Through the Grand Canyon by Raft: Preparation… The Great River Series #1

October 28, 2024October 28, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 21 Comments

Over one billion years of the earth’s history, great beauty, and adventure await those who are lucky enough to raft through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River.

Most of our adventures start with a fair amount of forethought. Our 18-day raft trip through the Grand Canyon was an exception. It started with a phone call from our friend Tom Lovering.

“Curt, you need to jump online right now and sign up for a chance to win a lottery permit to raft the Grand Canyon.” It was more in the nature of a command than a request. Tom was plotting. There are relatively few private permits granted every year in comparison to the ton of rafters who want them. Floating down the Colorado through the Canyon is one of the world’s premier raft trips, providing a combination of beauty and adventure that are rarely matched. Tom figured that the more people he persuaded to sign up for the lottery, the better the chances of getting a permit. He’d made the request to several friends.

I would have probably skipped the opportunity. We were in the midst of wrapping up a three year exploration of North America and were seriously looking for a place to light— a semi-wilderness home. We were closed to settling on Southern Oregon. We had an hour to meet the filing deadline and the chances of winning, as I mentioned, were close to zilch. Plus I was woefully out of shape and 67 years old. I wasn’t sure that my body would have a sense of humor about the journey. Floating down the river on a private trip actually involves a substantial amount of work and everyone is expected to do their share. Rightfully so.

My child bride Peggy, however, who is seven years younger than I am and loves everything related to water, went straight to the site, filled out the required information in my name, filled out another in hers, and hit send. Fine, I thought to myself. That’s that. We can go merrily on our way and report back to Tom that we tried.

What I wasn’t expecting, as those of you have read my blogs about the trip know, was waking up the next morning and finding an email from the National Park Service announcing that I had won a permit. “Woohoo!” Peggy yelled. “Oh crap,” my fat cells responded. Tom didn’t believe me when I called him from somewhere in Nebraska. It took several minutes to convince him. And then he got excited. Here’s the actual permit:

My first task was to make sure that Tom would do the majority of the work in setting up the adventure. We didn’t have the time and I didn’t have the expertise for a white water raft trip. My experience was in organizing and leading long distance backpack and bicycle adventures. Tom, on the other hand, was an experienced white water enthusiast who had run the river several times and had boundless energy. Plus, he had volunteered. “There is a fair amount of paper work for you and certain responsibilities,” he mentioned in passing. Paper work, as I recall was a 40 page document, maybe it was 400. The responsibility, I learned was daunting. If we screwed up in some way by breaking the Park’s environmental or safety rules, I was accountable and subject to a large fine.

The raft trip in 2010 was the first blog series I ever did. I reposted it in 2018. Since I have already blogged extensively about the journey, I am going to use this and my next two posts as a summary of the trip and include many photos I didn’t use before.

I will note here that while the trip was even more physically challenging than I expected— and there were times I could have strangled Tom (and vice-versa, I’m sure)— I owe him a debt of gratitude for the opportunity. I love the Canyon and have explored it in many ways over the years including five backpacking trips into it. The river trip provided a whole new way to experience the beauty. Traveling with a great group was icing on the cake.

Tom had plenty to keep him busy in preparation for the trip. Finding qualified raftsmen and women was first up. The Park insists. Running the river is no joke. There are world-class rapids to negotiate. Food was another major item. River runners have a tradition of eating well, if not gourmet. He had a total of 54 meals to plan. Tom and his partner bought the nonperishables before coming. We bought the rest when we joined him in Flagstaff, Arizona, our base for the trip. Between Costco and Safeway, we packed our 22 foot Pleasure Way Van, twice.

Tom and I in Flagstaff getting ready to go on the trip in 2010. Do I appear a little dubious?

Large, specialized containers were required for the food. Each was labeled for what it would contain.

Huge ice chests were necessary to keep perishable food cold for the 18 day journey. Our room had been the central storage point for food. Minus the Kettle Corn, the bed was covered with our camping gear for the trip. It would soon find its way into a large, waterproof dry sack. Things we would need during the day went into ammo cans like the yellow one on the right.

Tom had other responsibilities as well. He’s getting his new “do” here, coloring his hair for the trip. Roald Dahl is one of his favorite authors. Tom likes weird, a trait I share. But coloring my hair isn’t one of them. Neither is painting my toenails.

One thing we were required to do was paint our toenails. River lore is it protects you from flipping your raft in rapids. “I won’t let you on my boat unless they are painted,” Tom warned ominously. I painted two of mine on each foot. We didn’t roll over in Tom’s boat when we went through a major rapid. But he did lose an oar. I might have felt guilty but it’s rumored that Tom travels through life without an oar.

We had one more major responsibility: Get Bone ready for the trip. Tom and I had discovered him hanging out in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range in 1977 and he has been wandering around with us and others ever since. He had to have a life vest.

Finally everything was packed and the participants had arrived. We loaded the truck to the brim with what seemed like a ton of equipment, drove over to our starting point at Lee’s Ferry and unloaded the truck, all in 100° (38°C) plus weather. My body had some unpleasant, unprintable things to say to me about being out of shape. (Photo by Don Green, one of the participants and a long time friend of ours.)

Next we had a quick lesson in rigging boats and went to work. (Photo by Don Green.)

Dave Stalheim and Peggy pose on Dave’s boat. Dave was to be the first boatman that we traveled with. Dave came from the state of Washington where he worked as a county planner. The plan was to ride with different boatmen each day. Protocol involved that we ask for a ride and help in loading and unloading the boat.

A bottle of tequila was slipped in among the oranges. It would be saved for drinking at Tequila Point, just below Lava Falls, where it would be needed! (Photo by Don Green.)

