campground, it’s where I’m staying.

This whole area was an inland sea before it dried up and was further formed by volcanic action.  The Chisos Mountains are the remains of a huge volcanic uplifting – giving the mountains the appearance of being an ‘island in the sky’.  The campground is located in a basin created by a collapsed caldera.  The environment in the Chisos is markedly different than the desert floor, with Douglas Fir, Arizona Pine and Aspen.   The mountains are home to an estimated 25 mountain lions and has, over the last 20 years, been re-populated by Mexican black bears.

A view of the Chisos

The Badlands

Hard lava cap over layers of Tuff

Tuff Canyon

An official ‘Dark Sky’ location

A fourth aspect of the park is the night sky.  Being over a 100 miles from the nearest city means that the night sky is not affected by light pollution and, on clear nights, the stars are spectacular.  So far, the nights have been mostly cloudy so I haven’t seen much of the stars – only one night has been clear enough to see the milky way.  I’ll have to come back in the winter when the weather is more predictably dry.