Sunday Feb 19 - It was a 4.5 hour drive from Amistad to Big Bend NP on Sunday, which is literally in the middle of nowhere. When we got there we decided to take the trip across the Rio Grande River and spend the afternoon in Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico. The NP has a border crossing in the park that is open 4 days a week in the winter. It was $5/person to take a small boat across the river and then walk the .5 miles to town. We had lunch at one of the two restaurants and the waiter sat us with another couple. We had a nice time chatting with them and they invited a single woman who was eating alone to join us. We were all campers so it was fun to swap stories. We walked around the town and bought a new change purse from one of the women selling crafts. We had two nights booked at the Rio Grande Village in the park, no services, except WiFi at the store and flush toilets (no showers).
great sunrise on our drive to Big Bend
Big Bend in the distance
The boat ride to Mexico
the road to Boquillas del Carmen. You could go by horse, donkey, truck or walk
Yummy lunch-enchiladas, tacos and a cold beer
the view from the restaurant patio
Road sign
another boat load
a javelina came through our campsite
We hiked the .75 mile round trip nature trail out of the campground to watch the sunset
And it was quite a show
the campground is in the right-hand middle of the picture
I couldn't decide which pictures I liked best, so I just threw a bunch of my favorites in
I'd have to say, it's probably the best sunset I've ever seen
This was looking east. When the sun hit a certain spot, it made a beautiful light and shadow on the mountains behind us
Monday Feb 20, 2023 - After breakfast we drove to the hot springs for a dip. There is a 5 mile hike from the campground, but we decided to drive 4 miles there and then hike the part of the gravel road that said no over sized vehicles. It was a 3 mile hike, round trip and we got there early enough that there were only a handful of people there. It had been a resort in the early 1900's, and a lot of the structures were still standing. After our soak we headed off for a hike above the Rio Grande. It was a really hot day, in the 90s and there were swarms of gnats making sitting still outside unbearable. We did a hike with our bug nets (which we were thrilled were still in the RV after our Alaska trip) and then did a 45 minute bike ride to keep a breeze on us. We're looking forward to heading to the mountains tomorrow where we hear it's 10 degrees cooler and there aren't any bugs. We have one night booked at Chisos Basin Campground in the middle of the mountains of the park.
hike to the springs
along the Rio Grande
the foundation of the bath house. The water temp is 105 degrees
the skinny little road back to where we parked
The Rio Grande hike with a view of the "big bend" in the river that the park is named for. It was hard to get a pic of the entire bend without falling off the edge of the cliff
our bug nets made this hike possible
nice mountain cliffs on each side of the river
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