Mark P Betts
Happy 75th Birthday Big Bend National Park!
Tomorrow (or today depending on where you are) is the 75th Anniversary of the establishment of Big Bend National Park. It seemed that even Nature wanted to join the celebration.
I mentioned that the clouds began to gather in the description of the previous photo. Perhaps that was a little understated. A few welcome very light showers blew over on my way back to the Dog Canyon Trailhead. The rain was so light and the air so dry that the drops splattering on my clothes evaporated almost as soon as they landed. It made the hike very enjoyable and comfortable. I could see, however, several true thunderstorms building over a wide expanse of the eastern side of the park.
I loaded my backpack in the Jeep and spent several minutes watching these storms build and the showers intensify.
The speed limit within the park is only 45 mph and the distances are great - for example from the Dog Canyon trailhead back to Panther Junction near the center of the Park is over 20 miles. I wanted to get closer to a storm that was cascading great sheets of rain over the Chisos Mountains.
The road crosses a low rise to climb over Hannold Hill and I looked in the mirror and saw this scene.
There is a pull out to a fossil bone exhibit here and I turned off the road and almost leaped out of the Jeep with my camera. I have learned to not waste time because storms can come and go quickly in the quirky Chihauhuan weather.
The pungent smell of rain hitting the dry desert and the Texas Sage and Creosote Plants raced across the campsite driven by the down-gusts from the coalescing storms.
The storm on the left was drenching the upper part of Tornillo Flat while the shafts of rain on the right were flooding the Old Ore Road as it snaked behind the low, brown intrusive rocks of the McKinney Hills.
I have waited years to see these kinds of storms at Big Bend and I couldn't believe my incredible luck that it coincided with the Park's 75th Anniversary!
D0A0710
Happy 75th Birthday Big Bend National Park!
Tomorrow (or today depending on where you are) is the 75th Anniversary of the establishment of Big Bend National Park. It seemed that even Nature wanted to join the celebration.
I mentioned that the clouds began to gather in the description of the previous photo. Perhaps that was a little understated. A few welcome very light showers blew over on my way back to the Dog Canyon Trailhead. The rain was so light and the air so dry that the drops splattering on my clothes evaporated almost as soon as they landed. It made the hike very enjoyable and comfortable. I could see, however, several true thunderstorms building over a wide expanse of the eastern side of the park.
I loaded my backpack in the Jeep and spent several minutes watching these storms build and the showers intensify.
The speed limit within the park is only 45 mph and the distances are great - for example from the Dog Canyon trailhead back to Panther Junction near the center of the Park is over 20 miles. I wanted to get closer to a storm that was cascading great sheets of rain over the Chisos Mountains.
The road crosses a low rise to climb over Hannold Hill and I looked in the mirror and saw this scene.
There is a pull out to a fossil bone exhibit here and I turned off the road and almost leaped out of the Jeep with my camera. I have learned to not waste time because storms can come and go quickly in the quirky Chihauhuan weather.
The pungent smell of rain hitting the dry desert and the Texas Sage and Creosote Plants raced across the campsite driven by the down-gusts from the coalescing storms.
The storm on the left was drenching the upper part of Tornillo Flat while the shafts of rain on the right were flooding the Old Ore Road as it snaked behind the low, brown intrusive rocks of the McKinney Hills.
I have waited years to see these kinds of storms at Big Bend and I couldn't believe my incredible luck that it coincided with the Park's 75th Anniversary!
D0A0710