With all this fun going on, who's got time to blog!

Leonard in his volunteer attire. The NPS

dress code says where and when we can

appear in uniform.

When I started this blog, at the urging of a few friends who wanted to hear about our RV travels, I wasn't sure I was up to the task. After all, posting on a regular schedule, or in my case a quasi-regular one, requires some self-discipline. Indeed, my biggest challenge at present is that I'm so busy having fun that finding time to sit down and write posts can be downright difficult. Some might call this a “high-class problem.”

It's mostly the fault of Big Bend National Park's management, really. The policy here – I cannot speak to what happens at other National Park Service sites, just this one – is to allow volunteers to use part of our scheduled “work” time roving the grounds. We are encouraged to hike, wander, drive and otherwise play while getting credit for time spend doing it. How cool is that?

Why does the NPS do this? For one thing, it lets volunteers experience the park from the visitor's perspective so we might better advise folks, especially first-timers who tend to rely heavily on visitor center staff for suggestions on how to spend their time at Big Bend. Sharing something from a book or pamphlet about Trail X is one thing, telling about it from first-person perspective quite another.

An added benefit of this in-service time is that sending uniformed volunteers out into the park augments both capacity and presence of the park's limited field staff, the dedicated rangers and law enforcement charged with aiding and protecting the public.

 

I have posted pictures below from three recent treks Leonard and I made during our in-service time.

 

Happy holidays and best wishes to all!

 

 

Stop #1: The Sam Nail Ranch

The Sam Nail Ranch, one of several stops along the Ross Maxwell Scenic

Drive at Big Bend National Park, has a short walking path through the

property.

The ranch's windmill continues to pump water, which attracts birds and

other animals to the area.

This building offered ranch animals and inhabitants shelter from the elements.

Ruins of an adobe wall stand as a reminder of the bygone era of ranching at the Big Bend.

Stop #2: Cattail Falls

Next stop: a hike to Cattail Falls, one of Big Bend's lesser known treasures.

 

Not much water at the Falls. It's the dry season.

Stop #3: The Chisos Mountains and Pinnacles Trail


This plaque honoring Stephen Mather appears at the base of the Chisos. Mather was a business tycoon and conservationist who used his personal wealth to promote the establishment of the National Park Service.

Hikers on the Pinnacles Trail are rewarded with beautiful vistas, including this view of Toll Mountain, one of the Chisos'

higher peaks.



Nature add a seasonal touch: Mistletoe growing in a tree along the Pinnacles Trail.

The Chisos Mountains are the only mountain range in the U.S. to be entirely protected within the bounds of a national park. People come from all over the world to see this place.



Appetite Peak, so named because when Civilian Conservation Corps workers

helping to develop the facilities in the 1930s complained about the quality of

the food, they were hiking up the hill to improve their appetites.