“Crossing the Divide”

 Singing Cardinal

 Ranger giving talk with Mexicans on other side of Rio Grande

Amazing hot springs - around 104 degrees! Rio Grande in background

“Crossing the Divide” Sunday, May 3

Yup, still at Big Bend, but leaving tomorrow – heading west, destination unknown for the moment, but ultimately I have to be back in Canada by March 22^nd, so it’s time to leave whether I am ready or not. 

Yesterday we had another great day at the Hot springs and Dick made it back in the early evening from his hike which turned out to be 33 miles climbing up and down mountains in the desert heat - a hike classified in the brochure as "strenuous". I don’t know how he does it. But I am reading their book “Crossing the Divide” by Richard and Gaila Mallery in which they describe their family adventure – Dick hiking 3,100 miles at a pace of approximately 25 rugged miles per day along the Continental Divide from Mexico to Canada – and Gaila and their daughter Maggie being the invaluable support team, travelling by road in their motor home to keep him in good spirits and healthy with fresh supplies, home cooked meals, and a dry warm bed at various points along the route.  It’s a great adventure read, spiced with humour and stories from both sides of the adventure.

Tonight Dick and Gaila moved their motor home to the generator side of the campground so that they could charge my battery with their generator. Dick charged it until the green light for fully charged came on. It seems unfair that they had to move, and I got to stay in the quiet side. But I was sure looking forward to an operating furnace. The desert gets hot even at this time of year, but it also gets really cold at night. 

Tonight Gaila cooked a delicious pasta dinner with Caesar salad and then we jogged all the way to the store to buy an ice cream bar before it closed. Being outdoors is great, but icecream makes it even more so. We went to both ranger talks today, one about the difficulties in reopening the border crossing from Big Bend over the Rio Grande to the small town of Boquillas del Carmen, and the evening talk was about the night sky and how quickly night lighting has changed our world, making it impossible to see the stars in some cities, and how it affects animals, insects, fish, people, and birds.

 At around 10:30pm I was contentedly reading when my overhead light rapidly became dimmer.  The fridge was next to check out, and I realized that it was going to be another cold awakening tomorrow.