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.