Big Bend N.P. Trip (Day 4)

Tuesday Feb. 4th

Not only is today the 4th day of our Big Bend National Park vacation, it is also my son, Darrell's birthday, so a big "Happy Birthday" to you Darrell, wherever you are today!  (Darrell's job takes him to far flung places around the world.)

We wake up to another cold morning, so we "layer up" before heading out to Big Bend River Tours to begin our canoe trip down the Rio Grande River.  Actually we are very lucky because today is supposed to be clear and sunny and possibly the warmest day (at 64 degrees) in a two-week period for this area and since we booked this adventure online before we left home we are fortunate to have chosen this particularly day for this river trip.

We are the only intrepid souls to have scheduled a river trip thru Big Bend River Tours today.  This is not the time of year for a lot of tourists here since it is so cold.  We meet our guide for the day, Jack, who said that by Spring Break there will be hundreds of folks on the river and in the National Park and visiting the local towns.  Today we may be the only folks on the river!

 We pass through this cool tunnel on the way to the river.  We leave the paved Park Road and head down a gravel road leading to the Gravel Pit, a primitive camping spot and a "put-in" place on the river for canoes, rafts, etc.  What a glorious day for this adventure, even though it is still quite cool.  As you can see the Rio Grande appears to be deserted, and it is incredibly quiet here!

 Tom and BooBoo are patiently waiting on the riverbank for our guide Jack and shuttle driver Jamie to turn the van around and back down as close as possible to the river to unload the canoes.

Well here we are all bundled up in our warm clothing ready to head down the Rio Grande!  The river is quite shallow in places and very deep in others so until we feel comfortable we opt to leave our life jackets on, since they also provide another layer of warmth right now.

 It is so quiet and peaceful on the river as we float along as the river flows gently and we are required to paddle very little as we drift along in our canoe and Jack is ahead of us in his own canoe.  Jack is a wealth of information about the Rio Grande and the surrounding area.  He has hiked over a large part of the Big Bend area of Texas and also has led guided hikes in Mexico before the events of 9-11.  He is also very knowledgeable about the plants and animals along the river.

Shortly we come to some hot springs, hot water pouring right out of the riverbank, and immediately there is our guide Jack enjoying a hot soak in the warm clear waters!  Neither Tom nor I were brave enough to take off our warm layers of clothing to get in the water no matter how warm Jack said it was!

 Hot water is flowing right out of this small opening in the riverbank and locals have stacked up rocks to form small pools to enjoy.

 Hot Water from the small opening is pouring over the rocks into the larger pool that Jack is in.  Then here is the larger opening with more hot water flowing into the river.

Pretty amazing!  Who knew there were hot springs on the Rio Grande?  I'm sure I have never heard of it.  Jack assures us there are more and he is planning our lunch break at the official Hot Springs in Big Bend National Park.

 Meanwhile, we just drift along enjoying the solitude of the morning on the river.

 We spot a hawk sitting high up on a cliff watching us from the Mexico side of the Rio Grande.

 Just before we reach our lunch spot we see a guy standing in the cold waters of the river, moving from place to place with some sort of tracking/measuring device, checking the depth and flow of the river.  Needless to say he is wearing full rubber waders up to his shoulders, and we talk to him later at the Hot Springs and he said as long as he wears thermal underwear underneath, and does not dip his shoulder low enough to allow water to get into his waders, he is quite comfortable, however earlier while he was in deep water he accidentally leaned too far sideways allowing a little cold river water in to get his clothes a little wet.  He came to stand in the Hot Springs to warm up a few minutes while we were there.  His working partner on the riverbank was having to bushwhack thru the thick bamboo to get his GPS tracking device as close to the river as possible.  We think the guy bushwhacking the bamboo had the worst end of that job!

 We beach our canoes and walk up to the abandoned buildings at the historic Hot Springs.

 Before (and a little after) this area became a National Park, it was a small resort where people came to enjoy the hot springs.

 The remaining buildings are closed off with several informational plaques explaining the past history of the Hot Springs.

 Look at all the bird nests made of mud in the cliff wall and that awesome clear blue sky!

 As we follow the path that leads to where the old bath house once stood we admire all the beautiful flowers growing right out of the rocky cliff along the way.

 and on our right, the river rushes along.....

 We are almost to the springs and decide it has warmed up enough that we are going to get in the water.

 Along the path there is some Mexican art work for sale, honor system, put $6.00 under the rock to help Mexican children.

