Mark P Betts
Tinaja Carlota
Tinaja Carlota is similar to nearby Ernst Tinaja. It is different, however in some ways.
First - tinaja? Tinaja is Spanish for a tank or pool. That is improtant in the Trans - Pecos area, which includes Big Bend, because water is scarce in the Chihuahaun Desert and a reliable source of water is a very important thing to know.
At Tinaja Carlota, the dip of the Boquillas Formation limestones matches the gradient of the wash so you stay at the same stratigraphic level as you walk down the wash. I am not sure if the tinajas, there are two main ones here, are carved out of the underlying Buda or not.
The water in these tinajas is much more available to the wildlife than at Ernst where, if the water level is low, it is unreachable and if an animal does fall in, it can be impossible to get out.
A cold front had blown through in the morning knocking the temperature out of the 50's all the way down into the 30's. The walls of the Canyon gave me shelter from the wind and made this long exposure a little easier to take. While I was taking this photo, a wren flew in and disappeared in one of the ledges above the pool and I thought that it had found a good place for a home for the night.
The mountains on the horizon seen through the canyon are the Mariscal Mountains and are in Mexico near the most southern reaches of the Rio Grande in the apex of the bend that gives the park its name.
S0A8016
Tinaja Carlota
Tinaja Carlota is similar to nearby Ernst Tinaja. It is different, however in some ways.
First - tinaja? Tinaja is Spanish for a tank or pool. That is improtant in the Trans - Pecos area, which includes Big Bend, because water is scarce in the Chihuahaun Desert and a reliable source of water is a very important thing to know.
At Tinaja Carlota, the dip of the Boquillas Formation limestones matches the gradient of the wash so you stay at the same stratigraphic level as you walk down the wash. I am not sure if the tinajas, there are two main ones here, are carved out of the underlying Buda or not.
The water in these tinajas is much more available to the wildlife than at Ernst where, if the water level is low, it is unreachable and if an animal does fall in, it can be impossible to get out.
A cold front had blown through in the morning knocking the temperature out of the 50's all the way down into the 30's. The walls of the Canyon gave me shelter from the wind and made this long exposure a little easier to take. While I was taking this photo, a wren flew in and disappeared in one of the ledges above the pool and I thought that it had found a good place for a home for the night.
The mountains on the horizon seen through the canyon are the Mariscal Mountains and are in Mexico near the most southern reaches of the Rio Grande in the apex of the bend that gives the park its name.
S0A8016