Shabbos was quite windy and we had a bit of rain and lightning towards evening.  We lit the candles for the seventh night of Chanukah last night:

This morning was old and windy, but at least the storms had passed:

We drove out to the west side of the park to the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.  Form here, we could see the Window, where we had hiked to from Chisos Basin on Thursday, from this side:

Our first stop was a brief walk on the Mule Ears Trail to view the Mule Ears:

The Mule Ears:

On the trail, we found this dried base of a Sotol plant:

Our next stop was the Burro Mesa Springs trail:

A narrow canyon spills out through this punchbowl and down into the valley where the springs are.  At the springs, cottonwoods and other water-hungry plants grow:

Next we stopped at Sotol Vista.  Here’s a flowering Sotol:

Next we hiked down to the Homer Wilson Ranch, seen here in the distance:

The building is in surprisingly good shape considering it was abandoned over 70 years ago.  The former ranch land covered over 28,000 acres:

Our last stop of the day was Sam Nail Ranch.  The Chisos towards sunset:

We walked into the ranch area:

The ranch, once covering over 15,000 acres, was abandoned in 1946:

M found a fossil:

Chisos at sunset:

Happy 8th night of Chanukah:

Tonight, I took a few star photos:

See the trip map for today’s drive.

Today was a stay at home day.  Every time we’ve gone out to go explore the park, we’ve filled up our 7-gallon jerry can at the visitor center.  Today, while the kids were doing homeschool, I used the transfer pump to move yesterday’s water into the main RV tank:

Good Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh, and happy 6th night of Chanukah!

This morning M managed to photograph the sunrise:

I joined him outside:

B and I did some homeschool outside, and we found this stick bug on my chair:

In its natural habitat, it’s much harder to see:

Trish taught B how a voltage divider works.  Obviously, I married well:

Once I finished teaching my subjects, I rode my bike towards the Chisos Mountains, a ride which would have a 2700 foot elevation gain over 12 miles.  The section from our campsite to Panther Junction was a 3% to 5% grade:

I then turned west at Panther Junction, fighting a brutal headwind until I turned south onto the Chisos Basin road.  Here the grade kicked up quite a bit:

In the higher elevations, different plants grow:

At this point, I could see the saddle through which I would cross into the Chisos Basin:

After crossing the summit at 5700 feet, I descended a few hundred feet to Chisos Basin:

Trish and the kids met me here:

While I changed back into normal clothes, M hunted the elusive roadrunner:

We set out to hike the Window Trail:

M continues to experiment:

Here the canyon narrows, and steps have been built into the canyon wall:

We noticed a tarantula fall into this water hole.  M used a stick to push it to safety:

The spider safely on shore:

Photographing rock textures:

At last we arrived at the Window:

The rock here has been worn slick by rain storms and that last step is hundreds of feet down, so we were very careful:

The view from the Window:

This insect is nearly two inches long, and they’re everywhere:

We started back with less than an hour of sunlight:

Happy fifth night of Chanukah!

See the trip map for today’s drive.

This morning after homeschool we drove out to the west side of the park.  We stopped at the Ocotillo Grove dispersed camping area to look for remnants of the farming community called Terlingua Abajo.  We walked along Terlingua Creek:

On top of a low hill, there’s a cable trolley that goes across the creek to the gauging station on the other side:

We eventually found an interpretive sign:

This side of the creek has a couple ruins, but most of them are on the other side of the creek:

We forded the creek and found the remnants of the old village:

Scattered across the area was evidence of prior habitation:

We headed back across the river to the truck:

Our next stop was the Santa Elena Canyon trail:

The river is banked by mud flats, so it’s easy to tell who has been here:

The Rio Grande flows through the canyon.  The left bank is Mexico:

It was a muddy trek to get to the trailhead:

M practiced his photography:

The canyon leaves no river bank here, so the trail goes up and around:

Plant life clings to the rock:

I really hope that rock doesn’t tip over:

The trail ends here:

M noticed this fellow:

We emerged from the canyon into sunset on the Chisos Mountains

Crossing the mud flats to get back to the truck:

The GPS doesn’t work well in the canyon, we did not in fact cross the Rio Grande in Mexico:

Happy fourth day of Chanukah!

See the trip map for today’s drive.