Roswell, New Mexico? Isn't that where the military tried to cover up a UFO landing from which the recovered alien bodies in the 50's? Sure enough, when I drove into town I saw a couple of UFO Museums and Research Centers. The only strange thing I saw was in the mirror this morning.
I wasn't having a very good time because of all the cold weather that had been plaguing much of the U.S. in December. When I finally made up my mind that I would have to live with nights in the 20's & 30's and days in the 50's I found things much more enjoyable. Winds continued to be a major factor though. In the Guadalupe Mountains we had sustained winds of 48mph gusting to over 60mph for 36+ hours...and me without a kite.
One of the places I always wanted to visit is the Alamo. A big Davy Crockett fan as a kid always made the Alamo a special place for me. The Alamo is only a city block or so, a mission rather than a fort, right in San Antonio and I enjoyed it and the museum very much. A table in the museum held a model depicting one phase of the 13 day battle as Santa Ana and many thousands of Mexican soldiers tried to overrun less than 150 Americans including Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, Colonel Travis, etc. Several people, myself included, stood around the table in silence, taking it in. Then someone moved a little and without a word everyone shifted around the table to a new vantage point. It had quite an impact on us all I think.
While visiting the Brazos Bend State Park in Brazos Bend just south of Houston I took their nature walk and stopped at a tiny lake. Tens upon tens upon tens of thousands of black birds 4-5 inches long passed overhead. They had to be in the hundreds of thousands, dare I say millions? They just kept appearing over one set of tree tops and disappearing over the next. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them landed in 4-5 foot grasses right in front of me as I watched from lakeside. It was amazing so many birds could fit into such a small area. And once landed you couldn't see any of them.
Other wildlife seen in Texas were the endangered whooping cranes in Aransas National Wildlife Refuge 50 miles up the coast from Corpus Christi. At five feet tall, the whooping crane is supposedly America's tallest bird. ItAt five feet tall, the whooping crane is supposedly America's tallest bird. It's certainly tall and has a long body to go with it. Its wing span is seven feet and it has black and red markings on its face and bill.
I saw lots of road runners, meep meep... whroad runners, meep meep... where else, running across the road. They look just like the cartoon character with its long tail, skinny neck and top knot. I didn't see Wylie Coyote though. These guys can run 20-30mph and go after kangaroo rats and young rattlesnake which they peck to death.
Javelinas (peccary), a pig like critter run in (family?) packs of 10-15. Less than two feet high and about three feet long they weigh in at 40-50 pounds. At dusk they come out of the brush and wander on through campgrounds looking for dinner. They won't bother you but they've been known to destroy tents while looking for food. They'll also attack and kill a chained dog. They apparently think they're coyotes that go after their young. Of course the dog, being chained, doesn't have much of a chance. I dunno if they eat the dog or just rip it up into bite size pieces.
At 30mph, black tailed jackrabbit runs more like a dog than the hippity-hoppity style of a cottontail. Their extra long ears also are black near the base. At one campground they'd migrate to the lake at sunset and migrate back when the sun was coming up.
A couple of times I saw 50+ small antelope in an apparently fenced in area and thought they were being raised for slaughter or something. None of the locals seemed to know anything about it so maybe they were wild and just happened to be grazing there. I dunno.
I saw one strange looking critter grazing by the side of a road. It was only 2.5 feet high and had a head much fatter than a deer. My first thought was a mule deer. Several weeks later someone helped me find it in a mammal book they had and sure enough, it was a mule deer.
Ringtail cats are not a cat but more like a skinny raccoon. Deer in Texas seem more grayish than those back east. So far no mountain lions, elk, big horn sheep, golden eagles, wolverines, bob cats, coyotes, rattlesnakes, sidewinders, coral snakes, Gila monsters, tarantulas or scorpions so far.
Supposedly no venom is injected in 25% of all rattlesnake bites. They also say suction with venom extractors is only minimally effective and not to make an incision or use your mouth for suction because of bacteria. Mountain lions like to attack from the rear and crush the back of the neck. Needless to say mine was itching the entire time while hiking. One person is killed every three years by mountain lions, nationwide. While I haven't seen any elk yet I did find some tracks. Almost identical in shape to a deer's, they're more the size of a horse's hoof. I was able to follow these a little ways through rich brown mud.
