Sunday in Big Bend

Today is our last day in Big Bend and we'll be leaving for El Paso area tomorrow am.  We are in mixed states of wellness.  Paul is down for the count, somewhat, with a drippy nose and just not feeling great.  Both Marty and Dee have drippy noses but don't feel badly and David seems fine!  

Yesterday afternoon we all soaked in the hot springs with a water temperature of 105.  There were quite a few folks coming and going and enjoying the warmth of the water and the relaxing effect is has on the muscles after hiking.  The Rio Grande is right beside the hot springs and the shore you see  on the other side of the river is Mexico!

There used to be a resort here in the early 1900's.

Dee is in the river with the much colder water feeling pretty good after soaking in the heat!

Today Dee, David, and Marty went for a hike along the Hot Springs Canyon Rim.  It was about a 5-5.5 mile hike  done early enough so that we started with fleece jackets and mid 50's but soon were shedding those in favor of short sheeved t-shirts.  There is no shade on this hike but we carry enough water so we could be always well hydrated.

It isn't a particularly difficult hike if you do just one direction, but we did a round trip so were feeling it in our legs at the end.  Most of the hike is gravel, but there are areas either going up or down hill where you need to be cautions of where you are placing your feel to ensure good footing.

The views along the way though are really wonderful.  We took a break overlooking the river and Dee and David spotted something in the water which turned out to be very large turtles!  We were amazed as they were just in an area where there was a gentle eddy and they circled around eating something (we couldn't tell just what).

Back at the campground now we are resting and keeping out of the heat of theday  (seems to be high 80's or low 90's and well over 100 in full sunshine.

It is dry here.  There was some rain last months so there are some little flowers which have survived and are quite lovely.

Don't really know what the flowers are, but thought you would enjoy seeing them!  Not sure when we'll have wifi again so it may be a few days before we post anything more.