Summer Skies bringing Rain

The summer rains are coming a little earlier this year.  Last night, Marfa was treated to a terrific show of clouds at sunset....enjoy!

Our Impossibly Blue Skies

Last Friday, we captured the clear blue skies over Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center in Fort Davis. 

Summer rains!

The region is starting to get some much needed rains, and we wanted to celebrate by sharing this great lightning shot by our friend, Melanie Gentry of 242 Productions in Dell City.  Melanie is a new volunteer to our Texas Mountain Trail program and organized the Ride for Reading delivery earlier this month in Dell City!

Dell City is the closest community to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and had some great storms this weekend!

Last Night's Sky north of Marfa

Celebrating our beautiful skies

Come out to the Texas Mountains soon and enjoy!

Glorious Light at the End of the Day

Click on the photo for a closer view!
Photo by Monte Riggs of Marfa

It is no secret that we've got clear beautiful skies and gorgeous light...and evening is a great time to put the stresses of the day behind you and just...LOOK. 

Today, we present some sky views taken this week around Marfa.  Enjoy one of the region's best..our sky!

Today's Morning Sky in Marfa

Word of Advice: Keep Watching the Sky (We took these last night in the space of less than an hour)

Our night skies are incredibly special and among the darkest in the lower 48.  But our daytime skies, and our dawns and dusks are worth taking some time to view.

Last night, the sky got our attention because we saw this (double) rainbow forming:

And then, we saw the first light of dusk was gathering as the rainbow dissipated.

Soon the sunset's colors were intensifying.

And then.

To our great delight, last night's sky was yet another lesson in the value of looking up, and keep looking up!

Clouds over Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Our friend, Derrick Birdsall, of My Sight Picture blog, and the Unaffected Photography facebook page,  sent us this video this morning from Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  Lovely clouds for a Sunday!

Marathon: Darkest Night Skies from the Comfort of Your Hotel Room!

click on the photo for a closer view
photo by Danny Self, Marathon Motel

Marathon is often the first community travelers drive through to get to Big Bend National Park…yet some don’t stop, and that’s a shame.  Not only does this small community boast the darkest skies you’ll find anywhere in the lower 48 (rated Scale 1 on the Bortle Light Pollution Scale!), but with accommodations to suit every taste and need, and easy access to restaurants, it is a great transition place between your city life and the frontier and open spaces of the Big Bend. 

Consider what a wonderful night you’d have, grabbing a beer and pizza from the French Company Grocer or Lechuguilla Liquors, or a fine meal at the 12 Gage Restaurant.  Then stopping by the Marathon Motel to view a sky like THIS?  What could be better than that?

What the photographer, Danny Self, says about this photo:

“What I liked about this, during the day, this angle, you get a sense of the curves in the walls flowing with the curves of the hills. At night, it comes out with a different complexity of, colors, textures, depth and size. Not to mention the contrasts in exposures! So, to the naked eye, the Milky Way looks like a perpetual 'cloud' in the same place every night, albeit coming up earlier as time goes by. All stars/constellations rise 4 minutes earlier every night. Now, the camera, the camera can see what the eye can't. Hence a really distinct image. So don't expect to go out, find the Milky Way, which isn't hard, unless you're in a light polluted sky, and, even in a Class 1 dark sky like ours, expect to see it this way!”

Next time you plan a trip our way, consider staying in Marathon!  “Like” the Visit Marathon Texas page on Facebook and check out their website too:  www.visitmarathontexas.com to plan a stay in a great small town with the darkest skies!

Light Map of the Region from
VisitMarathonTexas.com website, Big Bend has been
awarded the designation of Gold Tier Sky Park as
recognized by the International Dark-Sky Association!

Visit Marathon Texas is one of our valued Texas Mountain Trail Business Members!

Last night's sky

And moments later, around the corner:

In Marfa last night along Hwy 90 looking west.

Stormy May Skies

Another Marfa sunset beauty on a rare stormy night....taken last night!

Last Night's Storms

Yesterday, large sections of our region received some much-needed rain.  Sure, we had thunder, hail, and some high winds....but we also were treated to rainbows.  Here's one taken last night by our Marfa friend, Monte Riggs.  While we're still in a drought and under a burn ban throughout most of the region, every little bit of rain helps!  The prickly pear are in bud in many places, and soon we'll have flowers too!

Last night's sky's beauty for a new day

Some beauty for a the day...last night's sunset in Marfa.

Sunset at Sauceda

We have such terrific skies in the Texas Mountains, and one of the best places to catch a spectacular sunset is in the center of Big Bend Ranch State Park, at Sauceda. 

Cloud Watchers

A hand in the clouds?

One of our Texas Mountain Trail board members in El Paso, Herb Price, has a great view of the sky above the Franklin Mountains from his home.  From time to time, he sends photos of El Paso's magnificent sunsets to share with all of you.  This time, he took a great photo of...what's that?  A hand pointing to the sky?  We take it as a reminder to spend a few moments every day to look at the sky and take in the beauty!

TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT!
Here's one of our cycle-friendly hotel properties to consider when you're heading to Big Bend, Big Bend Resorts and Adventures!  We stayed there during our recent trip to the Chihuahuan Desert Bike Fest, and yes, you can park your bikes in the room overnight!  The convenient location is 12 miles from Barton Warnock Environmental Education Center, 5 miles from Terlingua Ghost Town and a couple of miles from the western entrance to Big Bend National Park.

Last Night's Sky Between Van Horn and Marfa

The sky just kept changing and changing!

Last night's moon

We have the darkest, clearest, beautiful night skies!  Many thanks to our friend, Monte Riggs of Marfa for this lovely image of last night's moon!

One Day of Marfa Sky

Dawn looking east

Sunset looking west

We've been enjoying pretty spectacular skies lately, and yesterday, one of our terrific volunteers, Monte Riggs, captured greatness at sunrise AND sunset.

A Marfa Sky

click on the photo for a closer view!