That night we moved a couple of hundred yards down from where we had rigged and loaded the boats to a campground I had found. We went out for dinner and came back to a major wind and dust storm that was whipping our tents around and making them difficult to find. With the heat, wind, and dust, I was reminded of our trips to Burning Man. Here we are, ready to begin our adventure. Ranger Annie is down on the end. She’d been by the day before to check our gear. When Tom introduced me as the ticket holder, I commented, “We have an excellent leader in Tom.” She had looked at me steely eyed and said, “You are responsible.” My muttered response was, “I’ll try to keep Tom in line.” Yeah, like that’s possible. She came back that morning to remind us of all the safety and environmental rules.

That’s it for the preparations. Now the ‘fun’ begins. The wind was back! We spent our first day fighting headwinds with gusts up to 60 miles per hour. If my dreams of a leisurely float down the river hadn’t already been demolished, they were now. We actually took turns with our boatmen rowing double. All of the photos were taken by either Don, Peggy, or me. I’ll note which ones are Don’s.

This map, which I took from the book *The Colorado River in the Grand Canyon*, an excellent guide by Larry Stevens, isn’t as clear in reproduction as I would like but still serves as a good reference for this and my next two posts. Our journey over 18 days would take us 280 miles down the Colorado River from mile 0 at Lee’s Ferry to mile 280 at Pierce Ferry, just this side of mile 300 at the beginning of Lake Mead. We finished putting the trip together in Flagstaff (lower right) and then followed Highway 89 up to Lee’s Ferry (upper right).

Don Green and boatwoman Megan Stalheim double rowing to counter the strong head wind. Megan is David’s niece and, like me, was a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa. While rowing a raft was a new sport for Megan, her experience as an Olympic level white water kayaker gave her excellent knowledge of how to read and run a river.

This photo of boatman Jame Wilson is a good example of what our fully loaded rafts looked like.

My post next Monday will take us from Lees Ferry to just below Phantom Ranch. Thursday is Halloween, however, and Peggy and I have a special treat for you, a tour of Dracula’s castle in Transylvania that we visited 2 1/2 weeks ago on our Danube River trip.

The Great River Series… Introduction

October 18, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 17 Comments

Clouds roll in threatening rain along the Danube River. Fortunately, the weather gods were kind to us. The river had flooded the week before our arrival due to heavy downpours upriver.

Today marks the beginning of our Great River series. The inspiration for it is our trip down the Danube from Vienna to the Black Sea that we just finished while traveling with Peggy’s brother John and his wife Frances.

Along the way, we traveled through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania, all countries that I had never visited except Croatia. (Peggy had been to Austria, as well: Way back in BC…As in before Curt.) Other than the Romanian apple that got us in trouble with US Customs and a cold I picked up and undoubtedly shared along the way, our trip in a riverboat with the GoHagan travel company was quite good.

Knowledgeable (and often humorous) local guides led us on tours through cities, towns, churches, castles, and palaces while providing historical background that ranged from Mongol and Turkish invasions, to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to the Russian Communist occupation following World War II.

We watched horses prance, people dance, and consumed at least three times as much food as we usually do. An ancient village with roots going back 5-6 thousand years and the beauty of the Carpathian Mountains of Romania/Transylvania wowed us.

Dracula/Vlad the Impaler called the Carpathians home. While we found the Impaler’s castle fascinating, I think Peggy was more excited to discover that the Cantacuzino Castle (where we stopped for lunch) serves as the site for the Nevermore Academy of the Netflix series Wednesday, a take-off on the TV series, The Addams Family, of yore. How much does she like the series? Well, she has binged on it. More than once. Her scream of delight when she saw a sign promoting the castle as the series’ location led everyone on the bus to turn and look at her. I felt like I was married to a smitten teenager.

The Cantacuzino Castle that serves as the as the location for the Nevermore Academy of the Netflix series *Wednesday* with a view of the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania in the background. The leaves were just beginning to turn as we made our way through Romania.

The castle of Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula, in Transylvania.

One great river doesn’t constitute a series, however. And we’ve promised a series which brings up what our criteria are for defining a great river. There are the normal factors, i.e. length and volume, but I would also add history and in beauty. The Nile is a great example for history, while the Colorado River on its run through the Grand Canyon is one for beauty. Both are mind-blowing.

There is one criterion that is strictly ours: We have to have floated on the river. For example, Peggy and I have crossed the Mississippi, Missouri, and Columbia Rivers numerous times from their headwaters to where they flow into the ocean. But our only personal experience has been to take photos and explore their history, with folks like Mark Twain and Lewis and Clark serving as our teachers. Peggy is known to stick a finger or toe in on occasion, however, “to test the water.”

In addition to the Danube, the series will include the Colorado, Amazon, Rhine, Nile, Zambezi, and England’s Trent and Mercy Canal— not a Great River perhaps, but Peggy and I had a blast navigating it in a 60’ long 10’ wide narrow boat, stopping at pubs along the way.

Our private 21 day trip through Grand Canyon National Park by raft was filled with beauty, adventure and fun.

We explored the Amazon River out of Manaus, Brazil for a week on the Amazon Clipper, a small boat that we shared with four other couples plus crew. We dined on piranhas for dinner that night, the ones we had caught in the afternoon (carefully).

Our trip up the Rhine River had it all: Charming towns, Medieval castles, towering cathedrals, bucolic countryside and history. Plus, we took our son, daughter, spouses and grandkids with us.

Horus, the Falcon God of ancient Egypt in the Valley of Kings. The Nile is lined with such treasures.

The Zambezi River of southern Africa brings its own magic ranging from water buffalo, to hippos, to crocodiles, to lions and numerous species of birds.

