We were able to take the full Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive as the truck was happy to drive the dirt back roads of Western Big Bend National Park. As we bounced our way across the desert area toward Santa Elena Canyon and the Rio Grande River, we started noticing the initial blooms of the desert cacti.
Santa Elena Canyon is one of the significant features of BBNP, where limestone cliffs rise 1,500 feet above the Rio Grande. That is really an imposing “wall” on the US-Mexico Border. Everything on the other side of the the Rio Grande is Mexico. Kayaks paddle UP the Rio Grande and then turn around and paddle DOWN. It looked pretty easy to UP!
As we continued down the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, we stopped in the historic military stronghold of Castolon, where the US fought Pancho Villa in the early 1900’s. A fire last year in May 2019 jumped across the Rio Grande from Mexico and spread to the Castolon area and burned down the visitors center! We then wound through the volcanic rock and ash geological formations of Tuff Canyon and viewed Mule Ears geological formation.
The Traveling Lounsburys 