Davis Mtns SP, TX - May 2006

Our second stop on our way out of Texas was a return visit to the Davis Mountains State Park -- just outside of Fort Davis, TX. At 5,000' elevation, this attractive park takes you above the heat of the west Texas desert and affords a shaded, restful setting in the Davis Mountains. Having come through here last December, I was surprised to find the park in an even drier condition than it had been then. I assumed the springtime would bring rains, green grass and lots of wildflowers, but this area was also suffering from a year-long drought and it had taken it's toll on the vegetation. Still, we had a nice site under a stand of large oaks and we enjoyed cool nights and warm days and at last, we had escaped the humidity.

We spent five days at the park -- mostly relaxing and taking hikes around the park. One day we decided to drive over to the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute and have a look around. The grounds included a Visitor's Center with a lot of interesting exhibits, a botanical garden, a greenhouse and several trails. We arrived early in the day so that we could hike down into Modesto Canyon and hike back out before it got too warm.

This is the top of trail into the canyon -- it was about a 2 mile hike. We went down into this canyon just about to where the really green trees begin (in this photo) and then hiked out to the side of the canyon. Normally, there would have been a small stream flowing in the center of the canyon, but since it had been so dry this past year, there was just a little spring and pool of water at the very bottom. The hike took us down-down-down deep into the canyon and the trail was mostly a series of rock steps that had been built into the canyon wall. Of course, all that downhill meant we had to come back up. We opted to take the loop trail rather than retrace our steps, and so we went up a series of switchbacks at the far end of the canyon until we got back up on the desert floor. It was getting pretty warm by the time we made our way out and we welcomed a stop at the air conditioned Visitor's Center.

After we cooled off and got our fill of water, we wandered around the botanical gardens (also very dry and bleak because of no rain.) The only things in bloom at the time were the yuccas and they did have several very large specimens.

The botanical garden had several paths that meandered around a large planted area where all the specimens were labeled. Some were in bloom, but most had retreated into their severe drought state -- with few leaves and no blooms. The area also had a hummingbird and butterfly trail, but alas, it was the wrong time of year for them too.

After browsing the gardens, we wandered over to the greenhouse and browsed through their extensive cactus collection. I never knew there were so many different types of cacti. Since these plants were being nurtured, several of them were in bloom. This was one particularly pretty blossom, but there were many others in varying colors of purple, magenta, pink, yellow and orange.

There were also some unusual specimens -- plenty that I'd never seen before. This was one of the weirdest ones and looked like a brain sitting in a bowl -- either that or a giant lump of cauliflower -- or maybe a batch of yeasty bread dough rising in a bowl. It wasn't labeled, so I didn't learn it's name.