An underpass on England’s Trent and Mercy Canal. “Low bridge, everybody down.” —Erie Canal song

Since we have already blogged about these experiences (other than the Danube) in the past, I’ll simply do a summary post or two on each one that focuses on photos. The Nile may include more since there were several blogs that I ran out of time to do after the trip last year.

Next week, a quick look at the incredible beauty of the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. After that, we will start on the Danube.

Dangerous Romanian Apple Is Caught Slipping into US without Passport… With Us. We’re Back!

October 14, 2024October 14, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 30 Comments

This apple is a dangerous criminal, an illegal alien attempting to slip into the US from Bucharest without a passport. I am using it here to hide my identity as it is interrogated under the bright lights of the law in a US Customs Detention Center at Dulles Airport. I can still hear the questions, over and over: “Are you or are you not an apple? Did you or did you not come from a former Communist Country? Where is your passport? Is it your intention to destroy America’s apple crop and replace it with foreign apples? What about oranges, grapes, turnips, and petunias?” Petunias?

Peggy and I were innocent victims. The apple was using us for its nefarious purposes. The staff at our hotel in Bucharest had slipped apples into breakfast paper bags when Peggy and I, along with her brother John and wife Frances, checked out at 2 AM. They had included a sandwich made up a slice of cheese and a slice of ham on white bread without any condiments, plus— the piece de resistance— a two-bite muffin. I’d eaten the sandwich and muffin on our ride out to the Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport. I was suspicious of my apple, however. It had a not-right feeling. I tossed it into a trash can. Let the Romanian authorities deal with it.

Peggy, on the other hand, had visions of eating the apple somewhere along the way on our seemingly endless journey as a defense against starvation. She slipped it into an extra bag she was carrying for gifts and the apple immediately burrowed itself into the bottom of the bag, where it hoped to be forgotten. I can’t blame it for not wanting to be eaten, but apparently it had other motives as well. I don’t know what John and Frances did with theirs. I’d watched Frances cut up lots of them on our trip down the Danube, however. As for John, it probably depended on his political assessment of the apple. Had he thought of it as liberal, or radical, he would have consumed it on the spot, down to its very seeds. Had it been Libertarian, he would have coddled it, possibly even slipping it into Texas where the laws are different (not really, when it comes to US Customs).

We had a 4 hour layover in Zurich where the apple would have been consumed except we were traveling business class and could hang out at the Swiss Air lounge where all sorts of goodies were available for eating. Likewise, we were fed two full meals on our flight from Switzerland to Virginia. The apple continued its happy and secretive existence in the bottom of the gift bag— until we were in the middle of a massive crowd of people slowly making our way toward the passport check stations. It was then that Peggy saw the sign: “All travelers entering the United States are Required to Declare meats, fruits, vegetables, plants, seeds, soil, animals, as well as plant and animal products (including soup or soup products) they may be carrying. The declaration must cover all items carried in checked baggage, carry-on luggage, or in a vehicle.” The food might contain dangerous pests. Not declaring it is a crime subject to fines up to $10,000!

It was an “Oh poop,” moment. Oh well. Having lived in California for many years, we were used to border checks for fruit. We either got rid of it before entering the state or declared it if we hadn’t. I’d stopped being overly concerned when the border checks were frequently unmanned. If we declared fruits, the guards told us to throw it into a nearby trash can, or eat it. So much for the dangerous pests.

When we reached passport control, Peggy bravely pulled the offending apple out of her bag and explained why she had forgotten it. “Here, you can have it,” Peggy offered with one of her dazzling, disarming smiles. “Or is there a place I can toss it?” The agent reacted like Peggy was offering her a dead rat with the bubonic plague. She grabbed Peggy’s passport and locked it up in a plastic box for Peggy to carry. “Follow that red line to Custom detention,” she told her. Suffering from guilt by association, I was directed to go with her.

We opened the door and a very stern looking fellow took Peggy’s passport and glared at the apple. We were told to go sit on the side with a lot of other people. We would be allowed to go when and If the agents found no more apples in our luggage, which, at the time, was going around and around on the Swiss Air’s luggage carousel. “Can I go pick up the bags and bring them back here?” Peggy asked. “No” was the terse reply. “You will not bring fruit into the country,” we were reminded again. We were very close to being criminals. Agents would go collect our luggage so we wouldn’t try to escape.

A sign declared we were to take no photos or record any conversations. I understood why. Four agents were standing in the back of the room sorting through a pile of garbage four feet high and four feet across, carefully pulling out each piece and examining it. I certainly wouldn’t want my photo taken doing that. I hoped that they were well paid. As for the no photos, I wasn’t going to take any photos of their secretive activities, but I really did want a photo of the apple.

I pulled out my MacBook Pro and opened Photo Booth. Positioning my apple where I wanted, I pushed the red cameral symbol. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP the computer went as it counted down. The wasn’t an ‘Oh poop’ moment. It was an “Oh shit” moment. I imagined guys with guns rushing over to grab me. I quickly closed my laptop and waited. Nobody seemed to have noticed. The problem was, I wasn’t happy with the photo.

Out came my laptop again, this time with the sound turned off. I positioned the apple just so (as you see it above) and snapped another photo. The only thing I could see in the photo that might be considered in the no-take area was a TV that featured Mr. Potato Head on the left and an orangish looking guy with horns on the right. Satisfied, I put the laptop away and we waited. And waited. Another family of four was in the same strait we were. The daughter had brought a closed package of beef jerky to give to her brother, which was apparently a crime even more serious than ours. Her father was roaming around like an angry bee.

A half hour passed, and then an hour, and then an hour and a half. Each time the agents brought in luggage, Peggy and the dad would jump up to see if ours was included. Nada. Once the agents brought in 20 pieces from a French airline. Who knows what that was about. Maybe the French were trying to smuggle in a hundred pounds of Foie gras. The French fellow they were holding couldn’t (or wouldn’t) identify any of the luggage. I felt for all of the passengers who were wondering where in the heck their luggage had disappeared to.

