My friend Steve and I took this weeklong trip while I was still living in Texas. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend the desert in summertime, it was nice to see it at its 'worst' if you will. Regardless, we had to stay mostly at the higher elevations to do anything strenuous.

The trip out to Big Bend was long, with a gradual change from a wet to dry landscape, punctuated only by some really ugly buildings in Del Rio, an example of which is in this photo. The first hike we took in Big Bend was the Lost Mine Trail, a rather steep trail which gave me my first encounter with a rattlesnake and a tarantula in the wild. Midway up the trail is a vista of a century tree in Juniper Canyon, with Casa Grande in the background. At the end of the trail, here's a photo of me right after the rattlesnake encounter.

Aside from the rattlesnake and tarantula, we also encountered a fair number of javelinas galavanting in the park, mostly looking for food at the campsites. The lower elevations were devoid of much activity during the day, but did make for some great drives and short hikes. One short hike took us into a box canyon, one wall of which can be seen here.

At the west exit of the park is the ghost town of Terlingua, with dozens of roofless stone buildings. From there, it was a short drive to the Camino del Rio, which parallels the Rio Grande, and has been often cited as one of the most scenic roads in the country. Here's a view of the road itself, on a short bend in from the river. Along the side of the road, here's a photo of me sitting atop a cliff overlooking the green Rio Grande Valley.

The trip home doesn't have many pictures worth posting; we did get to see the world famous Marfa Lights, which flutter in the sky every night right outside of town. Further east, we got the opportunity to visit with Paisano Pete, the world's largest roadrunner, in Fort Stockton.