Living it up in Lajitas!

 

View from our campsite in Lajitas, TX.

Together Big Bend Ranch State Park and Big Bend National Park in Texas cover a staggering 1,112,163 acres (that’s 1,737 square miles!). Needless to say, we had a lot of ground to cover. We opted to stay in Lajitas, which sits between the two parks, about a mile from the state park entrance and 16 miles from the national park’s west entrance.  Lajitas is a fun little resort area. You gotta love a place that has a goat for mayor. Lol. The Honorable Clay Henry is always available for a photo op, although I don’t think he’s above taking bribes. The original mayor was known for his beer drinking habit, although I saw no evidence of that with the current mayor. Lol.

The Honorable Clay Henry, Mayor of Lajitas. 
I'd vote for him!

We arrived at the Maverick RV Park, which is part of the Lajitas Golf Resort on Thursday, 5/9. It’s hard to fathom an internationally acclaimed golf resort in the middle of nowhere in the desert, but here we are. Lol. The RV park has some nice amenities and the resort is gorgeous.

Ok, this does not suck. 

The RV park had a lot of nice amenties...

...and an excellent welcoming committee! Lol. 

Not what you expect to find in the desert!

The resort was lovely, and open to anyone staying at the RV park.

In the afternoon, we drove to the Barton Warnock Museum and Environmental Education Center, which doubles as the visitor’s center for Big Bend Ranch State Park. They have extensive displays on the area’s history and geology. Then we drove through the state park to show Bob and Carole the campsites at Upper Madera, where’d we’d hoped to stay before deciding we needed a place with hookups. We also wanted to scout the Rio Grande to see if we could kayak. We were shocked to find there was no river flowing! There were isolated pockets of water, but absolutely no way you could float it. You’d end up carrying the kayak more often than paddling it!

The Barton Warnock Center was extremely informative.

Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Some sections of the Rio Grande had water, others were totally dry.

For dinner, we drove to the town of Terlingua, about 12 miles away, one of our very favorite places in the area. Once a thriving mining town, with a population of 3000 in the early 1900’s, it became a ghost town after the mines shut down in the 1940’s. In the 1960’s the area was repopulated by “modern pioneers” (naturalists, river guides, musicians, and artists).  They started a co-op and repurposed many of the abandoned ruins. The roof was gone from the old theater, so they turned it into an open-air venue for parties, concerts and theatrical productions (hence the name “Starlight Theater”). In the 1990's, the theater got a face lift and now it’s a lively restaurant and bar.  Today there are several eateries, lodging, art galleries and shops, but the town still has a fun, funky vibe that we love.

Terlingua has lots of public art and ruins.

Rog chose the Starlight Theater for his celebratory birthday dinner. Live music, good food, a historic venue, and the original Clay Henry, Mayor of Lajitas, was present to officiate. Perfect! Rog and I opted for the antelope burgers – not something you see on the menu often and very tasty too.

The Starlight Theater.

The original beer-guzzling Mayor of Lajitas resides at the Starlight Theater. Lol.

Good food and live music too at the Starlight.

On Friday, 5/10, we did the 30-mile Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. Returning on the 14-mile dirt Old Maverick Road (which we did) creates a not-to-be-missed scenic loop through the western part of Big Bend National Park. At our first stop, the Sam Nail Ranch, we found a note at the trailhead saying there was a momma bear and two cubs at the well at 11am. We got there about 11:30am and were thrilled to see the momma and her cubs on the hillside across from the ranch. They were tearing into the yucca plants, eating the tender shoots in the middle. We watched them for quite a while as they made their way up the ridge. The old windmill is still pumping, supplying water for animals and nourishing a greenbelt where the ranch house once stood. We saw bear prints and some dismembered yucca plants near the well, evidence of the bear’s earlier visit.   

So thankful someone left this note!

Seeing this momma bear and her two cubs
was the highlight of our day! 

Old adobe walls of the original ranch house.

The windmill still pumps water creating an oasis in the desert.

Bear snacks. 

We stopped at many of the points of interest along the scenic drive: Goat Mountain, Mule Ears View Point, and Tuff Canyon. The Castolon Visitor’s Center was closed for the summer, but there were some interesting historic exhibits showing there had been cotton fields and a working cotton gin nearby.

Goat Mountain.

The aptly named Mule Ears. 

Looking down into Tuff Canyon.

Castolon Peak

Machinery from the old cotton gin.