Finally, the dad went over to talk to the “Big Guy,” who stood about five feet tall, and asked if he could go out with an agent and identify his luggage. Maybe the fellow was feeling a little guilty about the dad’s long wait with children. He said yes. Peggy, who knows an opportunity when it knocks, ran over and requested the same privilege. Five minutes later Peggy and the dad showed up with the luggage that the agents hadn’t been able to find in two hours. Ten minutes later our luggage had been scanned, Peggy had her passport back, and we were free to go. It was one AM in Bucharest. We had been traveling for close to 24 hours. All’s well that ends well. We had been worried that the following photo may have shown our fate.

Peggy is threatened with having her head cut off at Vlad the Impaler/Dracula’s castle in Transylvania. Our guide, whose name was also Vlad, was wielding the ax. That’s it for the day. Next up, we will start our Great River Series, including our adventure down the Danube River.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park Where the Buffalo Wallow and the Scenery Is Out of this World… The National Park Series Conclusion

September 16, 2024September 16, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 29 Comments

Multi-colored layers of sandstone, clay and shale infused with seams of black coal— all easily eroded rocks— are what give Theodore Roosevelt National Park its unique, otherworldly look. They put the Bad in badlands in the sense of teen slang, like really great, like wow!

TRNP is located in North Dakota close to the border of Montana. Canada is to the north.

The park is divided into a north and south section. Peggy and I spend the majority of our time in the north section, which has far fewer visitors and, in my opinion, is more scenic.

Visitors will find numerous multi-colored hills, like this…

And this— an example of earth slump where a whole portion of one of the cliffs came sliding down intact. Note the coal seam. Lightning can actually set these seams on fire. They can burn for years.

A close up. Coal was formed some 300 million years in large swamps where dead plant materials settled to the bottom and were eventually compressed into rock. Petrified wood from redwoods, cypress and cedar can also be found in the park.

The strangest rocks, however, are these cannon ball shaped concretions that are formed when minerals settle out of water in sandstone and shale, around a pebble or fossil in layers.

How much more unworldly can you get than this scene where the mud-like rock seemingly melts.

And appears to have flowed out of holes and cracks.

In addition to its cannonball look, the concretions also took other forms.

There seems to be no end to erosion carved features at TRNP. BTW, I think this is the way to Rock Hill, not the hill. A park information sign informed us that the grass on Rock Hill has never been plowed, making it one of the rare examples of pure native grass found in North America.

The eroded hill here had a beautiful setting.

Capstones, made up of harder rocks, help create the layered look.

I felt that this example had a jumbled mass of erosion that had a dark, post-apocalyptic feel to it…

On a brighter note, we loved this massive hill with its trees on top.

A side view. Like a massive vessel rising out of the earth.

A distant view of the Little Missouri River that flows through TRNP. Note the small blip on top of the ridge.

I promised buffalo, right? There are lots of them in TRNP. But I promised more: Buffalo wallowing.

That’s what this big fellow is about to do.

Wallowing is all about stirring up dust. Buffalo do it to to discourage biting flies and shed fur. The males also do it during mating season to leave behind a scent and demonstrate what big, strong fellas they are.

It’s important to get dust all over their bodies.

That’s a wrap on Theodore Roosevelt National Park, but even more it’s a wrap on our national park series. Peggy and I hope you’ve enjoyed it. In addition to the six I have featured here, there were the four others I included in our trip up the coast this spring and Everglades National Park we visited in February for a total of 11 in 2022.

But (isn’t there always a but), Peggy and I are going to bring you one more national park as part of our next series: Great Rivers. We will return to the Grand Canyon with a twist: Instead of looking down, we will be looking up— floating down the Colorado River on a 20 day private trip by raft through the park. I’ve blogged about the trip before, so I know several of you are familiar with it. This will be different, however, a photo essay stretched out over 6 posts with lots of new photos that Peggy and I haven’t included before.

First, however, Peggy and I are taking a vacation. (Do I hear a snort in the background. Isn’t that what you always do?) Actually, it will be a vacation from blogging as we float down the Danube River. Think of it as a vacation from a vocation, to the degree blogging is a vocation/work. I’m sure fellow bloggers will agree, it certainly feels like it at times. 😳We will be missing from the blogosphere for five weeks: This week in preparation for the trip, three weeks in Europe, and one week in recovery. I’ll check in from time to time to respond to comments. Beyond that, we will see you in mid-October!

Peggy and I hold on tight while Steve Van Dore rows us through rapids on the Colorado River. Is Peggy praying? Grin. (Photo by our friend Don Green)

Cerro Castellan, Tuff Canyon and Santa Elena: Beauty and Drama at Big Bend… National Park Series #12

September 13, 2024September 13, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 22 Comments

Our 55 mile drive from Rio Grande Village to our campground in Castolon through the Chihuahuan Desert and around the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend took us from the east side of the park to the west side. One of our first views on nearing Castalon was the Cerro Castellan peak. It’s impossible to miss. Peggy and our F-150 white pickup, Iorek, provide perspective. Peggy is sitting on tuff, which is consolidated volcanic ash. It isn’t as soft as it looks. Peggy told me that she had a tuff butt.

We like Google maps when we are looking for an overview of our day’s drive. This shows our route from the Rio Grande Village to Castolon and provides an estimated drive time— assuming one isn’t pulling off every few minutes to admire the views. There is another reason why I like this map: It provides a clear view of why Big Bend is called Big Bend. The black line traces the flow of the Rio Grande as it makes its *big bend.*

This National Park map shows the area around Castolon and shows the sites we will be including in today’s post: Cerro Castellan, Tuff Canyon, the Dorgan House and Santa Elena Canyon. The Visitor Center, closed in summer instead of winter, provides a clear hint about the region’s weather. You don’t want to face the heat of summer at Big Bend. Fall, winter and spring are normally mild.