 Is this not wild!  A pool of hot water (about 105 degrees) comes out the cliff wall and pours into this old concrete foundation of the long gone bath house.  Tom and Jack and a couple from Canada are already in the water!  I am hidden behind the wall of bamboo, peeling off enough layers of clothing to get in the water also.

 and just on the other side of the wall surrounding the hot water the Rio Grande rushes along...

 This feels so awesome on a cool day......

 High above us on the top of the cliff is the main GPS tracking device for the study of the river that the guys from the University of Utah are performing.

 Tom and I have been on several river trips over the years in other parts of our country, however we have never had a river guide set a table right on the riverbank and prepare us a meal!  (Usually we got a previously prepared sack lunch, etc.)  Jack is diligently slicing tomatoes, lettuce, several kinds of cheese, apples, oranges and is laying out pickles, olives, condiments, chips, cookies, and a loaf of thick sliced homemade wheat bread for us to build our own deluxe sandwiches.  He provides hand sanitizer, plastic plates/silverware, napkins, and plenty of cool water to refill our water bottles.  

 We are not allowed to help prepare lunch, so we just watch and enjoy the scenery, and what awesome scenery abounds.  Again we see the river, our international border, Texas on one side, Mexico on the other side, no fence, no wall, just rugged majestic mountains all around us and the gently flowing Rio Grande River making its way south to the Gulf of Mexico.

 Our view as we sit on the canoes and enjoy our awesome lunch!

 We are back on the river, passing by the Hot Springs that we were just sitting in. 

We are all alone on the river and it is incredibly peaceful and quiet!

 We look up to see this hawk circling overhead.

                                  This is BooBoo's first canoe trip!

 There goes a lone guy in a kayak (behind Tom), the only other person we have seen on the river today.  We saw him go by when we were in the Hot Springs, and now he is paddling back upriver.

Not much paddling, just letting the river take us lazily along.....

 Here is more of the monitoring equipment for the University of Utah......

 The Sierra Del Carmen mountain range lies straight ahead...

 We overtake two ducks on the river....

 Oops!  We got a little too close so they flew away.

 Well we have traveled about five miles on the Rio Grande today and we have now arrived at our "take-out" point near the Rio Grande Village Visitor Center in Big Bend N.P.  Jack is walking up to the parking area to retrieve the van w/trailer to load our canoes up for the drive back to Study Butte.  BooBoo and I are gazing out across the Rio Grande remembering what a great time we have had today.

Jack takes on a little detour to view the small village of Boquillas Del Carmen which lies just across the river in Mexico just before the Rio Grande winds its way thru the sheer high cliffs of Boquillas Canyon.

 Following the tragic events of 9-11, the Boquillas border crossing was closed, and the small town of Boqullas dwindled in size dramatically since it relied so heavily on tourist traffic flowing through Big Bend N.P.

 As we stand on the Boquillas Canyon Overlook we see evidence of heavy foot/horse traffic crossing the river from the Mexico side.  There goes a horseback rider now!

and on the boulders surrounding the parking area at the Overlook are Mexican arts and crafts left there for sale, again on the honor system, hoping the passing tourists will help Boquillas local economy.

 Actually Homeland Security has recently reopened the border crossing at Boquillas, Wednesday-Sunday.  There a park ranger monitors a video screen (that is connected to a Homeland Security office somewhere), and those wishing to cross (foot traffic only via a small boat) must present their passport as they stand in front of the video screen while Homeland Security checks their files before permission is granted to cross. Jack has not been across to Boquillas since the border crossing has reopened, however he is in contact with someone in Mexico who is working on establishing tours/excursions into the countryside for tourists leaving from Boquillas.  We are here on a Tuesday (border is closed), and we did not bring our passports on this trip, however we plan to have our passports in hand if we ever come back this way again.

 We are blessed with a pretty sunset when we arrive back to our hotel in Study Butte, where we are glad we booked this room for two nights since we are pretty wiped out from our long day today.

That is Bee Mountain rising up behind the businesses across the road from our hotel.  Our little red car is pretty dirty from all the scenic driving we have done so far on this trip, including some driving down gravel roads!

We are very impressed with the care, knowledge, and level of personal service we received today from our guide, Jack, and from all the folks at Big Bend River Tours.  They are a full-service tour company and we highly recommend them for going on the river.  They also guide hiking tours, horseback tours, cross-country vehicle tours, etc.  Single day or multi-days.  Check them out at:
http://www.bigbendrivertours.com