Dec 2-9, 2017
It is really BIG! Uncomprehendingly big, bigger than the state of Rhode Island. BUT, there is almost nothing here as far as civilization. The nearest town…tiny town, is more than 40 miles away, the next one is over 80 miles! There is camping and lodging for about 600 people in the National Park. Ya gotta want to be here, to be here! Why?

Well, it is a desert with incredible diversity of plants and birds, mountains that include a “basin” at 5000 ft where there is water and trees, and the Rio Grande River which is very long, but small- 20-100 ft across for much of it.

We had planned a half day float trip in the Rio Grande, but high winds kept us from that. One day we hiked in Chisos Basin – had to be with those trees.

And then a 1/4 inch of rain forecast turned into a winter storm of wind, rain and snow! Texans were a little freaked out, but we realized how special this was- chatted with a Park Ranger about the snow- it usually snows 2-3 times per winter, but not in December and not this much- elevations over 3000 ft had 1-2″ of snow, over 5000ft had 6-9″.

When we left the next day, all the higher elevations were snow covered. AND this storm stretched in all directions- Houston and Corpus Christi even got measurable snow!