Hey! Where is today's photo?

No photo today. Instead we'd like you to take two minutes of your time and watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvLQxBYhsbI&feature=player_profilepage

Yesterday, the Texas Governor called for the elimination of the Texas Historical Commission, our coordinating and primary funding agency, thinking our work was not "mission critical" in this economy.

Please watch the video and make your own decision about that. And if you're a Texan and want to visit with your state legislator about that, please do so. Leave your questions and comments in the comment section of this blog and we'll do our best to answer them right away. THANK YOU for being such a loyal follower of this Daily Photo...it is a blast every day sharing places and travel and adventure ideas with you.

Clark Hotel Museum

When you visit Van Horn's Clark Hotel Museum, you can imagine travel in earlier days.  Train travelers would step off at the Van Horn station, and walk across the street to the hotel.  There the staff was ready...with a kitchen, bar, sitting/dining room and sleeping rooms upstairs.  Today, the museum is a time capsule of this experience, and the museum has many other artifacts of an earlier life in Van Horn and Culberson County of Far West Texas.

Cactus blooms to brighten our Monday

Taken at one of our favorite places, the Cactus Greenhouse at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center near Fort Davis.  Their cactus and succulent collection has over 200 species and usually there's something beautiful blooming in the greenhouse!

Davis Mountains State Park

The shelter is atop a hiking trail in Davis Mountains State Park, the trail that connects to Fort Davis National Historic Site.  The trail on the National Fort side--the Hospital Canyon Trail--is shown in this flickr slideshow. The trail has incredible vistas of the historic fort and the community of Fort Davis below the mountain.

Check out our hiking page for more trail recommendations!
Thanks to the Texas Historical Commission and Randy Mallory for this photo!

Cycling down the road to Post Park

We've started to put information on our website about another heritage bike ride, an easy, family-friendly 10 mile (roundtrip) ride from the town of Marathon to Post Park in Brewster County.  The route was used by the Comanche, by Buffalo Soldiers and by miners and ranchers early in the modern history of the area.  The ride starts at the historic (and cycle-friendly!) Gage Hotel or the Gage Gardens (a site on the new Far West Texas Wildlife Map) and is a simple out-and-back ride through beautiful scenery.  Take a look at the web page for more beautiful views and an outline of the history of this fascinating place!

All this winter makes us think of spring!

Snow!

Views of Red Rock Ranch

Red Rock Ranch just north of Van Horn offers tours of their beautiful land.  Their website says, "Just five quick minutes from donwtown Van Horn, Texas, our tours will allow you to see unique geological wonders, vegetation specific only to our area, native animal life and American Indian pictographs and petroglyphs. We are one of largest natural Precambrian sandstone exposures in North Amercia. There are lots of critters on our land which you may be able to see fresh tracks or even spot. The sunsets are more beautiful than you could imagine."

Morning Light on the Prickly Pear in Big Bend Ranch State Park

A lovely morning view in Big Bend Ranch State Park!

One of the best!

Whether you're a first-time visitor to the region, or a resident, you need to work a visit to the Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine into your schedule.  The exhibitions provide one of the best introductions to the history, culture and natural history of the entire area.  The museum is inviting and accessible; many of the exhibits are interactive, and children love them.  This is truly one of the best small museums you'll find anywhere--not just in Texas--anywhere.

Coming up soon is their signature exhibition of custom gear and western art, called Trappings of Texas.  This exhibition attracts the work of the finest cowboy artists working today, and is shown annually in conjunction with the Texas Cowboy Poetry Festival on the campus of Sul Ross State University.

Views from Hueco Tanks!

Near El Paso, Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site offers adventurers bouldering, hiking, rock art, and birding opportunities.  This small park has so many assets (and some--namely the rock art--is so fragile) that entrance is limited to a certain number every day.  That shouldn't deter visitors from experiencing this special place...just plan ahead, call ahead, make reservations ahead of time.

One of our friend, TR, alerted us to this article about winter birding at Hueco Tanks...take a look!

Hueco Tanks is a site on the new Far West Texas Wildlife Trail map...for more information, click here.

For regional hiking information, visit our hiking page: www.texasmountaintrail.com/hike

Views of Dog Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains National Park

One of the hidden gems of Texas's Guadalupe Mountains National Park (we say hidden because you need to backpack to it from the southern end of the park, or access it by car through New Mexico!) is Dog Canyon.  The National Park Services website says this:  "Dog Canyon lies in a secluded, forested canyon on the north end of the park at an elevation of 6,300 feet. Remote and far removed from civilization; it stands at the edge of the wilderness boundary, and offers an ideal location for quiet camping, birding, hiking, and solitude." 

The camping is wonderful too.  In fact, the campground has been rated among the best in the country for beautiful, relatively private sites.

This area experienced a forest fire last year, caused by a lightning strike.  However, the effects of fire are often misunderstood.  The area has bounced back, is still beautiful and has been ready for visitors for months.

