© 2002-2010
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2002 Big Bend, TexasAboutDates: July 23 - August 3, 2002 Gallery                                               
Species ListFrogs and Toads -- 3 species,
Lizards -- 13 species
Snakes -- 7 species
Travel Log-Tuesday, July 23, 2002, 4:03 AM Started out of Fayetteville late yesterday...about 9:30PM. Had to stop at Best Buy for some computer stuff (SmartCard for camera and RAM for notebook). Finally settling in at a rest stop just 2 miles from the Oklahoma/Texas border. I'll call the folks sometime in the morning. I saw one snake (probably a Copperhead) in Ok on the interstate. I was going 70MPH and might have even hit it. Wasn't expecting to see it and got to far away to stop and walk back. At this rest stop, I saw a couple of Toads. At least one looked like a Fowler's. The other was probably an American Dwarf. Travel so far has been pretty good, despite a couple of detours around construction at I-40 bridge (from barge hitting and collapsing it recently) and then on I-35 around Mariette, OK. I'm setting the alarm for around 8AM. _____________________________________ -Tuesday, July 23, 2002, 10:06:12 PM The remainder of the trip down was fairly uneventful. Several small thunderclouds were rolling through the area, but mostly missed getting rained on. The lightning was pretty neat to see so clearly without obsticles. Close to Big Bend, I began to see numerous very, very large millipedes crossing the road. They were tan to orange in color with darker bands. When disturbed they would roll like a sidewinder. Of less interest, I picked up a bird's nest that had been blown from a tree and a few snake bones. At the camp site, I've already seen one javalina. Two deer galloped by my camping area right at dusk and I could hardly make them out. Moments later, a bat flew by my head within inches. I'm anxious to see what else lies in store. The rocky mountains and terrain was really beautiful driving in. I saw real purple soil for possibly the first time. The colors look like a watercolor. Tomorrow, I'll get gas, permits, books, etc. and then head out and see where adventure takes me. Essentially, the whole area is full-blown snake habitat...so I'll probably plan to drive and hike certain places and check for snakes along the way (focusing on west-facing mountainous areas). Gonna try to sleep well tonight and be geared for a full day tomorrow. _____________________________________ -Thursday, July 25, 2002, 2:51:01 PM Drove out of the Chisos Mountains early yesterday and went straight to the Panther Junction Visitor's Center. They had a very small museum (if you could even call it that) and a small bookstore. I bought a book called Texas Snakes for $60. It was a lot to spend on a book, but it is incredibly detailed and has already given me some pointers on finding certain snakes. Beaupre is mentioned in the section on Rock Rattlesnakes several times. I also purchased maps and necessary permits. I was slightly disappointed that I had to designate a camping site beforehand, especially since I had seen none of the area. I first selected a campsite near the Rio Grande (Dominguez Trailhead) that would have split the difference between places I intended to go. The park ranger told me this was not a good selection, as it was often looted by Mexicans coming across the border. Hmmm... Good thing to know. I chose another campsite (Fresno) that was further north and near an old mine. I thought the old mine might provide a good place to find snakes. I also decided it was probaby a good idea to keep my vehicle in site when I was in more remote areas not far from the Mexican border. After leaving Panther Junction, I drove southeast to Glenn Spring Road, then south to Black Gap Road. Black Gap Road was a true 4x4 test! First, I had trouble even finding the turnoff, which didn't match up with my GPS and DeLorme Topo USA 3.0. But I figured out shortly that the turnoff had to be reconstructed because of a washout at the old turnoff. It didn't take long to find a first challenge. On a step uphill climb, two ruts cutting across the road were just perfectly spaced so that my Xterra's wheels kept spinning out on the loose dirt and gravel. After a couple of attempts to climb it slowly, I shifted into 4L and accelerated up the grade. Later on, the road turned up this very narrow gap (possibly Black Gap?). This was the only place on the road were some obvious modern improvements had been made. A small amount of cement had been poured to make the Gap drivable. But at the very front of the cement part, large rocks had been laid down to provide a "ramp", but it was more like a wall. Amazingly enough, my Xterra took it without much trouble. Shortly after this, the road began to wind around some hills and canyons. Several washouts narrowed the width of the road. I drove very carefully and watched that my wheels stayed on solid ground, because a lot of the surrounding hills were loose gravel and dirt. At one section of this portion, the road was at the very top crest of ridge and the dropoff on each side was steep. Although the passage was safe enough, it was still a bit spooky to see how closely the mountain dropped off on either side. After the hills, the road began to cut