Day 2- Glenn Springs Road to Mariscal Mine

[iCe]

I made a run to Big Bend last week / weekend. I already posted this and other threads on the BiBe forum but since not everyone here sees the site I thought that I would share. More to come...


After enjoying a couple of cups of coffee on the porch I loaded up my gear and headed for Glenn Springs Road and points south. Not far from the ranger station "down below" this shy creature was attempting to cross the road in front of me. I backed up and as I did it coiled up and then turned around. Naturally I got my camera ready in time to catch it turned around.



I made a quick pass through Dugout Wells to see if any wildlife was around. Failing to see any wildlife I headed for Glenn Springs Road. Once on the road I stopped to shoot some images to stitch.






As I was driving down toward a GPS waypoint I noticed a straight line seemingly carved into the landscape. I have no clue if it's natural or man made. It didn't seem to go anywhere. The Big Bend-zca line?



Later I stopped to get some water and spotted this weird looking spider web



During a trip earlier this year I had logged a GPS waypoint to note where some park service personnel were wandering around in the scrub. They appeared to be looking for something. I loaded the point up in the GPS and headed for it. (N29 7.877' W103 6.453' they were a few hundred yards to the east). When I got there I wandered around looking for "something". I ended up hiking to the top of a small hill and shooting a few shots to see if I could see something in an image. So far I haven't seen anything special in the images





Not long after I left the mystery place I turned right and headed for the Mariscal Mine. Once there I had a little snack, filled the camelback with water, and headed for the mine. Not far into the hike there is an old car or what's left of a car. I think it's safe to call this one a fixer upper.



I've read a little bit about the process of recovering quicksilver from ore and it's a pretty simple and labor intensive process. The thing that really gets me is that they used wood for fuel. Cords and cords of wood had to be hauled here to fire the furnace.

The furnace is the brick structure in front and the condensers are behind it. As near as I can tell the mercury / quicksilver ran in a trough down to the area where it was put into flasks. I would be willing to bet that mercury contamination in this area is pretty high.


Here's a view of the condensers from the back side


View from behind near some of the mine shafts


View from the east side. If you look closely you can see the trough running from the right side of the image (furnace and condensers closest to parking lot) to the structure at the lower left third of the image. I think that this area is where the final product was put in flasks but that's just my guess.


When I shot the last image I hiked down the hill that I was on and went to the area that I think the mercury was bottled in. I walked back up the trough to the condensers and then out to the front of the main condenser. As I stood there drinking water I heard what sounded like a small plane taking off from the west. I got my video camera ready and was surprised to see a small black helicopter buzzing along at a high rate of speed. It was ICE flying the back country. I'm thinking that they weren't trying to sneak up on anyone. I video'd them flying by, a little further out than the parking lot. Just as I turned the camera off they made a sharp (almost chandelle) turn to the right and came straight at me. They flew by fairly close. I waved. They didn't  :icon_lol: then they turned around again and made their way back to the river. I could hear them zipping along as I hiked back to my truck.



Once I was done with checking out the mine I headed east on the River Road. I grabbed a few images but the light was kind of harsh so it was hard to get in to shooting photos.


This was over in Mexico. I never did figure out it's name.


It looked like it was raining in the basin and on the west side of the park so I headed to the cabin a little earlier than usual. I had planned to shoot the sunset from Sotol Vista but I was pretty sure the light would be bad (too cloudy) and I had already shot from there the day before. I got to the cabin with plenty of shooting light to spare. It was nice to just sit on the porch and watch the deer do their thing

[Concisus Cognatus]

Great series.

[Shadow]

Great threads. Somebody get some scuba gear and get the man his filter back! Thanks for the travelogue! I've never been to BBNP, and it really gives me the flavor of it. Greg, Dennis & Leon have found some great critters out there. Looks like perfect accommodations too. All you need is steaks on the grill.....

[iCe]

Hey Bruce. BiBe is the state of Texas' greatest secret. Most people shy away from the "desert" in July/August and in the case of BiBe that's a mistake and a blessing. The stone cottage that I stayed in has no air conditioning. You don't need it. In fact, Sunday morning when I woke up I was cold. It was 67° in the Chisos Basin that morning. If it got to 80° during the day in the Basin I didn't notice because I was down in the desert. The humidity is low and the temps are mild (in the Basin). Now down on the desert floor it hit 105° in places but that's manageable. Drink plenty of water, pace yourself, get a wide brimmed hat, wear light colored (and weight) clothes... etc.

One thing I would mention- The Old Ore Road (other post) is not a 1 day trip. It can be done but man it beats you to death. You need high ground clearance and I was glad that I had 4WD in a few places. It's the best thing going for total isolation. The River Road (where the Mariscal Mine is) has a lot of I.C.E. and park service stuff going on. A lot is probably not the right description but for Big Bend it's a lot. There are places you can go in Big Bend where you'll never hear or see another soul. The River Road ain't one of them.

None of my threads really say much about the Chisos Basin and all of the wonderful places it has to offer. I chose to do all desert on this trip. I'm seriously thinking about an overnite trip to the South Rim in August and I plan to hike more of the trails in the Basin in the future.

PS- That was my go to filter. I already ordered and received the new one. The new one eats up less light so I guess losing it isn't all bad

[TXhummer2]

Wonderful photos and notes!

[lhdvies]

Great series Michael-sorry about that filter, I know how much you enjoyed it!!

[iCe]

Oh I already ordered and received the replacement Leon. I'm not going to do without that one. I just need for the P holder to come in and it's all good