For more regional hiking information, visit: www.texasmountaintrail.com/hike
This area is a wildlife viewing site on the new Far West Texas Wildlife Trail map.  For more information, click here.

Good morning, world!

A brilliant sunrise at Big Bend Ranch State Park!

Hiker/Cyclist Friendly Accommodations--some offer pack lunches for your adventures!

Recently, we stayed at the Chisos Mountain Lodge in Big Bend National Park, and took advantage of our own Texas Mountain Trail cycle-friendly program.  We ordered their Veggie Hiker Lunch the night before our hike in the park at the Lodge's restaurant, and found it delicious AND convenient on the trail the next day.  (Pictured here on the Sam Nail Ranch trail, off Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, a road with many hiking options, and one of the best bike rides in the park!)

The cycle-friendly program is intended to showcase hotels, B&Bs, historic tourist courts and other places to stay that are willing to offer special services to cyclists, such as secure in-room parking for bikes. Some will make you a pack lunch (sometimes with homemade treats like brownies!) and others will show you a local restaurant or store willing to prepare a sack lunch...a great benefit out in our wilderness!  All should have a bike pump ready for your use, and weather and regional cycling information.  Some may even offer sag support with advance notice!

For a full list of benefits and properties, please visit our cycling page:  www.texasmountaintrail.com/bike  We have cycle-friendly hotels participating in every corner of the region!

The Chisos Mountain Lodge Restaurant currently offers two hiker/cyclist pack lunch options, and both are delicious on the trail or on the road! 

Hikers Lunch

A Perfect On The Go Meal Option

Choice Of Turkey, Ham, Or Peanut Butter And Jelly

Sandwich On Wheat Bread With Apple Or Orange,

Bottled Water, Cookies And Chips

$8.95

and

Veggie Hiker Lunch

A Blend Of Chickpeas, Sesame Tahini, Garlic And Citrus Along with Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Black Olives,

Green Onions, And Green Leaf Lettuce

Wrapped In A Herb Tortilla With Apple Or Orange,

Bottled Water, Cookies And Chips

$10.95

Stay tuned...in future days, we'll post more about lunches and other services available from our other cycle-friendly hotel properties!

A special surprise for your Valentine!

Here's a special idea for your sweetie for Valentines Day: Get a Valentine, Texas postmark on your card!

Each year, the children of Valentine compete to design the postmark. Prepare your Valentine card addressed to recipient with postage and put into a second envelope addressed with postage to “postmaster, Valentine, Texas 79854"

Last year's postmark is pictured here!

Mexican Gray Wolf

The Mexican Gray Wolf once populated the Chihuahuan Desert, including western Texas. 

This wolf lives at the El Paso Zoo;  read about this beautiful animal here.  Would you like to visit the zoo next time you're in El Paso?  For information, click here.

Hello, from Dell City!

Tucked away in the northern part of our region, in the shadow of the highest peak in Texas is Dell City.  A small, but friendly agricultural community, it sits west of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and everyone in town has a magnificent view of Guadalupe Peak and El Capitan!  Founded in the 1940s, this little community of approximately 500 is named, "Valley of the Hidden Waters," even though it is within sight of the Salt Flats west of the national park.  A map is here.

Our week concludes with Cattail Falls, Big Bend National Park

Our week of featuring the photographs of Al Capizzo concludes with this image from Cattail Falls in Big Bend National Park. 

Al tells us this about the photograph:  "In the photo you can see grayer, darker rock on left and lighter rocks on the right. The darker rock is a much harder rock than the lighter rock. It is essentially "bedrock" which was forced up through the softer rock and is what we see as the mountain tops, sticking up today. The creek is following a fault line between the two types of rock, and is there because this was a place it could start wearing a channel through the softer rock. You do see some grayer rocks on the right of the creek, but those are just boulders and rock that fell from the higher levels and ended up here. Of course all this took place before I was born, so I'm just passing along what I've heard!"

We'd like to tip our hat again, and thank Al for sharing his photos with us all week.  Thanks, Al! 

Sam Nail Ranch in Big Bend National Park

Windmill tower at Sam Nail Ranch in Big Bend National Park along Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, by this week's featured photographer, Al Capizzo.  This part of the park is a great birding area, and is a site on our new Far West Texas Wildlife map.

Al tells us he really enjoys this part of the park, "one windmill there is still providing some water, and their are pecan trees (!) growing around the remaining adobe walls of the original home."

Driving in Big Bend Ranch State Park

This week's featured photographer, Al Capizzo, really captures the feeling of driving in the remote areas of Big Bend Ranch State Park.  We love the wide open spaces, the wild land, the incredible vistas and the intimate access to wildlife.

Drivers need to plan ahead, bring plenty of water, and a good spare or two.  If you want to drive on backcountry roads, take a few minutes to download and read this "4x4 Guide to Big Bend Ranch State Park."

And thanks again to Al, for sharing this wonderful photo!