across lower desert areas that had several washes. On a couple of occassions, it was deceiving (as the washes sometimes looked indistiguishable from the road) and I began to drive down a wash before my GPS indicated I was off the road. A few of the sandy banks, where the road cut across the washes, were steep and crumbled as I drove over/through them. Although it took all day (with several long stops along the way), I eventually came to River Road. This was a much better maintained road, but in many places had small, repetitious mounds of dirt. If I hit the right speed, the truck would begin to vibrate like crazy because it matched the frequency of the ridges of dirt. Along the drive, I stopped several times for hikes. The first place I stopped was near (but not officially part of) Nugent Mountain. This was a smaller northeast-facing slope. Because it was very close to the road, I thought I could hike over the top and check out the backside of it (the southwest-facing side). But once on top, the backside didn't look quite as good as I'd hoped. Still, I climbed around and check out what I could. It was good to get the feel of the rocks under my feet and to familiarize myself with the common plants (all, it seems, are stiff have thorns!). One kind of plant that looks quite a bit less formitable than the cacti, is fairly small and looks something like a tough aloe plant, but has sharp points at the end of each stalk. This plant got me more during that first hike than any other. I would step by one onto a rock, then, when I would step down onto a lower rock with one leg, the plant would jab the other leg in the shin! I saw no snakes. I did see a few lizards that were leary, leary, leary...and FAST! I also stirred up a mule deer that scurried away for a short distance, then slowed up enough for me to get a couple of pictures. The next stop was near Glenn Spring. Again, I picked a west-facing slope that was very close to the road. At the upward edge of the first hill, I found my first snake. I hadn't stepped out of the car for more than 10 minutes. The snake was later identified as a Central Texas Whipsnake (Masticophis taeniatus girardt). Essentially, I stepped righ into it. It was in the branches of a bush about 1.2M off the ground. My eyes were focused to the ground and I stepped back without really consciously understanding why, then my eyes refocused on the snake. I took a few pictures before it began to flick its tongue and I knew it was about to take off. I never captured or even touched it. It took off like lightning as I was readjusting some settings on my camera. I didn't see where it went. Later on the stop, I tried to get some pictures of lizards and was partially sucessful. The day was getting very hot by this point and I headed back to the car after lunch and drinking lots of water! I stopped near a canyon by the intersection of Glenn Spring Road and Black Gap Road. This was a beautiful place. Water was trickling through some fantastic rock carvings. Solid rock had been gorged by the water, probably over the course of thousands (if not millions) of years. At one point, I had to jump down from a rock onto a gravel section. It looked cushioned (like gravel by a stream should), but much to my surprise when I landed, I sunk all the way to my knees! There was a split second of panic as I clamered my way out the instant I hit, not knowing how deeply I could actually sink! My boots filled with water and small rocks; an annoyance for the rest of the day. At the top of the canyon, I flipped a rock and found a beautiful little scorpion. I stopped two more times for short excursions from the vehicle, primarily to flip a couple of rocks. But I saw very little: a few lizards, millipeds. Right before the turnoff to River Road from Black Gap Road, I saw my first venomous snake: a Western Diamondback Rattlesnkae (Crotalus atrox). It was toward dusk and had already cooled off some. The snake was coiled in foraging position right in the road! I backed up the truck, so as to get some space. When I approached, it gave a very tentative short rattle, then settled down (relying on its camouflage). I took a good number of pictures before I finally prodded it with tongs. It crawled a short distance, then coiled up again under a bush. Later on, shortly before reaching the campsite at Fresno, I saw another Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox). This was a very young snake and behavied far differently. It actually started coming after me to defend itself, striking repeatedly at my tongs. Because it was small, it was easily managed and eventually settled down into a defensive coil. I got a few pictures then moved it off the road. Along the way, I also saw lots and lots of huge millipeds! These things are all over the place! I have been amazed at the adaptations I've observed in the organisms. Perhaps in such an extreme environment, survivorship is pushed to a limit more evident than in more hospitable places. The plants, it seems, are ALL covered in thorns! They break forth from between cracks in solid rocks. These are some of the essential elements for animal survivorship: leariness, speed, camouflage, venom. I've seen very few lizards that were not regrowing new tails, perhaps the result of encounters with the numerous Roadrunners I've seen. As soon as I approach one, it darts first for a thicker bush then continues further away. I believe this first bush is used to conceal its escape. They use the heat to their great advantage, the high body heat makes them fast! Earlier today (Thursday), I took a hike from Fresno campsite to a westfacing-slope across the way. I did a good bit of looking at rock crevices and came up with nothing. I did have a nice view on a rock ledge and ate my lunch there. I've decided I need to acclimate myself to what the snakes are doing... My active searching on foot needs to be at dawn and dusk, then do some road searching after nightfall. I thought that I could find snakes coiled in the shade of rock crevices, but this had not been the case. I slept a bit this afternoon in the car, part of the time with the AC on. My sleep pattern, I'm hoping, will settle into 2 wake periods and 2 sleep periods every 24 hours. Sleep will come at the heat of the day (1:00PM - 6:00PM) and at late night (after road searching and before early morning). With road searching in the agenda, I'll have to regulate gasoline. The nearest gas station (at Rio Grande Village) is about 28 miles away and almost surely is not open late at night. It is currently 4:37PM. I think I'll eat a bite of dinner, then hike across to the mine and check that out. Around dusk, I'll do some road searching. _____________________________________ -Saturday, July 27, 2002, 3:17:32 PM I went up to see the mine on Thursday evening. There were several structures and lots of tin (and other debris). It was a pretty neat area. At one of the gated mines I found a large snake skin and shortly into the shaft I saw one snake that was worth the trip! It was a large Northern Black-Tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus molossus). I found it resting in the cool shade at the entrance to an old mine shaft. The mine was gated and the snake was about half a tong length away from me being able to reach it. This was highly frustrating! I found that I could barely sweeze my head between the horizontal bars, but no more. Perhaps had my life depended upon it, I might could have exhaled and compressed my chest enough to fit through. Of course, with such a prize so near it crossed my mind to try it. After a few initial pictures, I decided I would try to tease the snake out. I found a long dead stalk that was just long enough to tap the snake on the far side. I began to tease the snake with the tip of it, to get it to move toward me. It didn't take much for the snake to start moving, but rather than move toward me it turned its head back to where it was being tapped. I think it might have initially thought the rubbing on its body was a rodent (i.e. food). A couple of taps on its nose and it started moving toward me. As it got closer, I prepared to tong it; knowing that I would likely only have one shot. I tonged the snake easily as it was crawling toward me. Except that I still had to free my head. As I started to free my head, I tried to lift the snake out at the same time. Not a good plan, but I was excited. The snake was a bit heavier on my tongs than I had anticipated and it twisted. The end of my tongs locked akwardly on the snake. In fear that I might hurt the snake, I released it, then I managed to free my head. I could just see part of the snake as it continued to approach. Then, as I expected it to be exiting through the bars, it started to disappear into a crevice at the side of the bars (which I had not seen before). I had been certain the snake would crawl right out, but now I was loosing it. I made a some attempts at getting to the snake, even digging out a few rocks with my tongs. But not knowing exactly where the snake was and knowing that the snake was likely quite upset at its treatment, I decided to let it be and try tomorrow. I thought early morning might be my best chance when the snake (if it was still there) wouldn't be so deep into the mine. I later found another Black-Tailed Rattlesnake skin at another mine entrance, but didn't see another snake there. The rest of the hike turned up no other snakes, but as I was returning to the truck I did spot a Collared Lizard. It let me get amazingly close and I took some good pictures of it. Near the truck, a black pickup truck drove in. It was a father and his son. We talked shortly and they went on up to the mine. Since I would need to get some gasoline the next day, I decided to road cruise from Mariscal Mine to Rio Grande Village on River Road East to test the road and check out the habitat. After several minutes of seeing nothing of interest, the father and son team passed by. A few miles later I came upon a freshly hit jack rabbit that was in the middle of the road. It had no obvious external injuries. I first thought that it had been hit by the father and son's truck, but then entertained the remote possibility that it had been envenomated by a snake and had chanced into the road to die. After a look around for any snake in the area, I concluded it had been hit by the truck. I quickly snapped a few pictures, but could hardly take the scene much longer. The rabbit was not quite dead, possibly not even close to dying yet...and yet its fate was certain. As uncomfortable as it was, I put it out of its misery. The remainder of the drive was long and uneventful. I did not see a single snake. I did see some jack rabbits, kangaroo mice, night hawks, a couple of lizards, and millipedes. Early on Friday morning, I woke early (around 8:00AM) and made my way up to the mine shaft to see if I could find the Black-Tailed Rattlesnake. I didn't see it initially, then I stuck my head through the bars. There it was, right by the entrance! Only a few inches from the hole it had escaped into the day before! I took a couple of pictures, then tonged it easily. I took many pictures. It was a gorgeous animal; meaty, colorfully patterned, and extremely docile. It hardly rattled and made only slow deliberate movements; a patient animal. As something of an afterthought only, I stuck the tip of my tongs into one of the last pictures to get an idea of the animal's size. Later in the day, I would take out "Texas Snakes" to read up a bit on Black-Tailed Rattlesnakes. I was amazed to read about their size; averaging between 2.5 and 3.5 feet. The one I had seen, I knew, was quite a bit longer than this. The most credible record length for Texas was 49.5 inches. I did some playing around with Freehand 10, overlaying half-inch "sticks", and found the snake I had seen was 49.5 inches long (a conservative measure). When accounting for the foreshortening of the tongs in relation to the snake, I believe that the snake would have reached record proportions (possibly even the overall record of 52.4 inches). I stopped at Rio Grande Village where there was some shade to work a bit on the computer and read. I also called home, but my minutes on my phone card ran out and it was ridiculous trying to reconnect. I eventually gave up. Later in the afternoon, I started driving around some of the roads and sites I hadn't been to yet. I first drove 118 all the way to Study Butte. At the gas station there, the guy running the place was super rude and I decided if at all possible I would not be a return customer. But gas stations are very limited, only 5 in the Big Bend area. After getting gas, I drove down to the Santa Elena Canyon taking the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. I stopped several places along the way to enjoy the beautiful views. I was hoping to take the Old Maverick Road at dusk in hopes of finding Mojave Rattlesnakes, which I had read were around that area. Unfortunately, the road had been washed out. I head back to Fresno campsite taking River Road West. Along the way, I saw 4 (or 5?) Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes. They were all of smallish proportions. I have quickly found out that each Diamondback has its own personality. Not a surprising revolation, but interesting nevertheless. Some have rattled and defended themselves like a boxer against the ropes, while others have seemed almost tame. Partly, I think it depends on the conditions upon which they are approached. The two I have found coiled on the road in foraging position have been the two calmist. The youngest one I approached quickly defended itself most verociously. It was late at night when I finally made it back to camp and I went to sleep quickly. On Saturday, I woke before dawn (around 5:00AM). I gave a thought about going up to the mines again and getting a more accurate measurement of the Black-Tailed Rattlesnake, but decided against it. I wanted to be at Boquillas Canyon around dawn. This was one of Beaupre's old study sites for Mottled Rattlesnakes. I arrived at Boquillas Canyon and took a few hikes into some canyons, but saw no snakes. This was disappointing since I felt the overcast sky would make for great weather. On the drive up to Panther Junction, I saw a very long snake dash quickly across the road. It was patterned like a Texas Rat Snake, but was fast like a racer. I stopped the truck, but never saw it again. At Panther Junction, I turned in my backcountry pass and told them about the record-breaking Black-Tailed Rattlesnake. I think they were giving it the "oh yeah, sure, I've heard this before" routine. Oh well. Perhaps I'll email a few of the pictures to some people for their opinions on the length of the snake...just for curiosity's sake. I drove on to Grapevine Hill (the other old Beaupre site). The day was still overcast and about 87 degrees F. But I was so tired, I decided to take a nap. As I was getting myself some water from out of the trunk, I saw a Horny Lizard. It tucked itself under the edge of one of the tires and made for an easy capture. After the nap, the temperature had risen significantly. It is now 4:54 PM. The temperature reads 102 degrees F. This is too hot to waste efforts on looking for snakes. I think I'll drive back to Chisos Basin. This is, so far, my favorite spot where I slept the first night...but haven't yet had a chance to enjoy. I'll try to call home. Then, I plan to take a trail or two to look at some scenery. I'll try to be back at Grapevine Hill around 7:30 or 8:00 PM, when it has cooled off enough to look for Mottled Rock Rattlesnakes. _____________________________________ -Monday, July 29, 2002, 1:15:23 PM In the afternoon on Saturday, I woke and saw several thunderstorms moving into the area. I drove back to Grapevine Hill in hopes of beating the rain and doing some searching before the rains hit. It was really spectacular watching the spots of rain move through. As I was preparing my gear to start the hike, the lightning was hitting very close and it was already sprinkling on me. Since it would take about 15 minutes to hike to a rugged portion of the hills, where I could find shelter, I decided to abandon the hike. I felt it would have been just a little too risky to be the tallest thing in the area for a 15 minute period of time as lightning popped all around. The rain then hit really hard and the temperature dropped to 65 degrees F (it had been up to around 105 degrees F earlier that same day). I decided to do some road cruising behind the storm and so headed back to Highway 118. Along the way, I stopped to take some pictures of lightning, which was hitting fairly consistently in one area. I got one really nice shot. I found one DOR Texas Night Snake, but nothing else until I headed back toward Grapevine Hill. Shortly before Grapevine Hill, I found a neat little Texas Night Snake (Hypsiglena torquata jani) as it was crossing the road. This snake had vertical pupils; an interesting detail. It made no attempt to bite, but was quite impatient with my picture taking. I had the hardest time getting it to even pause. By the time I got back to Grapevine Hill, it was nearly dark. I put on my headlamp and took a short jaunt up the hill, but saw nothing of interest. After dark, I drove back to 118 and then to Dagger Flat Auto Trail. Even though the rains had just moved through and I felt it would be a perfect time to road cruise, I saw only a tarantula. It looked like it was in serious need of a meal based on the small size of its abdoman. I camped again at the Chisos Basin and slept in to about 10:30 AM (Sunday) because I severly needed the sleep. To my surprise, the weather was still pleasant and cool, in the mid 70's. I drove back out to Grapevine Hills. I saw a number of lizards and many neat rock formations. I also looked for a Geocache that was supposed to be there, but could not find it. About dusk, I drove down Old Ore Road. I found one Western Diamondback Rattlesnake on that road. Then, once I made it back to 118 on my way to Boquillas Canyon, I saw another one. This one was coiled just off the pavement, but with its nose stuck out over the pavement in foraging position. About a mile later, I found another Texas Night Snake. At the Boquillas Canyon parking lot, I took a quick look around, but turned up nothing. I went back to the Old Ore Road turnoff and slept there. On the morning of Monday, I woke early and searched again at the Boquillas Canyon site, but found nothing. Then I drove back to Chisos Basin and took a long nap and worked on the computer. It is now 1:50 PM on Monday. I plan to hike to Emory Peak (7825ft, 2384m) after I eat lunch. This peak is the highest point in the park. After that, I plan to drive 118 out toward Lajitas. There are several places I'd like to stop at along the way, including several old mining sites, a ghost town, and Rattlesnake Mountains. _____________________________________ -Tuesday, August 06, 2002, 11:26:18 PM (logged after trip) I started on the trail toward Emory Peak at about 3:30PM. Except for a few picture stops along the way, I hiked straight through until I reached the peak at 6:00PM. That made for about a 7,000ft change! It was like hiking a very windy set of stairs for 7,000ft. It was quite a bit more hike than I had expected. On the map, the trail looked short, but it was just so windy and straight up that it just didn't show on the map. The trail said 4.6 miles for the hike (one way), but it was a hard 4.6 miles. On the way up, I helped a couple find their way to their campsite. I had a better map than they had. At the top, it was beautiful. There were some swallows or swifts that literally whistled as they flew by...it was like being in the middle of a plane dog fight. I also saw a Crevice Spiny Lizard. On the hike down, the highlight was finding an Alligator Lizard. It was a very unique kind of lizard and large. At first, I saw it "waddle off" as I approached. It crawled under a log that had been positioned to control errosion. I dug up some rocks from behind the log and eventually dug it up. It was an awsome animal. Great find. By the time I made it to the bottom of the hill, I was sweating and very tired. I couldn't slow up too much on the way down either because it near dark and a storm was rolling in. It just started sprinkling as I reached the bottom, but actually didn't come in with much more than that until later. After I ate dinner, it was dark and raining. I drove toward Lajitas, were I intended to camp for the night. I wanted to drive some back roads to get there past Rattlesnake Mountain and Terlingua Ghostown. The road past Rattlesnake Mountain was closed due to washout. After I detoured around that, I got onto a backroad that was very muddy. Pure mud about 3-5 inches deep. After driving through some big mud puddles that I wasn't quite sure about how deep they were, I came to creek. Part of the creek bed as I drove into it was thick mud; my wheels sank about 1/4 of the way. I drove right up to where the water was running. I knew that many of the creeks ran wide and very shallow, but the water was too muddy and questionable. I decided to put on my rubber boots and test it out. After I stepped into the water, it seemed to be pretty swift and I chose not to test it further (as I was alone). It was a bit of a drive to backtrack through Study Butte. There were several road cuts along the paved highway were "falling rocks" really had been falling. There were some real boulders that had been washed down into the highway in places that made the driving interesting. There were also many low dips that took me through water. At Terlingua Ghostown, I quickly figured out that this was nothing more than a tourist trap. There were a few abandoned dwellings, but nothing worth the effort. A souvenior shop, restaurant/bar, and theater made up the "trap". This was not at all what I was looking for. By this time, it was really late and a few minutes after I had driven past a "parking area", I decided to go back and call it quits for the night. I think this was in or near Lajitas. It rained almost all night pretty hard. In the morning (Tues), I woke to find that I had camped in a parking lot that was an entry/exit for float trips on the Rio Grande. I headed in to the Big Bend Ranch State Park and stopped at the ranger station. I was really surprised by my communication with the ranger. When I asked him what there was to do, he essentially told me there was nothing to do and that I should go back to Big Bend. In fact, I got the impression that he was trying to get rid of me. This really surprised me that he would take this attitude. In any case, the only back road through the park was washed out because of the rain and the only other trail shown on the map "wasn't much" according to the ranger. I didn't specifically ask, but got the impression that cross-country hiking was not allowed. If so, this left a huge area of the park completely inaccessible by either trail or road. Eventhough I was already discouraged by the interaction, I did go ahead and ask about a temporary hunting license and mentioned that I was possibly interested in collecting some herps. He was NOT helpful at all. As he scanned (not very closely) the licenses he could sell, he gave me a couple of options. One was to buy a yearly non-resident license for $250 that would expire at the end of August. The other 5-day license he saw was for residents only. He said there wasn't a short-term hunting license for non-residents. I knew better, but just decided to forget it. I was done with him. After that, I decided to cut back all the way through Terlingua Ranch to the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area. On some of the backroads I took to get there, I found a W. Diamondback Rattlesnake that had been run over and its rattle had been cut off. An older local man drove by as I was taking pictures and we talked a little. He told me this was not a W. Diamondback, it was a Black-Tailed Rattlesnake. Hmmmm. I didn't see the point in pushing the issue. Later on I captured a whipsnake that I saw climbing into a bush as I drove by. Eventually, I got onto a road that was very rarely travelled. At one point, I noticed on my GPS/laptop that I had somehow missed my road. When I drove back, I didn't even see a turn-off, but soon figured out that some weeds had simply grown up and had obscured the turn-off. I continued on. At one point, I stopped and flipped several rocks. I found some geckos and collared lizards. Before long, the weeds--that were probably 9-10ft tall--began to encroach more and more. Before long, both sides of the Xterra were being swept pretty good. The road could not even be seen; the path were the road *should* be going was getting impossible. It felt like my entire car was covered in seaweed or something. I decided to turn back. After I had backed up into a clearer, higher area I looked back to where I would have been going. The lowland of 10ft tall grass seemed to continue for a large area. It would have been almost impossible to make my way through to the other side, even with the help of the GPS. I was a little worried by looking at my gas gage and knew that I had a pretty long way to backtrack. I eventually made it back to Study Butte for gas. I stopped at a little cafe to eat lunch at about 3:30PM, but it was closed. So much for the "Open 6AM-9PM". Another place that had a similar sign was closed, too. I ate canned foods once again. On my way back through Big Bend again, I stopped at their Fossil Exhibit. It wasn't much. Right after the turn-off from 2627 onto the short road to the ranger station at Black Gap WMA, I drove up to a huge Bull Snake that was thermoregulating on the pavement. It was a nice-looking, impressive-sized snake. It was a great catch. I drove 2627 down and back twice to road cruise. I found several interesting things. At dusk, there were lots of lizards laying on the road for warmth, but they kept scurring away very quickly. After dark, I found a Texas Glossy Snake, a few different kinds of frogs, a couple of W. Diamondbacks. Overall, I had better success per amount of time spent in the Black Gap WMA than I did in Big Bend. Rather than camping in one of the parking areas at the WMA, I decided to make it back once again to the Chisos Basin, my favorite camping site. In the morning (Wed), I headed out toward San Antonio. Shortly out of Big Bend, I stopped at a Geocache that was convenient. I dropped off the "Digger" Travel Bug that I've had since this spring. I was glad to finally drop it off and in a distant location. There were some really neat places along the way. I stopped at the Pecos River for the view and pictures. It was a really neat place. I drove across a tall iron bridge that was cool. I also saw a couple of lizard species I hadn't seen before. I think about every 3rd or 4th vehicle around this area was Border Patrol. They had one checkpoint set up where they were stopping every vehicle. I briefly talked to the guy monitoring. I guess they don't really have a fence or anything like that set up, but the area is heavily patrolled. I saw a couple of Border Patrol vehicles driving slowly along some dirt roads that parallelled the main highway. I guess they drive slowly along and just watch along the horizon toward Mexico for illegals. At the first decent-sized city I drove through, I was literally overwhelmed by colors...the "in-your-face" signs. It was a weird sensation. In many ways, it felt so terribly artificial (which it is, but we usually don't feel it so much). I had acclimated to the desert look, the desert driving, the desert isolation. Now, I was back in civilization and I felt unnaccustomed and out of place. I got to San Antonio late and found a hotel. I ordered delivery pizza, watched TV, and relaxed. Oh, that shower felt soooo good!!!! I slept in on Thursday, but made it to the zoo by the afternoon. I was not very impressed by the zoo. There isn't much to say about it. They did have scheduled a snake talk at 2PM that I attended. There was a full 3 people waiting for the talk (including myself). The guy who did the talk was a bit weird. He brought out a Children's Python. There was a no-touch policy at the zoo, so children were not allowed to touch it. Sad. The guy's "take" on snakes was to NOT buy large-sized boas and pythons at pet stores. He repeated this several times as the few new people arrived. That's about all he shared really. Ho hum. It lasted about 5 minutes. He only showed and talked about one snake. Nothing else was particularly interesting at the zoo. After I left the zoo, I drove and parked downtown near the Alamo and the Riverwalk. I walked to the Alamo first. I was not impressed. A large part of grounds was roped off, possibly because it was right after 5PM (closing time for parts) or because of repair/improvements. The museum pieces they had were neat, but nothing spectacular. One "museum" was essentially a gift shop only. The "shrine"--the main attraction area--was actually pretty empty. Flags from states from the fallen were mounted around the main room. Arkansas had 2 from our state die at the Alamo. I then walked down to the Riverwalk and took quite a bit of time just walking around. It was really a laidback and relaxed atmosphere. I was impressed with how such a large city would have this "get away" spot right downtown (below downtown actually). The majority of the places on the Riverwalk were bars/restaurants. It took me an hour just walking around and reading menus to even come close to deciding where I wanted to eat. I finally settled on a place called Zini's. I ordered a veal t-bone dinner. It was really good and the service was really good...strongly recommended. I get the feeling there is so much competition between restaurants that they pretty much have to be good, or go under. I took the boat tour after dark. I think maybe it would have been slightly better during daylight, but the nighttime had a charm, too. I didn't get as many pictures because it was night. Our boat captain was pretty good, but the poor guy got a tickle in his throat and never really "took care of it". After a while it was slightly distracting. The boat tour was worth the money. It was, I think, $6-7 and lasted about 40 minutes. On my way back to the truck, I had to cut through the mall and lost my GPS signal. Rather than pulling out my compass, to follow the direction, I just asked some employ would was still hanging around (most of the mall had already closed down). I took a turn that brought me in a big circle right back to the guy. I was somewhat embarrassed, but oh well. I got going the right way after a little help from him again and found my truck. On Friday, I drove from San Antonio to Little Rock. That's about all that I did. Nothing exciting happened. I stayed at a hotel in Little Rock Friday night. The next day (Sat.), I stopped by the Reptile Expo that was held at the fairgrounds and sponsored by the Central Arkansas Herpetological Society. It was smallish, but I'm glad they were having it. I was a little disappointed there weren't supply sellers. I was hoping to get some new tongs, tubes, probes...but nothing like this was offered. Most of the talk was about specimens for sell and husbandry. I listened in a bit. I wish now I had just introduced myself to some of the CAHS people who were there. I don't know why I felt a bit awkward about introducing myself. I guess I wasn't sure what I wanted to talk to them about... I drove on back home and arrived in Huntsville at about 5PM. THE END. |
