Davis Mountain and the Mysterious Marfa Lights

We arrived at Davis Mountain State Park on Thursday afternoon, 3/2. We had reservations for five nights in a spot with water and electric, or at least we thought we did. When we arrived, there was nothing in the system. We had tried to use Rog’s iPad at the state park visitor’s center and apparently the transaction hadn’t been completed. Oops. The RV sites were all full, so the Park staff gave us a choice between one night in a site with water hookups or five nights in the equestrian area across the road with no hookups. The equestrian area was behind a locked gate and we’d likely be the only folks camped there – sounded good to us! The site is next to a trailhead, but we have a lovely view of the hills and the hikers are usually gone by dusk. Perfect!

This works for us!

All alone, but not lonesome. :) 

We saw deer, roadrunner, and a red fox.

How lovely to wake up to this!

Davis Mountain State Park has some unique features. In addition to several hiking and mountain bike trails and scenic overlooks, there is a pueblo-style Indian Lodge built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in 1933. The lodge was built by hand out of adobe bricks made on-site and there are also several trails and beautiful stone buildings constructed by the CCC that are still in use today.  

The pueblo-style Indian Lodge built by the CCC.

Common area in the lodge - they used mostly local materials.  Love it!

Another CCC building - this is an observation area at one of the overlooks. 

This area is more grassland than desert. 

One of the trails extends a mile or so past the park boundary to the Fort Davis National Historical Site adjacent to the park. Here you can wander around the remains of the fort’s many buildings or visit the exhibits. In the 1880’s Fort Davis housed the Buffalo Soldiers – a highly decorated unit of African American soldiers that were stationed here after the Civil War to protect early settlers and trade routes from Indian retaliation.   Rog has read several books about this era and the wars with the Native tribes – let’s just say that history is written by the victors and many of the exhibits we’ve seen are a little one-sided in their portrayal of events.  The injustices suffered by both the Buffalo Soldiers and the Native Americans get little press.

View of Fort Davis from the overlook.

The old hospital is one of the better preserved buildings. 

Westward Ho! I think I'll stick with the RV.  Lol.

On Friday, we were over at the campground and ran into Victor and Mona again. They ended up camping next to us in the equestrian area for a couple nights. We had a lovely time and got together for dinner and happy hour on Saturday. They were still working on a deal for a Tropi-Cal T330 like ours. I’ve got my fingers crossed for them. 😊  We will be hitting some of the same areas, so hopefully we’ll cross paths again in the future.

On Saturday morning we made the trek back to Alpine to visit the farmer’s market and pick up our water heater parts that had finally arrived. The good news is that Rog was able to do the repairs and we now have hot water!!! Happy, happy, joy, joy!   It’s been 23 days, not that I was counting. Lol.

Love the play of light on the clouds.

We’ve done several of the trails in the state park, including hiking two miles of the 11-mile mountain bike trail. Now I gotta tell you after just two miles, I was seriously questioning Rog’s sanity. It was hard to walk this trail, let alone try to bike it. The first 2.5 miles was almost all straight up hill – and I mean a steep, narrow trail of loose rock with cactus reaching out to snag you. That was after crossing a rocky streambed three times, complete with big sand traps. I really thought he was nuts. But ever the optimist, Rog figures once he gets past the first couple uphill miles he’ll be on the loop around the top of the hill and it should be flatter, better trail, and more fun. Was it? Nope. It was a rocky mess the whole time – he said he had about 30 feet of fun trail in the whole 11-mile ride. So this trail is not getting a recommendation for “epic” status – at least not in a good way. Lol.

Too bad the trail wasn't as nice as the view!

Ever the optimist. It has to get better, right? :) 

That's McDonald Observatory on the hill to the left. We never made it there, something for the return trip.

Sunday evening we drove over to see the mysterious Marfa lights. About 8 miles east of town is a viewing station where you can stop to see the Marfa Ghost Lights that dance across the foothills of the nearby Chinati Mountains. First documented in 1883, they continue to defy explanation. Theories include reflections, atmospheric conditions, swamp gas and UFO’s. Personally, I’m going to opt for fairy lights. 😊 Rog and I were prepared to be underwhelmed, but the lights were clear as could be and flickered on and off in no discernable pattern across a wide area of the foothills where no roads or human habitations exist. It really is kind of intriguing that they haven’t come up with a proven scientific explanation – it’s nice to know there are still mysteries to be solved (or just enjoyed).

The Marfa Ghost Lights dance in the distance. Spooky cool. :) 

Our next stop is Balmorhea State Park where we will visit “the world’s largest spring fed swimming pool”. Looking forward to that!