After our taster trip to this fantastic national park and our failed attempts to photograph the night sky, we quickly took advantage of the next long weekend to pay another visit to Big Bend, this time with new tires and rims and professional photography manual.
So Friday afternoon, we got in the car and headed for Terlingua, the fantastic “place” – or whatever you want to call the wild chaos of dubious and curious vacationer accommodations with a gas station, the Chilli Peppers Cafe, and a few RV campgrounds – in the middle of the desert no-man’s land.
But this time we wanted to go on a “sporty” adventure…
Canoe tour on the Rio Grande
To our daughter’s displeasure, we went very early on Saturday to the outdoor adventure guide for another half hour through the desert and mountains of neighboring Big Bend Ranch State Park – yep, canoe paddling. We went over dirt “roads” to the border river with Mexico. Again, everyone was assigned their boat, and off we went, down the raging stream…. the wild river… the Rio Grande!
To be honest: It is really like it is sung in the song of the same name by the Zillertaler Schürzenjäger “The river is not wide and not deep, only a dirty brown ribbon” (at least at the current season). You notice that very quickly, but at the latest, when you first touch down with the canoe and get stuck in the mud. But we were lucky and mastered all the flat and rapids with flying colors. The tour went on the border river – yes, stay on the US side, we have no passport with us – about 2 hours through a canyon downstream. Of course, there was a short stop on the Mexican side in between, so we had the pleasure of being in Mexico illegally for 5 minutes. Insignificantly wet and with some sore muscles in our arms, we finally climbed back onto the muddy bank, where a lovely little tarantula greeted us. Still, our clothes were quickly dried again thanks to the cozy 36°C, which is very appropriate in October. A great experience with 100% need for repetition!
Night photography for beginners
We spent the afternoon again in the Ghost Town and with Mexican food in the Chilli Peppers before we waited for the sunset to try out again the night suitability of our camera. You can see a fantastic starry sky with the Milky Way here in the Dark Sky Region. With Celina’s info from the photography course and a few exercises regarding the camera setting, we then tried our luck to capture something on the lens in the deepest darkness. At first, these attempts seemed to have failed again because on the camera we saw…. Nothing!… Absolutely nothing! Frustrated, we drove back to our lodge after a while to check the photos on the extra laptop we had taken with us. However, this one was then of the opinion not to want to work thanks to an update, and so we remained for the time being without result. Only the loading into the home PC and a little rework showed in the end, but a few quite good photos, even if these in no way reflect this MEGA night sky.
High on horseback through the desert
Because we are still practicing to become real cowgirls, a horse riding trip on Sunday morning through the desert was an excellent opportunity to prove our riding skills again. With Whiskey and Azura, we also had some very friendly horses who shook us to an abandoned mercury mine, through a smaller canyon and a barren and dusty but also challenging landscape. The guides had some exciting stories to tell about this former mercury stronghold, so we girls got a good portion of the Wild West feeling again. Meanwhile, Matthias passed the time by watching the two-wheeled riding options on the highway, equipped with a few more horsepowers…
After again 7.5 hours drive home, we have not regretted a minute and are sure: This will be repeated at the latest in the coming year!