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Month: December 2016

Mind Games in Big Bend

Mind Games in Big Bend

Solo camping navigating. I’ve been trying to teach Pugsly, but she just wants to sleep. Ow. Don’t mess with Texas. I learned to use duct tape to get those near invisible prickly pear prickers out! Works! It took me two hours to go 10 miles to my new campsite. It’s great! The Chisos mountains and the doggies are my companions. I got to do some outdoor reading, but this giant orange threatening wasp looking creature kept hovering around me, so…

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more Big Bend!

more Big Bend!

First thing in the morning and I’m packing up when a Ranger stops by. I took a surreptitious photo while he was writing down my driver’s license info. They aren’t kidding around out here. He gave me a warning and I told him I was heading right then to get my pass. I did. Gotta carry tweezers when walking in the desert lest prickers get you. This one was stuck in Pugsly, and when I went to pull it –…

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Texas! Marfa on Christmas Day and Big Bend

Texas! Marfa on Christmas Day and Big Bend

We’ve arrived in Texas! My friend in Cloudcroft, NM suggested I check out the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. It’s not far from Carlsbad, so I made my way there for a camp-over. I wish I’d stayed to hike in those rugged mountains, because they really are impressive. I arrived there on a lovely and temperate Christmas eve but was too tired to explore. The “campground” was simply a large parking lot, with a lower section for tent camping and nice…

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Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns I’m not a big fan of the over-developed National Parks tourist attractions, so while I wanted to see caverns, I also didn’t want a circus like is at the Grand Canyon South Rim, for example. When I pulled into the Carlsbad parking lot, I immediately wanted to turn around and leave. It was Christmas Eve day and I mistakenly assumed most folks would be happily baking Christmas pecan pie for the Eve dinner. I was horribly mistaken. The…

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Day 4 (or 5?) at Big Bend

Day 4 (or 5?) at Big Bend

I’m typing on my iPad with little connectivity at Rio Grande Visitor’s Center so this will be a simple update. I have a whole bunch written up and a lot of pics from my past week or so. Guadeloupe Mountains National Park, Marfa, TX on Christmas Day, and the mighty Big Bend National Park! It’s really windy here today, and looks like a cold front is headed this way. Hopefully not too bad – I’ve still got to drive to…

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Very Large Array and new friends!

Very Large Array and new friends!

Going to visit the VLA has long been on my list. I left the rainy Datil Well Campground around 9:30am thinking I should get to town to check the weather report since I had no connectivity out there. I went to the one gas station in Datil and talked with the fellow working. He said that snow was forecast, so I decided to skedaddle south and east. No checking the dice for this one – I wanted away from this…

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