We hiked into Santa Elena Canyon, but the river was completely dried up in several places. The monsoons are July through September and until then there’s no river to float. It’s an incredible change from our visit in February 2017, when the river filled the canyon. We stopped along the Old Maverick Road at a small dwelling where farmer Gilberto Luna raised his large family. He lived there until 1947 when he died at the age of 108. His home is built from rock, earth, and plant fibers, this type of dwelling is called a jacal and is well adapted for desert living.

February 2017 and May 2024
What a difference!

Mud flats instead of a flowing river.

Santa Elena Canyon.

It was a lovely hike, but no kayaking today! 

Luna's Jacal.

We ended our drive at the Thirsty Goat Saloon in the Lajitas Golf Resort. When we were here seven years ago, we met India, who was 74 at the time, at the Terlingua Community Market. She asked if we’d seen the painting of the naked lady above the bar at the Thirsty Goat and told us she’d posed for it when she was a lot younger.  We’d never made it in, so a visit was high on our list. The bartender said there are many stories, but no one knows for sure who the lady in the painting really is. I did find a 2017 review that mentioned the painting of “India”. Did we really meet the mystery woman in the painting? We’ll never know for sure.

Group selfie at the Thirsty Goat.

Did we meet the mysterious woman who graces the bar? Maaaaaybe. 

We started off Saturday, 5/11, at the Terlingua Community Market and scored some amazing baked goods and homemade goat’s milk soap. Maybe the Mayor’s wife contributed? Lol. We grabbed an iced latte at Espresso y Poco Mas where we were visited by a friendly roadrunner.

The Terlingua Community Market is tiny, but well worth a visit.

We needed some coffee to go with our baked goods from the market.

This little beggar was interested in our chocolate chip cookies.
(I told you there would be more roadrunner pics. Lol)

Then we headed for the backdoor of Big Bend National Park. We’d explored this area in 2017 when we were on a hunt for the Red Buffalo, an elusive pictograph. We never did find it, but fell in the love with the area and were excited to share it with Bob and Carole. Ginormous red rock boulders cleaved from the canyon walls are scattered about. We hiked as far as the spring and found some petroglyphs and pictographs, as well as grinding holes that were made by the early native peoples who lived in the area. It's just like a giant playgound and so much fun to explore.

The back door of Big Bend National Park.

Boulder field.

This puts things into perspective.

Petroglyphs along with some 1902 graffiti (L) and Pictographs (R).

Ancient stone mortars.

Love the balanced rocks. They look like huge mushrooms. Lol.

This is a really fun area to explore.

Hello!

Tell me this doesn't look like a giant dinosaur egg!

The spring is just a trickle but a welcome source of water.

2017 and 2024
I found my rock again!!

After a couple of hours in the sun, we were hot and tired and eagerly anticipating a cold beverage and big plate of BBQ at DB’s Rustic Iron BBQ – another place we remember fondly from our time here in 2017. We were extremely disappointed to find it was closed on a Saturday. What?? Turns out DB had been up early to make a bunch of brisket and chicken which he donated to a local festival and was closed for the day.

One of the bakers we met at the Terlingua Community Market had told us about the Voices from Both Sides, a celebration held annually on Mother’s Day weekend. It’s like a giant family reunion where folks from both sides of the border can wade across the Rio Grande and mingle. There were food booths, live music, and lots of folks having a great time on both sides of the border. We picked up some of DB’s chicken (sadly, the brisket was long gone) and took it back to the rig for a late lunch.

Voices from Both Sides .
A wonderful time sharing food, music and fun across the border.

We even managed to score some of DB's chicken. 

Sunday, 5/12, was our moving day, but we were only going 60 miles to Rio Grande Village RV Campground in Big Bend National Park. We opted to get up early, so we could squeeze in the Closed Canyon hike before moving to our next spot. Closed Canyon isn’t quite a slot canyon, but its tall walls provide shade in the narrow canyon. The first part of the hike is through a sandy wash in full sun, entering the cool shade of the canyon is a relief and beautiful too, with curving walls towering on both sides of the narrow wash. The hike isn’t long, but it does involve some climbing. Up and down over boulders and pour overs. We did this hike the last time we visited the park and turned around at the exact same spot, at a steep pour over, below a big choke stone. This time there was a chain and sign indicating it was the end of the trail. I know some people have hiked past that point to the Rio Grande, but without ropes it would be hard to get back up. Guess the park service got tired of rescuing poorly equipped hikers and decided to mark the end of the trail. Lol. 

Walking into Closed Canyon.

Rog navigates around a boulder.

Bob and Carole descend a pour-over. 

Further into the canyon we go.

Rog and Bob stand on a giant choke stone.

We made it to the end of the trail.

After our hike, we went back to the campground and then left around noon for our next destination in Big Bend National Park. More national park awesomeness coming your way!