SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: Many have heard of Hannold Draw or at least of Nina Hannold. Her grave is one of the more frequented sites in the national park, sitting atop an eroded finger above the dry wash bearing her family name. The...

SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: In essays past I have written about the many intrigues of Burro Mesa, so much so there is an entire chapter dedicated to it in my third book ‘Out There.’ But for all the pitiful knowledge I have managed...

SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: Elephant Tusk Trail is one of the least utilized designated paths in the Big Bend National Park system, and this lack of use shows in the dilapidated condition it is found in these days. Even some of the cairns…

SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: Through the decades of my wanderings, I have become somewhat known for being able to find two things; water and graves. In that I suppose there is a binding connection as the two represent the opposite bookends in this…

SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: San Jacinto Spring is an oddity, even in a lonesome land where an unexpected surprise waits beyond most every surrounding rise or contour. So much so, that getting a decent photograph amid such a juxtaposition of color and composition...

SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: “And across the trail a stream runs, All but hidden in the grasses; ‘Til it finds an emerald hollow, Where the ponies come to drink…” --Henry Herbert Knibbs   We were working our way down the middle parts of...

SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: It was a crisp December morning when this photograph was taken, with the promise of a nigh perfect day for a long prowl through the Mule Ears area. Directly ahead was the large, golden-leafed cottonwood marking Trap Spring, though…

SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: There is not a single square mile in this country that does not present a challenge of some sort, and often enough more than one. From the jungle-like brush thickets found in the mouths of large arroyos along the…