Thursday, April 21th – Seminole Canyon State Park to Big Bend National Park, Texas – Day 70
We booked a guided hike to the Petroglyphs at Seminole Canyon State Park. The cost was $20 for all of us, and it was worth it. Our guide, Betty, looked fit for a volunteer in her mid 70’s and wasn’t intimidated by the 14 floors of vertical rise and fall on the way to our destination. We were told about the history of the area and the changes in climate that have occurred over thousands of years. Notable was the earliest Bison jump occurred nearby where Indigenous people drove a species of Bison, a third bigger than the ones we see today, over a cliff. They then skin, cook and eat the Bison at the bottom of the canyon.
We travelled down into a beautiful canyon carved from wind, water and rain water turning acidic from dissolved carbon dioxide eating away at the lime stone rocks. We were warned not to step on the slippery dissolving rock. There were two locations where we took staircases up into rock overhangs to view drawings painted between 4000 and 5000 years ago on the walls. People, deer, doors to another world, mountain lions and more were painted on the walls. We heard about what it all could possibly mean; researchers are, apparently, still researching. The scenery was stunning, and it was a lovely hike.
John and Charlotte, who refused to eat their breakfast, were hangry and John had a meltdown in the middle, but a snack of carrots and crackers refreshed him enough to make it through the hike. Charlotte was disappointed because she thought it was a cave and it didn’t have bats.
The next decision was the toughest of the day, drive 30 minutes backwards to go for a swim at the Amistad National Recreational Area, adding an hour to our total drive, or start further into the desert to head to Big Bend. We decided on the swim. First, we are going into the desert so swimming opportunities will be limited and second, we can always drive at night. No point showing up at a campsite just to hang out in a dark, electricity free trailer. The swim was great. A rough sand and shell beach located directly under the highway provided a great spot to eat some lunch and go for a chilly swim.
Back into the car for our drive of 4 hours to Big Bend, a remote part of Texas surrounded by Mexico on three sides, was broken up by a scenic view of the Pecos River at the bottom of a canyon, a stop for gas in Spencer, and dinner at a fantastic Brewery in Marathon. We got the three meat two sides combo, plus a beer each, with the pulled pork, brisket and sausage. It was unbelievably delicious.
The drive was long but amazing. We drove through the flat area in between mountains of striated rocks rising from the desert on either side. I was fascinated by the scenery. We spotted a Javelinha (a wild pig), several deer, hawks (that may have been Vultures) and a coyote. The drive was quite long but the sun helped as we are pushing into the next time zone and the sun didn’t set until 8:30 CST. When we entered Big Bend park, I probably should’ve been more nervous about the drop offs on each side of the road but it was dark and I couldn’t see anything so I just kept driving.
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