The Amistad (means friendship) National Recreation Area lies on the United States/Mexico border in Del Rio, 150 miles or so due west of San Antonio. The Amistad Reservoir was created when they dammed the Rio Grande in the late 60's. The Pecos and Devils Rivers also flow into the reservoir.
The reservoir is surrounded by limestone hills and bluffs which makes for some interesting paddling. The real pleasure comes from the three rivers. All three have worked their way down into the limestone forming wonderful canyons 50-200+ feet deep. The Pecos and the Devils Rivers are both slow moving so its easy to paddle up them. Well, the Pecos runs about three knots 1.5 miles above where it empties into the Rio Grande but slows down above that. I didn't get to paddle the Rio Grande though.
Archeological sites are a major attraction in the Amistad area and some of the oldest rock art sites in America are found here. Indian groups lived in the area as many as 12,000 years ago. Isolated works and huge murals 16 feet high can be found in many of the open faced caves and limestone walls.
Enchanted Rock State Natural Park south of Llano was a pleasant surprise. Thinking it was some cutesy rock image or something, I found a giant, pink granite rock almost a mile long, I dunno how wide, that rises up 500 feet to an elevation of 1825 feet. It's one billion years old and is the bedrock from which the rest of Texas was formed.
Enchanted Rock was way up near the top of enjoyable and scenic hikes for me. Boulders, ledges, slopes, domes, valleys, gullies, prickly pear cactus, Spanish dagger cactus, parasite encrusted live oaks, junipers, cedars, ponds and pools the entire route. Good stuff! An info board at the trail head says cigarette butts take 1-5 years to decompose while plastic 6-pack holders take 100 years, aluminum cans take 500 years and glass bottles take 1,000 years. Please don't throw that crap on the ground.
Big Bend National Park, located between El Paso and Del Rio on the Mexican border is mountains and desert and river and canyons. The Rio Grande flows out of Santa Elena Canyon into the park. Santa Elena is 20 some miles long and up to 1500 feet deep in places. It's mostly fast water except for some class II or III or IV (depending on who's doing the telling, and probably the water level) where a rock slide has partially blocked the river. The Rio Grande flows out of the park 30-40 miles later into Boquillas Canyon, another canyon 25 mile long. I tried for two weeks to find a shuttle but things never worked out. Sigh!
Much volcanic action took place in the region 35 million years ago (there were dinosaurs here too). The results are the Chisos Mountains, a rugged, jagged mass of peaks. Within the Chisos Mountains is Chisos Basin, 1-2 miles wide and 2-3 miles long. One of the campgrounds are located here and is surrounded 360 degrees with those jagged peaks. This is truly one of the most beautiful spots I've ever been. At the far end of Chisos Basin is The Window, a V-shaped gap in the peaks presenting a view of the valley and the mountains beyond. The Window Trail takes you down to the valley floor and presents a view of all those peaks and a lot more from down below. This too is the most beautiful trail I've ever been on. The views just do not stop on this trail and they're available no matter which way you're looking.
There are many other great trails with lots of great views. The Basin is at 5500 feet so altitude may be an issue. I climbed Emory Peak which is almost 8000 feet and had to stop frequently because of dizziness. I averaged less than one mph over four miles and the trail is only a lower moderate. That was my highest climb to date.
The Guadalupe Mountains National Park is on the New Mexico border 125 north of El Paso. Several 8000 foot peaks tower above the surrounding desert making it hard to believe this was once a marine reef under an ocean. I bagged my first 8000 footer, Hunters Peak, at 8368 feet here and then a couple of days later Guadalupe Peak at 8749 feet, the highest peak in Texas. I did these after a couple of days to acclimate myself at the 5900 foot campground and didn't have too much trouble except for the last 400 feet of Hunters Peak when the oxygen became a little thin. I was a lot stronger on Guadalupe Peak even though it was higher and the trail steeper.
The mountains are kinda OK from the road but once up on the trails, the really great scenery becomes apparent. Deep basins, high craggy bluffs, pinnacles and forests. Lots of trails here and most in the lower moderate range so old folks like me can negotiate them.
Well, on into Mexico to check out some of the ancient cliff dwellings then up into Utah until it gets too hot. Then maybe to the Colorado Rockies until it gets too cold. Hopefully I'll get some good canyon and mountain lake paddling in.