The story of Cerro Castellan is like so many other peaks found in Texas and throughout the Southwest. A rock highly resistant to erosion overlays other rocks that erode more easily. In this case, the top rock is from a dense lava flow that covered the area. Most of the rocks under it are also volcanic, just less resistant such as volcanic tuff, the buff colored rock. The dark rock at the base is basalt from earlier lava flows.

We were treated to numerous views of Cerro Castellan. This one was from our camp. Not bad, eh.

The opposite side provided a totally different perspective.

More of a side view here. I believe the greenery is mainly creosote bush .

There are overlooks where visitors can look down into Tuff Canyon, or with a short hike, you can climb down into the canyon and walk along it, which is what Peggy and I did.

30 million years ago, a nearby violent volcanic eruption sent ash and rocks shooting into the air. Heat and pressure when they landed turned the ash into the tuff seen along the canyon walls.

We were curious about how these river bed rocks got into the erosion created holes. The only thing we could think of was a flooding stream working its way down the canyon.

These were rocks that would have been thrown out by the eruption and embedded in the tuff.

I liked this photo I caught of Peggy from what I recall was a shallow ‘cave’ in the tuff.

Flowers growing out of crevices in the tuff wall. Life will find a way!

Tuff cliffs towering over dark volcanic basalt.

The end of the trail leading up the canyon.

An ocotillo plant looked down on us from the rim.

The Ocotillo, with a mouthful scientific name of Fouquieria splendens, is an interesting desert plant that usually looks like a dead, naked bush with wicked thorns, i.e. not something that you would want to mess with. The stems actually have chlorophyll and are capable of photosynthesis and sustaining the plant thorough dry times. Come rain, however, the plant becomes covered in leaves and really goes to work in food production. It also develops brilliant red flowers. Thus the ‘splendens’ in the scientific name.

And finally we stopped to admire this mesquite tree on the way out.

On our way to Santa Elena, we stopped for a walk up to the Dorgan House. There are several sites around Castolon that feature historical sites from the last 100 years or so. Dorgan was an architect involved in the local farming community. The remains of his house included this unique fireplace made from petrified wood. It was fun checking out the various rocks.

I was particularly impressed with this rock. I saw an eye, a pig-like nose and a great set of choppers. I have the perfect location for it at home. But I didn’t take it. That’s a no-no in a National Park. If you should show up and find it missing, however, remember…

The Rio Grande River flows out of these limestone cliffs where it has cut the Santa Elena Canyon some 1,500 feet (450 m) deep at Santa Elena.

The canyon travels back some 8 miles from its mouth (shown here). Visitors can sign up for a raft trip down the river, or even run it on their own assuming they have a degree of white water expertise. Or, when river is low and slow, like it is here, you can paddle up it for 3-4 miles and then paddle back out.

Or, visitors can wade across the creek on the right and hike a brief distance into the canyon.

A view of the Rio Grande as it flows on its way after leaving the canyon.

We were visited by a herd of peccaries (known locally as javelinas) one evening when we were at the Castolon Campground. These mammals are found as far south as Argentina. He did not like the fact I was following him around snapping photos…

You might say it was a hair raising experience.

On our way out we stopped by the Panther Junction Visitor Center to check out its display on duck billed dinosaurs that roamed the area. Bone provided perspective on a leg bone. Coming from the leg of a horse just above the hoof, he could relate. Plus he is a great fan of old bones. That’s it for today and for Big Bend National Park. Next up is Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota where the buffalo still wallow…

Chisos Mountains… Big Bend Is More than Desert, Much More… The National Park Series #11

September 10, 2024September 10, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 20 Comments

Photos by Curtis and Peggy Mekemson — The Chisos Mountains of Big Bend were born 45 to 30 million years ago when the region experienced several episodes of volcanism followed by periods of quiet. We found the mountainous region to be quite beautiful. Our drive from our campsite at Rio Grande Village to our campsite at Castolon took us around much of the mountain range as shown in the National Park map below.

Our drive from our campground at Rio Grand Village on the right to our campground in Castolon on the left took us around a significant portion of the Chisos Mountains. Most of our photos of the mountain were taken when we retraced our drive up from Castolon to visit the Chisos Basin. We did, however take photos from the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Trail on our way to Castolon. This is a Big Bend National Park map.

The Chihuahuan Desert Nature Trail provided several views of the eastern side of the Chisos Mountains.

I believe this is a view into Pine Canyon.

Any view of the ‘Old West’ is enhanced by an old-fashioned windmill (not the gigantic modern types). We found this along the nature trail looking out at the mountains.

Farther up the road, after we had cut off onto the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, the Chisos Mountains Exhibit gave us a northwestern view of the mountains. Emory Peak, the slight knob on the left, is the highest point in the park at 7,825′ (2385 m).

Once situated in Castolon, Peggy and I decided to make a more leisurely trip up the Scenic Highway along the Chisos Mountain to the Chisos Basin. Our first view along the way was one of Big Bend’s most photographed sites: The Mule Ears. They look a bit devilish to me.

Another perspective. Do they actually look like mule ears? Close…

I took this photo at Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon.

Photos of Big Bend NP by Curt and Peggy Mekemson. — Next up on our list of things to see was Goat Mountain. It’s the peak on the left.

Photos of Big Bend's Goat Mountain by Curt and Peggy Mekemson. — Closer…

Closest! Actually, Goat Mountain was misnamed. What the early pioneers were actually looking at were big horned sheep.But, hey, an ungulate is an ungulate, right? Can you spot the sheep? Just kidding.

