Our last full day in Big Bend was mostly a leisurely ramble along the Ross Maxwell scenic drive visiting the various easily accessible sites. First up was the remnants of the Sam Nail ranch where this derelict windmill stands in a photogenic pose. Pictures of it are all over the Internets and in thousands of tourist photo albums.
The ruins of the Sam Nail adobe ranch house continue to melt back into dirt and that windmill in the background continues to operate, pulling up water to sustain an oasis.
The oasis is host to this stand of Dr. Suess looking trees.
We had planned on making the easy hike into Santa Elena canyon, which we’ve done a few times before, but the crowds chased us out about halfway into the hike. Abby got a good shot of Gina and me on the delta of Terlingua Creek at the mouth of the canyon.
We headed back north on the Ross Maxwell Drive and made a stop at the Mule Ears Peaks overlook. Can you see Abby’s mule ears?
A few miles farther we stopped to do the short hike up the canyon to Burro Mesa pouroff. The fall colors were putting on a show. By this time a cool wind was whipping down from the north, bringing low clouds and wintry weather.
There’s an area near the west entrance to Big Bend National Park that hosts a forest of ocotillo. The setting sun was peeking intermittently through the advancing clouds and lighting up the tiny yellow leaves.