Do not stay at the Sunday House Inn in Alpine.  Do visit the Saddle Club Alpine Bar.  Eclectic snacks.

Saw a dead deer, doubtlessly struck by a vegetarian.  (Leads to one of my favorite jokes: What’s the literal translation of the Indian word for vegetarian? “Bad Hunter”)

Spring Break nightmare: It took 20 minutes to enter Big Bend.  The campsites were full.  I said full.  Really, I mean full.  That’s the message the Rangers were trying to get through to everyone.  One Ranger: “I hate this week.”  Another: “I’ve been turning people away for four days.”  Everywhere was crowded, but strangely the roads were pretty clear.

I drove all three main roads to their ends.  Nice roads.  Nice Nature and Vista stops.  An excellent Park in layout.  But there’s just not much there there, with one remarkable exception making the whole day worthwhile.  Unbeknownst to me, the Rio Grande introduces itself through Saint Elena Canyon with 1,500 foot cliffs on both sides.  Mexico cliff to the south, USA to the north.  It’s really an unusual instance.  How the river carved a path through the cliff is fascinating reading (no, I didn’t understand it).  You can walk or paddle into the canyon.  (There is, at this time, no fence down the middle of the river.)  I did this trail and took some nice pictures. One was with the camera pointing up from the ground at me.  My right shoulder touches Mexico, my left USA.  There aren’t too many places in the world where you can take that kind of picture.

There are a host of trails available and I’m sure they’re fine.  But without a campsite, I had to leave.  I had intended to spend two nights in BB, so by leaving without a single night’s stay I was ahead of schedule.  I ended up tonight in Fort Stockton, which is in fact a place I wanted to go anyway, before Fort Davis and BB was recommended.  It’s strange how things turn out. Tomorrow I’ll check out the history here, then head to Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center and Amistad National Recreation Area.  I hope my luck will be better there.  Spring Break is costing me money.

I read a historical sign with more about camels in the army.  Intriguing history.  Look it up.