Remember the old ditty, ‘the bear went over the mountain to see what he could see,’? I’m like the old bear. Always curious. Goat Mountain is the peak on the end.

Getting close to the turn off to the Chisos Basin, this was our view. Note the red ridges in the foreground.

The red ridges are the Fins of Fire shown on the map. They are volcanic dikes formed when lava forces its way into crevices in rocks as it works its way to the surface and solidifies. Erosion has exposed the red dikes here.

Now it’s time to work our way into the Chisos Basin. A window view of where we are going. The large flat rock is Casa Grande.

A grand house indeed! But it’s only one of the many views we found in the basin.

They range from rocks with character like these…

To rocks I found particularly beautiful. Like this.

And this. Note the trees and bushes. We are no longer in the desert!

This is Emory Peak, the highest point in the Chisos Mountains.

And this is a view back out into the Chihuahuan Desert, where we will return in our next post. See the slight notch on the horizon…

It’s this: The Santa Elena Canyon. Located in the Castolon area, it is one of the places we will be exploring.

The Burro Mesa Pouroff, Plus: Big Bend National Park… National Park Series 10

September 6, 2024September 5, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 14 Comments

At first, we thought it said Burro Mesa Pulloff. That seemed to make sense. Maybe this was an historic location where burros pulled off to rest, drink water, and chew on a desert bush or two. Then we saw it was Pouroff. So what’s a pouroff? A contest between bartenders? We read the National Park info board. Apparently water poured off of Burro Mesa and down into this gravel canyon during thunderstorms, flooding it. Given that the canyon was quite beautiful and that there were no thunderheads looming overhead, Peggy and I decided to go for a walk.

Today’s post was supposed to be about Big Bends Chisos Mountains. I even included a ‘teaser’ photo in my last blog. When I reviewed our photos, however, I quickly decided that a fourth blog was needed. This is it. There may even be a fifth. Most of today’s photos were taken along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive shown below.

The little green hiker might be in a heap of trouble if water came pouring down the two steep canyons off of Burro Mesa.

Peggy at the beginning of the trail. The buff colored rock is volcanic tuft.

We were particularly impressed with the colorful tuft formation above the trail.

Layer upon layer seeming to tumble down the cliff.

Erosion can create wildly wonderful rock sculptures and this is one. We thought it looked like a dog. Too bad it didn’t look a bit more like a chihuahua given its location in the Chihuahuan Desert. Chihuahuas, BTW, got their name from the town of Chihuahua located in the Mexico portion of the Chihuahuan Desert.

Geologists love deserts. There is little to hide the rocks. Peggy and I love deserts for the same reason. We are particularly fond of the formations like shown in the previous photos and the color shown in this one.

It was worthy of a closer look. Peggy sees a face!

Reds also capture our attention. Note the two red outcrops on top of the hill…

I liked the balance here, but even more the wisps of cirrus clouds that seemed to be rushing toward the divide.

These layers of rock speak of millions of years and conditions from ancient oceans to deserts.

Layers of rock resistant to erosion form cliffs that go on and on…

This peak’s erosion had created a unique look.

We’ll conclude today’s post from a distant look back at the Chisos Mountains, where we will go in our next post. Maybe.

Craggy Mountains, an Arid Desert, and the Rio Grande: Big Bend NP… The National Park Series #9

September 3, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 17 Comments

The Rio Grande River forms the southern border of Big Bend National Park and also forms the park’s border with Mexico.

Big Bend is a three-for-the-price-of-one National Park. There is desert, lots of it: Big Bend serves as northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert, most of which is in Mexico. The craggy, volcanic formed, Chisos Mountains reach for the sky in the heart of the park. And the Rio Grande runs along its southern border, creating a ribbon of green and carving deep river canyons.

Our journey through Big Bend National Park will start with an exploration of the area around the Rio Grande Village on the right, take you around and up into the Chisos Mountains, and end in the area around the Castolon Visitor Center on the left with its towering Santa Elena Canyon.

We first visited in 1999 when we had taken a year off from work to visit and explore all of America’s national parks. We camped at the Rio Grande Village campground and celebrated Christmas there. A macramé hanging served as our Christmas Tree. Our main present was a long walk along the Rio Grande. We vowed we would come back.

Big Bend Photos by Curt and Peggy Mekemson. — A photo from the Rio Grande Village campground we took on our first visit to the park in 1999.

Today’s journey will take us from the area above Boquillas on the right to the Hot Springs on the left.

Photos of Big Bend NP taken by Curt and Peggy Mekemson. — A lookout from above Boquillas, Mexico on the park side provided this view of the Rio Grande Valley. The distant tree line follows the river.

It’s a wash! If you have ever spent time in the deserts you will be familiar with dry riverbeds like this one on the right. A thunderstorm can quickly turn it into a raging torrent. You don’t want to get caught in one when hiking, camping or driving! I did once when I was driving across Texas and was very lucky to get out of it. The same series of storms produced softball sized hailstones that night, which I was also lucky to avoid.

Great views of the Sierra del Carmen were provided from the Boquillas overlook. Believe it or not, the limestone cliffs you are looking at were formed at the bottom of a vast inland sea between 130 – 83 million years ago. The cliffs were created 20 million years ago when tectonic forces were stretching the continental plate of western North America creating massive, down dropped basins and high, uplifted ranges along fault zones. The highest point you see is appropriately named, El Pico, the peak.

A national park sign board provided this view of what the sea would have covered. The small star in the center at the bottom is Big Bend National Park. The sea stretches all the way up to Canada’s Yukon Territory.

