Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition
Inspiring all people to take action towards a sustainable future of the Chihuahuan Desert.
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. The …
Continue reading "Terlingua Ranch | Christmas Mountains, Chihuahuan Desert, Texas"
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 earth …
Continue reading "It’s hard not to stop and look when it rains in the desert."
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 find …
Continue reading "Chihuahuan Desert Sky Island, Mt Livermore"
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 the …
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 conditioning …
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 the …
Continue reading "Guadalupe Ridge Trail via Carlsbad Caverns National Park"
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 my …
Continue reading "Plate Tectonics in The Solitario, Big Bend Ranch State 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 roadblock …
I’m happiest when I spend my nights around campfires. Hidden in the spotted hills of the desert. In complete control, and complete surrender. Crossing Maravillas Creek south of Marathon, and approaching Double Mills, the ranches exceed imagination. Temperature rises fifteen degrees as we descend in elevation. A welcome change to this January weather. With arm …
Blown about by the wind. Finding life in desiccation. Not to be confused by the “true” Rose of Jericho, the “false” Rose of Jericho (S. lepidophylla) is native to the Chihuahuan desert and one of the most adaptive plants here. A wanderer, persistent and tough. Tenacious. S. lepidophylla in its dormant state Resurrection plants are …
Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition 