April 1, 2007: Big Bend Nat'l Park, Texas. 
Big Bend straddles the border in southwest Texas. It's one of the most remote regions of the country. Across the Rio Grande (left) it becomes an even more remote part of Mexico. Nonetheless, there are a couple of small villages across the river, and we saw lots of folks come over to sell nic nacks to campers. It's a team effort, with one guy climbing a hill with binoculars to keep watch for border guards while the other boats over to popular hiking trails and campgrounds.
During the world wars, the region was mined for mercury, and there are a couple of ghost towns with ruins of miners' homes.
We rafted down the river for about 20 miles through the Santa Elena Canyon, which rises 1500 ft. on both sides of the border. The nearest legal border crossings are 100 miles away in either direction, but we were able to stop and have a picnic lunch on a little beach on the south side. That was our big trip to Mexico.
Big Bend straddles the border in southwest Texas. It's one of the most remote regions of the country. Across the Rio Grande (left) it becomes an even more remote part of Mexico. Nonetheless, there are a couple of small villages across the river, and we saw lots of folks come over to sell nic nacks to campers. It's a team effort, with one guy climbing a hill with binoculars to keep watch for border guards while the other boats over to popular hiking trails and campgrounds.
During the world wars, the region was mined for mercury, and there are a couple of ghost towns with ruins of miners' homes.
We rafted down the river for about 20 miles through the Santa Elena Canyon, which rises 1500 ft. on both sides of the border. The nearest legal border crossings are 100 miles away in either direction, but we were able to stop and have a picnic lunch on a little beach on the south side. That was our big trip to Mexico.
posted by Thomas and Stacey at 8:16 AM
1 Comments:
River rafting looks awesome.
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