Old Ore Road
SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: A photograph portrays only the faintest representation of the subject within the frame, and this truism is no more evident than when taking in the vastness of this secretive land. The starkness of the mountain ranges and desert, the…
Almost Another Planet
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…
The Struggle to Keep Living
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…
Channeling My Inner Captain Ahab
SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: Like gigantic mythical sea serpents encased in an ocean of sand, dirt, rock and cacti, lava vents run across the face of this country, traveling hither and yon in every direction. These natural anomalies, sometimes bordering on the surreal,…
Where the Old Feet Trod
SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: When many people first come to this country, they tend to believe it is a young land mostly untouched and undiscovered by man. Something inherent to the desert and these mountains excite the imagination, causing one to feel as…
Don’t Let Darwinism Get You
SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: Like the body of a giant serpent moving to and fro on a north-south axis, Ernst Valley stretches from the river all the way to the southern slopes of Telephone Canyon. Calling it a ‘valley’ is somewhat of a…
A Lonely Grave Where Nothing Lives Forever
SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: “On a hill far away, Stood an old rugged cross”… A graveyard is a lonely place, and an abandoned one makes for the loneliest of all. For some reason people congregated at a certain spot, dreamed dreams, lived life…
Surprises in Avery Canyon
Joy in the Journey and the Destination
SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: They oftentimes say the true joy and spirit of a journey is not found in one’s destination, but in the journey itself. Some have gone on to remark that one’s walk through life follows along the same path, though…
A Trail of Those Who Came Before
SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: Every trail has a story, and in a land as grand as this there are plenty of stories and attending trails to tell them. Some of these paths are still well kept by the National Park Service, and some…