Thanks everyone that followed us on Facebook for the Spanish broadcast. We had a blast, all the presenters were super! Interesting topics, lovely places and engaging activities. All of them an inspiration for the Chihuahuan Desert conservation. If you missed it, here are a few highlights of the talk, but you can still go watchContinueContinue reading “The Spanish broadcast was a blast!”
Tag Archives: Chihuahuan
Terlingua Ranch | Christmas Mountains, Chihuahuan Desert, Texas
Grass belly-high on a horse, the Spaniards declared upon seeing Big Bend for the first time. And it was. Great plains with the Rio Grande running strong and true. But somewhere along the way we choked the river and mowed the grass – and already drying – the earth here never recovered. Not fully. TheContinueContinue reading “Terlingua Ranch | Christmas Mountains, Chihuahuan Desert, Texas”
It’s hard not to stop and look when it rains in the desert.
The dog and I stand in the doorway, watching. Listening. Horses under shelter, huddled together. Flowers reach upward to collect every last drop and a distant thunder reminds us of our place in this world. The desert knows where we came from. Not our families, or their families before, but the dust of this earthContinueContinue reading “It’s hard not to stop and look when it rains in the desert.”
Chihuahuan Desert Sky Island, Mt Livermore
Mt. Livermore, Davis Mountains Preserve, Texas Looking into the desert, I see waves. Cresting. One folding on the other. A land shaped by an ancient sea transformed into an arid stretch of rolling hills and mountains. Fed only by monsoon summers and dry winters. I row through this ocean of cactus and creosote to findContinueContinue reading “Chihuahuan Desert Sky Island, Mt Livermore”
Desert thru Hiking: Texas to New Mexico
Organ Mountains National Monument, Las Cruces, New Mexico – Sierra Vista Trail There’s a wind coming off Las Cruces, I tip my head just enough. The trail is easy, a combination of gravel and loose rock. Arroyo crossings surrounded by prickly pear, fishhook cactus, lechuguilla and ocotillo in bloom. Dry desert grass dancing in theContinueContinue reading “Desert thru Hiking: Texas to New Mexico”
Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, Las Cruces, New Mexico – Baylor Pass
It’s a hard drive across west Texas with the sun in my eyes. Visor permanently down. One hundred miles straight shot, no services. Moving across the flats of far west Texas toward El Paso, cell coverage drops and I’m counting the miles to what I hope will bring gas in the next forty. Air conditioningContinueContinue reading “Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, Las Cruces, New Mexico – Baylor Pass”
Guadalupe Ridge Trail via Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Connecting Texas and New Mexico Riding tonight I sense a change in hoofbeats as my horse moves through the desert. A hollowness unfelt before. As I contemplate the consistency of his steps, a barn owl rises from a jagged hole of white strata. Layer on layer of rock descending into the earth. Soaring to theContinueContinue reading “Guadalupe Ridge Trail via Carlsbad Caverns National Park”
Plate Tectonics in The Solitario, Big Bend Ranch State Park, Texas
Spring comes early to the Rio Grande. Bluebonnets sprinkling the road, framing my view into Mexico. Cliffs high along the river. Rows of chopped rocks run like balcony seats at an opera across their face. I stop to take a picture, there are so many pictures here. My dog watches through the window and myContinueContinue reading “Plate Tectonics in The Solitario, Big Bend Ranch State Park, Texas”
Homer Wilson Ranch, Chihuahuan Desert, Big Bend National Park, Texas
There is no straight line through the desert. What looks easy is hard. ‘Barranco’ after ‘barranco’, all hidden from the horizon. Impassible terrain. Snaking a path is the only way. Driving into Big Bend National Park, shades of purple compete with mounds of desert brush. Each clamoring for the win. Key notes of Freddy FenderContinueContinue reading “Homer Wilson Ranch, Chihuahuan Desert, Big Bend National Park, Texas”
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas
The multiple faces of our Chihuahuan Desert: Sky Island, fossil reef, and four of the highest peaks in Texas Driving Highway 652 west across Texas the horizon becomes a wall and it’s not hard to imagine what the first settlers must have thought as they crested these hills in horse-drawn wagons, seeing such a roadblockContinueContinue reading “Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas”