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July, 2006
God Bless Texas - some of it, anyway
By Eric Goodwin
Each day is a new adventure shaped by a beautiful yet unforgiving host, the Chihuahuan desert. What thoughts do you have of the desert? Tumble weed? Cacti? Snakes? As a northeasterner it is only wanderlust that can lead you to the desert, or perhaps some odd need to punish yourself. At least, that is what we from the land of green trees may grow up thinking.
The movies of our youth, pictures of starving animals, thoughts of poisonous creatures, a barren wasteland; these were the thoughts that were in my head as I pondered the level of my stupidity for heading to the desert to live for a few months in early 2002. Low and behold, the understanding of the desert that I had gained from TV, movies, and a few dreams (where I rode with the Lone Ranger as a seven-year-old aspiring hero), were dead wrong.
Huddled deep in the southwest of the Big Bend area of Texas you can find a heavenly sized outdoor play land that knows no rival within our borders. Deep in the heart of this area is a gem of a community called Terlingua. I call it a community because it is not a town or a village. It is an area made from, and kept by, people who expect a wave as you drive by. People who hope you will come do dinner at their homes, who hope you will stop on the way out of the store to have a chat about your most recent natural discovery, who wear costumes to the bar just because, and who believe in the inalienable right to be happy. Viva Terlingua!!!
The greatness of the Terlingua community stands in concert with the awe-inspiring landscape that shrouds it. Terlingua is surrounded by 1.1 million acres of national and state park. The Big Bend National park is the most bio-diverse and the most geologically diverse park in the United States. It is also one of top five largest parks in the U.S. (at roughly 880,000 acres) and the least visited National Park. Put these facts together with the 300,000-acre Big Bend Ranch State Park next door and about 140 miles of runnable river that flows through eight accessible canyons (before it even gets to the seven day trip called the "Lower Canyons") and you have not only an amazing play land, but also a way of life.
As a born and bred northeasterner, I lament the great distance between myself and the Big Bend, every day I scheme on scenarios that bring me back to endless post card vistas, vibrant sunsets, and the characters that are Terlingua. I have my 20-acre plot scouted out; however, even though the land in the Big Bend is beyond affordable the financial gumption denied by five years of a guiding life puts priorities elsewhere. In the last four years the price of land there has doubled. I hope to make my purchase before it does again.
The area of Big Bend can be compared to the unorganized territories of Maine (in some ways). There is very little law, an immense pride that comes with living there, and on your own land you do what you want. There are no zoning laws. My friend John, a character among characters with a heart of gold, has built his small home into the side of a tuff (volcanic ash) hill. You drive up to it and all you see is a couple boards. However, when you turn the corner you see an amazing feat of sweat and ingenuity that reminds a moviegoer of a hobbit hole, except with better views.
Another great thing that comes with no zoning laws and cheap land is the ease and affordability of building your own systems of energy and water, un-encumbered "off the grid" living, a favorite subject around the horseshoe pit at the old Quicksilver Mine come sunset. "How many square feet of roof you got", "how much tank storage you got and where did you get your tanks", "how big is your garden", "you did what with that old school bus!?". I would venture to say that the Big Bend area may hold the highest per capita percentage of people living "off the grid" in the whole of the U.S. I wonder what that bodes for the future?
What I have described so far is only a small piece of what you find when you get there. What draws most people to these discoveries is the long and winding Rio Grande. Big Bend is one of only a couple places in the U.S. where a guide can work on a running river during the winter months. I use the term "running river" with a little chagrin. The river runs at about 80 cubic feet per second (cfs). The rise of farming in northern Mexico, the overgrazing of cattle in the early 40's, and a seven-year drought have been a plague on those whom depend on the river. Upon my last visit, Feb-April of 2006, we had "big water", maybe 200-300 cfs. This was enough to put the canoes in the racks and get out the rubber. We used mainly 14-foot oar frame rafts. There were also some 16-footers for those brutish guides that scoffed at the ease of the "small" boats.
The tours along the Mexican border were not adrenaline based, except for the occasional overturned canoe and angry dehydrated guest. The tours were interpretive in nature. Guiding these tours makes you feel as though you are doing your Maine Guide ancestors proud. Although whitewater guiding is fun, semi-profitable, exciting, and ego-building, it lacks many of the fine qualities that true recreation guiding can bring you and your clients.
Upon arrival to Big Bend, a new guide spends about five days training to gain a workable knowledge of the flora, fauna, geology, history, and area layout that attracts people to the parks. You first go to the Barton Warnock center at the state park where you do the garden walk and start to learn the names of a few key cacti, acacia trees, and other plants that start you on an endless learning experience. Than you go inside the center and learn about the 100 million-year natural history of the area. Did you know that the Solitario in Texas is actually the end of the Appalachian Mountains? Upon the break up of Pangaea, the Appalachians between Texas and Georgia were eroded away and only now exist below ground level.
Armed with a couple talking points, you then venture onto your first river trip as a trainee. Usually you go to Santa Elena Canyon first. Simply driving up to entrance of this 1,500-foot deep canyon is a life changing experience, then you get to go inside of it, see the canyon dwelling birds and animals, and do a side hike into a small canyon that belongs on the moon. It is then that you realize that, without a doubt, you have made the right decision. As you exit the canyon a beautiful thought occurs to you: There are seven more of these for me to explore.
After peeling yourself away from interpretive and river training it is time to wander the area a bit. A few hikes into the 7,800-foot, Pinion Juniper-filled Chisos Mountains, a hike around Lajitas Mesa near where the Comanche trail passes into Mexico, or the signature hike up Terlingua creek for some rock hunting (a favorite past time of just about all residents of the area), are nice choices to start. A visit to Lajitas to see the mayor of the town, who is a beer-drinking goat that was popularly elected over his human opponent, was also entertaining. The goat's name is Clay Henry.
Then you embark on a guiding career that changes your life in ways you wouldn't expect. By the middle of the second month, as you have met more people, explored more remote areas, and drank many margaritas at La Kiva, you start to scheme as to how you can one day return to this wondrous area. For some those schemes work out into a lifetime of desert living, for others a few acres and an occasional visit are enough quell the fire, and for some simply the dreams and memories will have to be enough, for the Big Bend is just too far away. But, for all of these people the impact of experiencing the area and depending on their water bottles and hats as though they were air, will never be lost.
My hope is that you will read this article and that maybe a little wanderlust will be born or stoked within you. For traveling, experiencing, and understanding other cultures and ways of living is one way, in my thinking, that we can all build a better understanding and a bright future.
Some from the Terlingua area may hate me for writing this article. One of their greatest strengths is their anonymity. For every year that passes more of the land slips from locals' hands, and more of the cars that pass do not wave. I beg of you, if you should visit this great area, do everything within your power to be true to the local culture and to preserve this oddity, for there are only a few things that are left pure in these here United States.
For more information, visit these Web sites:
www.nps.gov/bibe
www.tpwd.state.tx.us/parks/bigbend
www.bigbendrivertours.com
www.farflung.com
www.terlinguatx.com
www.ghosttowntexas.com
www.chili.org/terlingua.html
Eric Goodwin is a 6-year river and recreation guide and cleaner upper of river garbage. As a guide he enjoys all free food…
Email nick [at] noumbrella [dot] com with your questions, comments and concerns.
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