April 2018

Some of our Austin photography group, Bruce, George, Terry, Lucas and I, made the trip to Big Bend the third week in April. The timing was chosen to take advantage of a period of dark skies with no moon.

One of objectives for the trip was to explore the El Solitario area of Big Bend Ranch State Park. My neighborhood friend Bernie and I did this on April 15/16. The area is defined as the site a circular laccolith that collapsed, and is obvious on topographic maps and from the air. The campsite, Tres Papalotes (Three Windmills), is in a very remote area, about 95 miles from Terligua by road. It is about 4200 ft in elevation making it fairly cool at night relative to Terlingua. The most interesting photo opportunity there was a Milky Way shot.

There were few wildflower opportunities because of the drought, but I still managed to find a few blooms. Click here to see the photos.