FM 170 again

12/21/2020

So with pass in hand, well actually it was stuck to the windshield, we headed for the far end of the park to do some more exploring. We even packed a lunch this time.

Texas has the strangest set up for State Parks, or at least for Big Bend Ranch. The other day we stopped at the ranger station and bought a yearly pass, it’s a card with a number on it. Now for the strange set up. Each day your supposed to stop in at the office or stop at one of the few self pay spots, fill out a form and stick it on your windshield. Talk about an expensive waste of tax payer dollars. These slips are designed for single day use, 1 part sticks to your windshield, the other part converts to an envelope that you need to drop in a pay box. They have the tabs you pull off to expose the sticky spot, these are very expensive to have printed. I see it as a large waste of money for people with a yearly pass, which I’m sure most people do. At $70 a year or $10 every per couple, 7 trips and you have paid for the pass. On the flip side this pass allows you to switch vehicles, in Michigan your given a sticker to stick on your windshield and can’t be switched to another vehicle.

We started with the furthest point and worked our way towards home. The first stop was where the Movie – Streets of Laredo was filmed back in 1995.

After that most stops were just a quick look at the river or hiking trails they are WAY to long for me. The highlight of the day was the 1.4 mile hike down Closed Canyon. Its a slot canyon, meaning its very narrow with vertical, high cliffs. It’s listed as an easy hike and most of it was, that is until you came to some of the rock scrambles, to get down, gravity helped going down, almost to much help a couple of time. The only way out of the canyon was to climb up the rocks you just negotiate going down. Actually your shoes held to the rocks good the problem was the fine loose rock that acted like mini marbles allowing your foot to slip at the most inopportune moments.

Any time you see water in the pictures, that’s Mexico on the other side of the river.

The other notable adventure was an off pavement trek of a couple of miles to check out some rather large holes in the rock. While it’s hard to tell from the photos, you could park a semi in the largest one

The End