A fun part of the Boquillas overlook was the Mexican arts and crafts on display there. A wide range of inexpensive, tourist oriented items such as these Mexican bobbleheads were for sale.

No one was present. A handmade sign announced that the arts and crafts were from Boquillas. Prices were marked on each item and a container was conveniently located for visitors to put money in. It was totally an honor system.

This provides a perspective on the variety of items that were available for sale.

Dragonflies, scorpions, and snakes, oh my! I liked the shadows.

Since Christmas was only a few weeks away, Peggy bought three Christmasy trees and decorated the biggest one with ornaments she keeps on hand. “Just in case.” Bone, who never misses an opportunity to party, put on a kilt and joined them. Bone, BTW, is wearing the Mekemson family tartan colors according to my 5th cousin who made it for him.

Now, if you will look back at the map of the Rio Grande Village area, I’m going to take you over to the left where the Hot Springs are located. (A woman toasted us with her jug.) Originally, these springs were covered and, for a mere quarter, you could take advantage of their healing powers. And what did they heal? There was a flyer advertising them…

Rejoice! Apparently, just about anything. Plus you could catch big catfish. (National Park photo)

Like this beauty caught out of the Rio Grande on the opposite side of what is now the park near Castolon. (National Park photo)

J.O. Langford, who had come to the hot springs from Mississippi in the early 1900s for his own health, built a small resort area including a motel, store and post office in the late 20s to share the health benefits of the springs plus make a profit. Visitors could get a room for a dollar a night or at the bargain price of $6 per week. He operated the resort into the 40s. Some of the old buildings still remain. (National Park photo)

The old motel still looks well preserved. Rooms came without water, and, I’m assuming electricity.

Since we just posted on Mesa Verde, we couldn’t help but note that the resort also came with cliff dwellings. Grin. They also came without running water or electricity plus required the ability to fly and catch bugs for dinner.

Palm trees provided shade and a resort-like environment.

This was the old store at Langford’s resort.

A half mile round trip trail along the Rio Grande takes visitors out to the hot springs.

Peggy caught a photo of me wearing my Death Valley NP hat along the trail.

Mesquite provided us with minimal but welcome shade.

Pictographs left behind by Native Americans can be found along the trail. Paleo people were inhabiting the area some 10,000 years before Langford arrived! The original hot springs had flowed into a tub that the Native American’s had carved out of the rock.

A herd of wild horses was grazing along the trail just above the hot springs…

That night we watched the sun set on the Sierra del Carmen Mountains from our campsite at Rio Grande Village. It provides a fitting end for this post. Next up we will explore the picturesque Chisos Mountains in the heart of Big Bend NP.

If You Haven’t Been to Big Bend NP, GO: A Road Trip… National Park Series #8

August 30, 2024August 29, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 29 Comments

“Roads go ever ever on, Over rock and under tree, By caves where never sun has shone, By streams that never find the sea; Over snow by winter sown, And through the merry flowers of June, Over grass and over stone, And under mountains in the moon. Roads go ever ever on, Under cloud and under star.” *From the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.*

I just rewatched Peter Jackson’s trilogies on the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, some 17 hours worth. Talk about going ever on. I’ve watched the movies four times. Peggy is a great fan. Me? Not so much. Long before the movies were produced, I read the Hobbit and then went on to read the Lord of the Rings. Also four times. I prefer Tolkien’s version over Jackson’s reinterpretation. The latter is less whimsical, more dark, and more tragic. Part of it is the medium. It’s one thing to read about the tribulations of Frodo. It’s something else to see them rendered graphically on the screen. But there is more. Dark parts are added to the movie, while lighter part are left out. For example, I’ve never forgiven Jackson for leaving out Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, two fun, fascinating characters, at the beginning of the Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring.

This post isn’t about the books or the movies, although it is about roads. I am going to kick off my first post on Big Bend NP with road shots. Also, I will note in passing, that I used the time we were watching the movies to pick out and process some 725 photos that Peggy and I took of the Park— and that I decided are blog worthy. You will see around a tenth of them is these posts!

I’m going to skip commentary on the road photos. The next two posts after this will feature many of the same areas, plus more. There will be plenty to comment on.

Shooting photos while driving down the road requires a different approach than shooting while still. The photographer is taking ‘snap shots’ in the truest sense of the word. There isn’t time to look for the best photo or consider factors like angles, shadows, sun, and content. Using a telephoto is much more difficult. The camera has to be ready, maybe even turned on. You spot something of interest, raise your camera, and shoot. Bang, bang, bang. Or the photo op has passed by. Note: When Peggy drives, I’m the photographer and vice-versa. Driving and taking photos at the same time fits the category of ‘very bad idea!’ Also, make sure your windshield is clean. Bug guts can ruin the best of pictures! Grin.

So, without further ado, these are some of the photos Peggy and I caught. While there is no requirement to include the road in a road shot, I have done so for the purpose of this post. You might note the lack of traffic. Big Bend is a long ways from major roads and cities! Enjoy.

This national park map shows the location of Big Bend Park in Texas. it’s located in the far southwestern corner of Texas on the border of Mexico with the Rio Grande River serving as the borderline. In our next post, we will start on the eastern end of the park and begin to work our way westward.

4700 Archeological Sites Including 600 Cliff Dwellings: Mesa Verde… National Park Series #7

August 26, 2024August 25, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 27 Comments

Normally, one would start a post on Mesa Verde featuring cliff dwellings. One of my earliest thoughts as a child about these magnificent structures, however, was how the inhabitants managed to get up to their homes perched high up on cliffs. This 22 foot bronze cast statue by Edward J. Fraughton at Mesa Verde dramatically illustrates the challenge. I couldn’t resist featuring it. Note the footholds, or maybe I should say, toeholds.

