Fossil Discovery Exhibit, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Blindingly sunny day.
I am generally a pretty shallow-minded museum and exhibit visitor. The Fossil Discovery Exhibit does have a few things to ooh and ahh over for people like me.
Fossil Discovery Exhibit, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Ooh, look how big his teeth are!
Fossil Discovery Exhibit, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Ahhh, take my picture standing next to the big head!
Fossil Discovery Exhibit, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
But other than some cursory glances at the audio-visuals and the outlying scenery - and a trip to the bathroom - I was done. That's entirely a reflection on my exhibit-attention-deficit tastes and not on the quality of the exhibit. As if I needed to say that.
Fossil Discovery Exhibit, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
I also may have been thinking about lunch.
It did remind me of my trip to Dmanisi in Georgia, the presumed birthplace of Europeans.
Apparently, it's quite common to see bears on this trail. Fortunately, I was in the company of a family. I was fairly certain I could outrun the kids. However, I thought it would be impolitic to share my thoughts aloud.
No bird exemplifies Southwestern deserts better than the noisy Cactus
Wren. At all hours of the day they utter a raw scratchy noise that
sounds like they are trying to start a car. Cactus Wrens are always up
to something, whether hopping around on the ground, fanning their tails,
scolding their neighbors, or singing from the tops of cacti.
I didn't know about the cactus wren until I walked by one of its nests in the Chisos Basin Campground.
The above description is about the cactus wren's charming side. It also has less Disney-esque characteristics, also described here.
I was damned impressed by its nest:
Cactus wren nest, Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Cactus wren nest, Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Cactus wren nest, Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Cactus wren nest, Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Below is a video of cactus wren calls, including a lagniappe of slow-action fly catching by a cactus wren (videographer Don DesJardin):
Although cactus wrens turn my head, I am still loyal to mockingbirds for their long, complicated melodies such as my English-speaking neighbor in Opelousas here and my Georgian-speaking neighbor in Rustavi here.
Walking stick, Chisos Mountains Lodge, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
There's something compelling about walking sticks and katydids. The one that looks like a, yes, walking stick, and the other that looks like a walking, apple-green leaf.
I didn't see any katydids, but I saw a couple of walking sticks. One, in particular, sticked out (heheheh) because it wore Christmas green and red.
Walking stick, Chisos Mountains Lodge, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Also, it tried its damnedest to scale a stone wall of the Chisos Mountain Lodge, but just couldn't get its little feet to stick, so kept tumbling off.
In Walking Stick Trails, Part 1, it's interesting to see how the walking stick uses one of its rear legs to feel out a good gripping spot. To no avail, alas.
In Walking Stick Travails, Part 2, said insect, perhaps in a fit of pique at its unwanted audience, launches an assault upon my chair leg, perhaps to register a complaint.
An episode of Focus on Species: Stick Insects, starts off a little slowly, but gets pretty darned interesting as it goes on.
Butte overseeing Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
If Monet can do 1,549 paintings of haystacks, perhaps I can be forgiven for four butte-iful pics of a butte that shined grace upon my Chisos Basin campsite?
Butte overseeing Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Butte overseeing Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Butte overseeing Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Fox poop, Chisos Trailheads, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
According to one of the naturalists, foxes like to one-poop-up each other, so it isn't uncommon to see the leavings of more than one fox in the same place. In the above photo, two foxes dined on different kinds of seeds before relieving themselves.
Below is the same fox poops next to my car key, for scale:
Fox poop, Chisos Trailheads, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
The provenance for the above fox poops is the Chisos Trailheads up by the Chisos Visitor Center.
Now for some bear poop, the provenance of which is The Window trail, approaching from the Chisos Basin Campground. We'll travel from far to close up:
Fox poop, Chisos Trailheads, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Bear poop, Chisos Trailheads, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Bear poop, Chisos Trailheads, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Sadly, I didn't think to place my key next to this proud produce, but trust that it was bigger than the fox poop.
Window Trail from Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
You won't be seeing The Window on this post, even though I was on the Window Trail, as approached from the Chisos Basin Campground trailhead.
Window Trail from Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
I happened by the trail head during a swing around the campground. The afternoon was moving toward dusk, and I hadn't contemplated going on this walk so late in the afternoon. Plus an irrational concern about a bear encounter still clung to me like a whiny toddler. But a young couple bounced over to the trail head and appeared to have a plan to do the hike. So I asked if I could hitch myself to their coattails, and they said yes!
They were pleasant company - living in Texas for awhile while she did an internship - but probably to return to their home grounds in a lusher climate when that finished.
A pretty trail. Somehow I'd gotten the impression it was so very close to The Window and that it was an easy peasy walk.
The section of the trail I completed (note the foreshadowing) was easy peasy.
Window Trail from Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
What I didn't know was that the trail crossed over a stream. So pretty!
Window Trail from Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
And those steps built into the smooth, rock shoulders! The stuff of fairy tales.
Window Trail from Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Unfortunately, there was a water crossing that I didn't feel secure about making. Didn't have the right shoes, didn't have a way to protect my camera if I got wet, blah, blah. So I stopped there and enjoyed the beauty of what I did travel over.
There's Aesop's version of the ants and the grasshopper, and then there's Big Bend National Park's version.
While visiting the camp store next to the Chisos Visitor Center, I walk by a dead grasshopper.
Dead grasshopper and living ant, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Something about it catches my eye. Ooh, those yellow sac-like things. Ooh, there's movement; what's that? Ahh, a red, translucent ant is excavating within and without the carcass. I need a closer look.
Dead grasshopper and living ant, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
What are those yellow things? Grasshopper guts? Eggs? The grasshopper has a metallic sheen.
My knight in gleaming, shining, black-and-green armor.
The jaunty, yellow neckband.
Those long, bendy legs.
His large eyes, dark orbs, that look you up and down, unblinking, unnerving you a little.
His feelers, which he applies so dexterously to probe surfaces, from which he gathers the intelligence he needs to know how best navigate his way over the soft and hard places.
My Texas lubber, Big Bend National Park, Chisos Basin Campground, Texas. September 2017.
Tarantula on my tent, Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Better said, they passed through.
Walking stick at my site, Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
Better said, they didn't give one shit about me and my doings, as they were just about doing their doings and, as the vinegaroon remarked to me, while taking home some carry-out: "You can right well fuck off, thank you very much, and just stay out of my way."
The tarantula tolerated a bit of conversation .... .
Tarantula at my site, Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.
