Jorge in the pre-dawn darkness on Route 385 south of Marathon, Texas
Mule Deer appeared as gray ghosts in groups beside the road and the occasional jackrabbit dashed across in front of us. Early morning light silhouetted low hills and rocky pinnacles in the east, and glowed pink on a more substantial range of mountains to the west.
Dawn light in the Chihuahua Desert, south of Marathon, Texas
As the sun rose higher, but was still hidden below the horizon, we had the first bird of the day. Two Chihuahuan Ravens were flying towards us, very low, along the road - the flight appears gracile and elegant, since the wings are proportionally longer than in the American Crow and Common Raven.
Park boundary at Route 385
With spectacular mountain formations on all horizons and surrounded by the broad Chihuahuan Desert, slowly but surely we approached the massif of the Chisos Mountains. At exactly the moment the sun came up above the horizon - 7:15am - we stopped for a photo at the park boundary.
looking northwest from the park road
Did I mention the temperature? The van was equipped with an exterior thermometer which registered 39 degrees F, at sunup. We were having second thoughts about our plans to backpack in the High Chisos tonight!
early sun on the foothills
Texas Bluebonnet, Lupinus texensis
The road through Big Bend National Park's Persimmon Gap entrance passes through the vast open Chihuahuan desert. In the cool of the early morning, the air was pleasant, and any little sound could be heard for some distance. There were very few sounds! At Nine-point Draw we found a few birds beside the road (remember the color code?)
looking west over desert between Chisos Mtns (left) and Rosillos Mtns (right)
Jorge, early morning birding, Chisos Mountains in distance
red= life bird for Jorge
blue= life bird for Sue
purple= lifer for both of us
25. House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus
26. Black-throated Sparrow, Amphispiza bilineata
Cactus Wren
Pyrrhuloxia
nearing the Chisos Mountains - the range is fully enclosed by the park
White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys, at the visitor's center
By now it was nearing 8am - the time that we had planned to meet Karen at the Chisos Mountains Lodge in the Basin - and we still had at least 40 miles to go. I phoned the lodge where she was waiting and she decided she'd hike back home and wait for me to phone her house when we were closer. Housemate Linda has a landline, cell phones do not work in the basin.
Nina Hannold's Grave along the now-dry Hannold Draw
A poignant desert story
It was difficult to hurry our drive through the beautiful morning in the desert, but we tried to keep moving - with a few stops at the interpretive signs, and for birds too of course. We stopped in at the Panther Junction Visitor's Center to register - family and friends of park staff get in for free, so I couldn't even tell you what the regular fee is, maybe $20 for the vehicle and $5 for each person for the week.
Basin Road, ascending into the Chisos Basin
Collared Peccary or Javelina, Pecari tajacu
Just a few miles further on is the turnoff to Basin Road, which climbs steeply into the heart of the Chisos Mountains. By 10:30 we were parked at the Chisos Mountains Lodge waiting for Karen to hike back up the hill from her house to meet us at last. After hugs and greetings, we took time to gather her camping gear and change our campsite permit from the backpacking site she had reserved to a car-camp site - so that our piles of fleece blankets could be nearby. Wimpy, I know.
Karen and Jorge pause for a break in front of Karen's house in the Basin (along the road between the group campground and the big Chisos Basin Campground)
Canyon Towhee, Pipilo fuscus - the parking lot bird at the the Basin Visitor's Center
Birding around the Chisos Mountains Lodge, Karen's house, and the Basin Visitor's Center, we had several birds, a few of which were new for the list. Several of these were only seen at this time by Jorge, while Karen and I packed the car, but we all saw them all eventually.
Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
27. Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus (J only)
28. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea (J only)
29. Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus (J only)
30. Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos
31. Black-crested Titmouse, Baeolophus atricristatus (J only)
Canyon Towhee, Pipilo fuscus
Cactus Wren, Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus
Pyrrhuloxia, Cardinalis sinuatus
Karen and one of her housemates, Linda, had recently seen the Blue-throated Hummingbird at their feeders and an Acorn Woodpecker around their house, but we had no luck finding either.
