Trekin' Through Texas #50

Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Davis Mountains Scenic Byway

We got on the road again – finally!! I had begun to think I was going to have to spend the few remaining years of my life stuck in New Mexico without any big water to swim in or birds to chase. There is a real absence of both where we were hanging out. I was promised that we were headed for big rivers like the Rio Grande and Pecos, even the Gulf of Mexico!

We slid east of El Paso and dashed for the Guadalupe Mountains National Park for more mountains and maybe trees! Those mountains tower over the surrounding desert and are a wonder of nature. Seems they are part of one of the finest examples of an ancient marine fossil reef on earth. This reef formed 260-270 million years ago in a vast tropical ocean that covered portions of today’s Texas and New Mexico. Over millions of years, tiny sponges, algae and other lime secreting organisms lived and died building up the 400 mile long, horseshoe-shaped Capitan Reef. The sea evaporated, the reef subsided and was covered in sediments and mineral salts until it was uplifted in a huge mountain-building episode. Erosion through additional millions of years finally exposed the portions of the reef we know today as the Guadalupe Mountains. Other portions of the reef appear south and east of the Park in the Glass and Apache Mountains. All of this geology stuff is really Kae’s thing, not mine. But I can tell you that you can almost smell and feel the quiet lapping of the water on those ancient shores. There is a silent softness to the place that seems to radiate from those cliffs and arroyos. I found the quiet very comforting.




Cokie and Kae did a couple of hikes to the Butterfield Stage Station Ruins and on the McKittrick Canyon Trail. The Butterfield Stagecoach Company began carrying mail through the Guadalupes in the mid 1800’s on the nation’s first transcontinental mail route from Kansas City to San Francisco. The “Pinery” at Pine Springs was the first station built in the mountains but was only used for about three years then abandoned for an easier route to the south. There is very little left now, but you can see remains of the stone walls and the pipeline that carried water from the spring to a well inside the fort-like structure.


Lying between the desert below and the highlands above, Mckittrick Canyon has a mix of life that is part desert, part canyon woodlands and part forest. The spring-fed stream nurtures and sustains an incredible diversity of life in the wind protected canyon making it an island of lushness in the sparse Chihuahuan Desert. The Pratt Family built a little farm back in the canyon at the turn of the 20th century. The Gals didn’t take that 2.5 mile hike, but they certainly saw some of the wonder of the place – otherworldly rock formations and water wear patterns in the creek bed were of particular interest to them.









We left that quiet beauty and traveled south on Hwy. 54 to Van Horn, then down Hwy. 90 heading for the Davis Mountains Scenic Loop and Fort Davis. This drive weaves for about 74 miles through the “Texas Alps” and around Mt. Livermore, the state’s second highest peak. The Davis Mountains, 35 to 39 million years old, represent one of the largest volcanic centers in the geologic belt of volcanism stretching from Montana to Mexico. The views out across the expanse of flatlands, all the way into Mexico, remind you that you truly are up in the mountains. 6,809 foot tall Mount Locke is home to the University of Texas’ Mc Donald Observatory with its 432 inch telescope, the world’s third largest. Unfortunately, it was not open the day we drove through so the Ladies missed the tour and I missed my nap!






We stopped briefly in Fort Davis National Historic Site to walk the grounds and see some of the restored buildings of this important fort of the southwest. A key post in the defense of west Texas and southeast New Mexico, Fort Davis played a major role in protecting emigrants, travelers and mail routes from the bands of raiding Apache, Comanche and Kiowa Indians. It was also headquarters for the famous black infantry units known as the “Buffalo Soldiers”. The Park Service is doing an excellent job of excavating, studying and restoring this site. Personally, I thought the heritage cottonwoods were the best part. I’ll bet some of those beauties shed a little shade for those hard working soldiers way back when!





Along the way we saw some interesting critters and country as we traveled through the Chihuahuan Desert on our way to Big Bend National Park and beyond.





In case you hadn’t noticed this is my 50th journal. Wow! We have certainly seen a lot of this glorious country and we love that you like to come along with us. You can see more of Cokie’s photography at our online store. We will add and change our products as we travel farther, so check it out and stay in touch.