While my balloonatic friends Dave and Ann were here, I took the opportunity to take them out on a couple of my favorite hikes here at Big Bend, Cattail Falls (shown here in our group shot) and Grapevine Hills. As always, folks who have never been to Cattail Falls are amazed that a place this lush and green -- and wet -- can even exist in such an arid and sparsely-vegetated environment as Big Bend's. Dave and Ann were certainly no exceptions.
No matter how many times I come to Cattail Falls, I'm never bored with the interplay between the colors and textures of the surroundings, and always seek new ways to capture them. There is something so magical about this place.
This is one of my favorite shots in here, and it always comes out blurry. Granted, the waterfall is supposed to be that way, but the rest of the surroundings should not. A tripod or a bean bag would help a great deal.
One of the fun parts of bringing someone new to this place is getting to explain the significance of this leaning tree. As you can tell, it's been bent over most of its life, something done to it long ago by the Native Americans in this area to point out a source of water. There's a creek running nearby in the direction of the tree's leaning.
Leaving the luxurious greenery of Cattail Falls behind, we ventured off to what could probably be considered its polar opposite -- the stark other-worldly terrain of Grapevine Hills. I've always thought this would make a great backdrop for a sci-fi movie about a spaceship and crew who are marooned on a hostile planet. I just
love this place!
In addition to the overall look of this place, one of the things that intrigues me about Grapevine Hills is the assortment of textures its rocks come up with, seemingly on their own. The swooshing movement of this particular boulder has always attracted me and I almost always take a new picture of it, hoping to catch it off-guard.
Here we see the main attraction of this particular hike, the famous Balanced Rock. You can find this image -- or one very much like it -- on postcards, posters, and refrigerator magnets at any of the various visitor centers and gift shops in the park. Dave and I puzzled over just how it might have come to rest like this, but no proper justification came to mind. (Well, except for the whole alien UFO thing -- you know, the guys who helped the Egyptians build all those pyramids.) I'll have to ask the park's geologist about this next time I see him.
And now we see Dave, at left, in his attempt to capture the Balanced Rock, something photographers have been doing since the first one brought a camera out here. (On the park's website, you can see a photo of it from the 1950s.) I wonder how his came out?
Dave and Ann are long gone by now, as these shots were actually taken on the 3rd, and are now lounging around in the beautiful Fredericksburg area, I suppose. Hey, Dave, don't forget the Spoetzl brewery in Shiner -- home of Shiner Bock Beer, my favorite -- is not too far away. Oh, and the Mission District of San Antonio is another major photo opportunity area. Man, I gotta get myself out there again someday!
Well, that's the show for now, folks. As always, thanks for tuning in.