With daypacks and cameras we headed up Pinnacles Trail into the heart of the high Chisos. Jorge had hoped we could hike into Boot Canyon on the chance an early Colima Warbler was around, but our noon start erased those hopes, since that hike is long, even without stopping for birds along the trail.
The afternoon sun had become strong, but cool air kept us in jackets and fleece hats as we ascended a moderate switchbacked grade passing through alligator juniper and live oak forest and occasionally through grassy savannah dotted with pinyon pine. We set a return time of 6 in the afternoon and planned only to enjoy the hike, the amazing scenery, and a few birds too.
We searched the forest and skies for new birds, and occasionally, the birds came looking for us. The first trail bird was one of the latter - Mexican Jays came screaming from everywhere, affording great views of this common, but range-restricted corvid.
Trail birds were:
32. Mexican Jay, Aphelocoma ultramarina
33. Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus ssp.
34. Hutton's Vireo, Vireo huttonii
35. Lesser Goldfinch, Carduelis psaltria
Bewick's Wren, Thryomanes bewickii ssp.
Black-crested Titmouse, Baeolophus atricristatus
Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus ssp.
Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura
Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis ssp.
Chihuahuan Raven, Corvus cryptoleucos
We hiked up to the pass between what I called the main basin and the other canyons to the south and west, just before the spur trail up Emory Peak. Karen and I took a break here, sheltered from the wind, while Jorge walked further on, to find the spur trail. The hiking was not what the three of us would call strenuous, but we are pretty seasoned hikers, and we had plenty of bird-watching breaks along the way.
The day remained bright and clear from sun-up all the way through to sun-down, affording wonderful photo opportunities as the light struck the mountains, first on their eastern slopes and finally on their western slopes. Returning to our car at the Basin Visitor's Center, we commented on the Canyon Towhees hopping about the parking lot like so many House Sparrows! Now onward to our campsite.
We had reserved Grapevine Hills site 3, so we headed north out of the basin to the main park road (which I never saw a name for, but is probably route 118) and traveled west a short distance to Grapevine Hills Road. Immediately there was a parking area with a tent sign for GH-1, it's a large area so we scouted around to see if the GH-3 sign was there also - no luck. Or rather no sign, but good luck, since we drove another 6 miles farther down the dirt road to a more remote site with much better ambiance, where we found both GH-2 and GH-3. As the sun disappeared behind the mountains, we set up camp for the night.
It's an indescribable sensation to be "in the middle of nowhere" as night comes on. The sky is huge, the air is fresh, the sunset colors are subtle and beautiful, the plants are new and different, and the possibility of unknown mammals is there too. But best of all, we're sharing the experience with like-minded friends and family.
First item out of the car is dinner - Karen unpacks her new Whisperlite stove and sets a pot of water to boil - the menu is rice-couscous with curry seasoning and a pouch of salmon stirred in. Next we set up our little blue tent on the hard dry gravel, tucked close in to the mesquite and creosote bushes for a wind-break. We fill it with sleeping bags, thermarest pads and fleece blankets - and we don't have to close the screen!... too cold for insects. Inside the van, we rearrange seats and gear to make comfortable sleeping quarters for Karen.
As the night darkens and stars fill the sky, Karen and I gather close to the tiny heat of the cook-stove. Jorge pulls out the laptop computer and uploads the day's photos from both cameras, taking time to look through some of the highlights - the Chihuahuan desert in early morning light, the Chisos mountains in afternoon sunshine, the Mexican Jays and other birds along the way.
The couscous cooked up to an enormous pot of dinner, but somehow we three managed to eat it all and leave nothing for the nocturnal visitors. Dinner is followed by a thermos of herbal tea, and a piece of dark chocolate finishes the evening. We savor the night air, the sky, the silhouetted mountains and the companionship, then do the requisite clean-up, and turn in for the night.
Morning will bring new adventures.
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