East Side - National Park Day Trip

    Pack the towel, it's Hot Springs day. Getting a jump on the morning it's back to the Park through the western entrance of Maverick Junction, continuing on around the north side of the Chisos and across Paint Gap, to the Park Headquarters at Panther Junction. Here a road heads north to the other park entrance at Persimmon Gap and on to Marathon. Besides being the location of the main visitor center (quite modest when compared to Denali!), Panther Junction is also the maintenance and main staff residential center, boasting even a school for park employee children. A great place for orienting oneself on the relief map, the bookstore and displays inside give background on where we've been and are about to go, with the area surrounding the visitor center circled by a great nature trail detailing many of the park plants and their uses.
     Continuing around the northeastern end of the Chisos, we'll stop at the obvious oasis of Dugout Wells, the thick cottonwood trees providing a green contrast to the surrounding desert.  Where there was water available, there was almost invariably an attempt at ranching, and here the region's first school was established. Gone are the buildings, as the Park Service philosophy earlier on was to remove most human vestiges, but remaining is the old windmill, still creaking and pumping the lifeblood for the island of lush greenery. Here too is the excellent half-mile "Chihuahuan Desert Nature Trail", with the Sierra Del Carmen mountains to the east and the Chisos to the west.
    Following the flow of water (when it rains!) down and across Tornillo Flats and on toward the river, the road makes its way toward the Dead Horse Mountains and the entrance to another great canyon of the river, Boquillas. Without a guided eye, it's quite difficult to discern just where the river penetrates the imposing trans-border Del Carmen Mountains. The road ends and a short trail leads up and over a bluff to the canyon entrance itself, where we'll most likely be serenaded from the other side of the river by Victor, a Mexican whose livelihood and that of his whole village, was abruptly erased with the strict border closure of May 2002. Previously there was a low-key informal free exchange across the river to the Mexican village of Boquillas, enriching immeasurably the experience of Park visitors, and in great part supporting the small farming community on the other side. Enforced border closure has resulted in the loss of many families and their school, as well as halving the business of the small store in Rio Grande Village on the US side. Of positive note, a limited crossing here is scheduled to reopen in 2012, permitting travel by Americans to Boquillas, with control of return by remote video link to offices of the Department of Homeland Security. It will be fascinating to see if the town will return to vibrancy . . .
    We'll then retrace the few miles back to the road that continues on to Rio Grande Village, where there is a small visitor center and a very pleasant campground situated among the tall cottonwoods that were planted following the Park acquisition of the area farming operations. A short dead-end spur leads to the adobe Daniel's Ranch house where a great trail leads 3 1/2 miles to the Hot Springs. We'll have decided in advance if this is a one-way hike (you can drive there too), a round tripper, or, a combination hike and "packraft" float back (see Rio Grande River Trips).
    The Hot Springs are a tale in themselves both prehistoric and since (see Suggested Reading), with now only the foundation remains of the early 20th century stone bathhouse filling continuously with 105 degree water. A couple hundred thousand gallons a day of this 20,000 year old "fossil water" fills the varying compartments of the old bathhouse. Located at the base of a cliff and situated half in the Rio Grande, it's quite a unique feeling to sit and soak, looking at the distant mountains, the green river cane, and listening to the river a few feet away. Personal body temperature regulation can be accomplished (besides by standing up!) by alternating the warmth of the springs with dips in the bracing waters of the rushing river . . .
    No matter what, we're probably at this point feeling that we've had a pretty full day and so it's back to Terlingua for relaxation, dinner, and of course, another fine sunset.