Big Bend National Park, Day Three: Santa Elena Canyon (And Driving Like A Bat Out Of Hell)

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On every road trip you have to go with the flow. Stuff happens, people get sick (the Grand Canyon trip!) museums are closed, hotels are closed (the Yellowstone trip!), itineraries are altered, and you have to make the best of the situation whatever it is. As I've noted, when I arrived at Big Bend on Saturday, I was informed that the road to Santa Elena Canyon was closed due to heavy rains and flooding and debris. I was totally bummed.

Then, about 4:30 today, I decided to go to the Visitor Center to check out an exhibit. Lo and behold, as the center was closing at five o’clock, a park ranger suddenly announced to everyone that the road to Santa Elena had re-opened. As this was my last night in Big Bend, and I didn't plan on spending tomorrow morning driving to Santa Elena in the dark, I immediately decided to drive to Santa Elena Canyon. I left the Visitor Center, gassed up the car, and made a beeline to Santa Elena, driving as fast as I reasonably could given the winding and twisting Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. I wanted to get to Santa Elena in time to see the canyon, but also to get back in time for dinner at the Chisos Mountains Lodge restaurant (which is open till 8 pm).

I made to Santa Elena in record time. But about a half mile from the parking lot, I came upon a large pool of water in the road, and cursed to myself. Had I driven all this way only to be thwarted by some water in the road? I stopped and got out of the car to check out how deep the water was. But, as I did so, a car came from the direction of Santa Elena and drove right through the water without any problem. The driver told me not to worry, it wasn't deep after all, so I got in my rental car and drove right through the water and arrived at Santa Elena Canyon a few minutes later.

Then I headed to the canyon to see what all the fuss was about. On the way to see the canyon, I came upon a large black cow. And then some folks who were heading back to the parking lot warned me about a rattlesnake in the grass. I said hello to the cow and steered well clear of the rattlesnake. The trail to the Santa Elena Canyon crosses the Terlingua creek but the creek was impassable so I could only stand on the bank of the Rio Grande and view the canyon from there. Anyway, I was totally awestruck by the sight of the canyon and took lots of photos. 
The black cow
The water in the road


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