Split level living at its best? It is thought that the Fire Temple complex at Mesa Verde was used for ceremonial purposes and possibly as living quarters for those who oversaw the ceremonies. It features these structures located on two different levels plus a large open area for ceremonies and meetings off to the left. The toe holds for climbing are clearly visible. Ladders that could have been raised or lowered would have extended below the toeholds: Lowered to get up to the second level under normal circumstances— or raised to frustrate an enemy if under attack.

Photos of Mesa Verde Park by Curt and Peggy Mekemson. — A close up of the toeholds. We wondered if the indentations on the right were used for handholds. Getting up or down would have been complicated by having to carry a load such as shown below when looking at the Ancient One’s statue from a different perspective.

“Could you hold that pose while I finish the statue?” It looks like maize/corn in the basket, which was the primary crop of the Ancestral Puebloans. Other things that would have to be carried in addition to food would include water, babies, building materials and items for day to day living. I suspect that children learned to scramble up and down at a relatively young age.

Peggy and I found these footholds climbing up a cliff in Zion National Park when we were searching for petroglyphs in a remote area. I thought I’d try climbing them. “Um, maybe not,” my companion suggested rather forcefully. I don’t think my offering to carry her would have made a difference.

This is the meeting/ritualistic section of the Fire Temple. A large, raised fire pit is located in the center of the plaza. There is some speculation that the square vaults beside the fire pit may have been covered and used for drumming. I can imagine the people gathered here asking for rain, good crops, health, or protection from a marauding enemy. Or maybe they danced.

Ancestral Puebloans reached the Mesa Verde (“green table”) area sometime around 600 CE (A.D.). They would remain in the area for 700 years reaching the peak of their civilization between 1100-1300 CE. At first, they focused on building pithouses, pueblos, masonry towers, and farming structures on top of the mesa. The National Park Service features a number of the buildings. While we visited several of them, our focus today will be on the cliff houses for which Mesa Verde is famous. But first, a quick look at the countryside where the Puebloans chose to make their homes.

This prominent landmark overlooks visitors as they enter the park. The road works its way up from the lower left. It’s likely that the Ancestral Puebloans would have considered the mesa sacred.

A drive up to Park Point, the highest point in Mesa Verde at 8572 feet (2612 m), provides great views of surrounding valleys and distant mountains.

Layered sandstone rocks like these provided sites for cliff houses. The distant mountain is known as Sleeping Ute Mountain.

Photos of cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park by Curt and Peggy Mekemson. — And now for three of the major cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde. This one, called Cliff Palace, is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. It has 150 individual rooms and 20 kivas. Kivas are round structures used for ceremonial purposes.

This illustration of a kiva was on an information board at Mesa Verde. Most of it is self-explanatory, but you might find yourself asking, “What the heck is a Sipapu?” To the Ancestral Puebloans and their modern day descendants, the sipapu represents the opening through which their ancient ancestors emerged to enter this world as lizards and then changed into their human form.

The Hopi believe that the entrance to this world was found on the Little Colorado River a few miles above where this photo was taken. We had stopped here when we were on our 18 day raft trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. I’ll be reposting blogs from that trip in a few weeks as Peggy and I are boating down the Danube River from Vienna to Budapest.

Our friend Don Green, who was with us on the Colorado River adventure, found this fellow watching us from a ledge when we stopped off at the Little Colorado. Hmm.

The Square Tower House, built in the mid 1200s CE, is the tallest structure in Mesa Verde. Standing at 27 feet (8 m), it is four stories high. Painted murals and petroglyphs are said to be located throughout the structure.

Peggy and I have spent many happy hours searching for petroglyphs throughout the West and would have loved to have seen what was in the Square Tower. This might provide a clue. It is a replica of a big horn sheep petroglyph found at Mesa Verde’s Petroglyph Point. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time for the 2 1/2 mile hike out to the point.

This is a National Park Service photo of the petroglyphs found on Petroglyph Point. The sheep is upper center. To the right of it is a turkey and to the right of that, hands. Beneath it are women giving birth. All of these are common themes of petroglyphs throughout the West. I think the cat-looking creature on the far left is a mountain lion. I found it rather humorous. Are its front legs on backwards or is it eating a person? It may be that the animals in the panel represent various clans.

Photos of Square House at Mesa Verde by Curt and Peggy Mekemson — Several other structures were located at the Square House cliff dwelling. Was the rock here originally and the Puebloans built around it? Or did Nature add it later?

Photo of Square House Cliff Dwelling by Curt and Peggy Mekemson. — Another large rock was located at the Square House cliff dwelling in the kiva on the right. The same question about how it got there applies.

This photo of the Square House cliff dwelling shows how shallow the dwelling was, and how it might be vulnerable to rock fall. Only the Square House seems totally protected.

And finally, we come to the Spruce House Dwelling, which is located a short walk away from the Visitors’ Center. It is the third largest cliff dwelling found at Mesa Verde. Built between 1211 and 1278 CE, the dwelling holds 130 rooms and 8 kivas.

Another perspective. It was first discovered by pioneers in 1888 when a pair of cowboys found it while they were searching for lost cattle. They climbed down what they thought was a large spruce tree to get in. Thus the name. (It was actually a Douglas fir that is now cut down.) I wonder if they took off their spurs? Below are three photos of the buildings at Spruce House.

Theodore Roosevelt established Mesa Verde National Park in 1906 to “preserve the works of man.” It was the first park of its kind designed to protect and maintain an important historical and cultural treasure. Located in Southwestern Colorado, the park covers an area of 52,485 acres.

Our next post will take you to visit another national park of great natural beauty and relatively few visitors, Big Bend. It is located in southwestern Texas far from any major metropolitan areas.

Wandering through Time and Place

Exploring the world with Curtis and Peggy Mekemson