On the downhill side of our Thanksgiving adventure, we left Terlingua Friday afternoon, driving thru the northern section of Big Bend National Park, on our way to at Seminole Canyon State Park. We arrived after sunset and made our way to Site #27 for the night.
We went back and forth, back and forth. And back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Back and forth back and forth working to get the camper into our site.
Thankfully, the pad wasn't blocked on either side by anything so we had a wide berth, but the sharpness of the turn to back into the site was what threw us off. Needless to say, it took a fair bit of patience to get ourselves settled after a long drive over from Terlingua. And again, I'm so grateful for a hubby who drives the long drives and knows how to maneuver our rig into the right spot.
We did the minimum needed to get set up, then called it a night. Long drives after long days makes for two tired, but happy, campers.
Saturday morning we set alarms to wake up and go for a ranger-guided hike to the
Fate Bell Shelter pictographs. As we were unhooking the truck from the camper, I happened to look down and notice a twig in the shape of a wishbone (so fitting, as we're finishing up our
#GobbleintheMountains annual Thanksgiving trip). So, RDB took one side, I took the other, we made our wishes, and pulled.
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| I hope they both come true. <3 |
We arrived to the park headquarters about 30 minutes in advance of our hike time as suggested, and that gave us plenty of time to get checked in and explore the exhibits inside the building.
The view out the back of the visitor's center, overlooking Seminole Canyon and the somewhat dry creek bed that flows thru it, is not to be missed.
Our guided hike started with a meandering walk down towards the canyon, our guides, Jack and Jane, with the
Rock Art Foundation, taking time to answer questions and inform us about the various plants in the area and how the natives historically used them.
We made our way across the canyon floor to two separate overhangs containing pictographs dating back 5,000 years.
Jack, who's been involved with the Rock Art Foundation for over 20 years, mentioned that recently a Native American shaman had visited and provided the additional context that when you see dots in the panels, typically behind a shaman in the artwork, those dots represent the tribe, or community, standing behind the elder as a form of protection.
In the picture above, you can also see that figure has been sacrificially killed (the spear running thru it and up to the right), that they are holding two staffs (likely of the yucca or
Coahuila, like our guide's walking stick), and that they are wearing a headpiece of antlers (a symbol of rebirth or resurrection).
The second overhang had even more incredible paintings, and Jane mentioned that one of the biggest adversaries of those paintings is the dust, which can erode away the pigments - so you'll notice there were mats for us to walk along in this section.
The last of the pictographs was perhaps the most impressive of those we could see (some are so faint now that the light has to be 'just right' to be able to view them). Jane mentioned that because of natural erosion, it will only be another one or two generations who will be able to see these in their original habitat; eventually, they'll fade completely away.
Jake pointed out several interesting items about this panel - including the fact that you could see the four individual's feet, which was uncommon among the other paintings. Each person has their feet turned in a slightly different direction, with the winged shaman in the middle, making it appear that they are in a circle around the elder, possibly dancing.
He mentioned as well, because of the natural structure of the cave overhang, that a person could stand where we were, speak in normal tones and their voice would be amplified thru the overhang area and into the canyon. So if an elder were retelling the story of their civilization, they could use the images of the winged shaman amongst the circle of others to tell the story, or as Jack put it: "the purpose of these drawings was to tell you how to live your live in our society."
And as he said at another point: "Simply put - we are still learning the stuff they knew."
We hiked our way back up the canyon to the visitor's center, taking plenty of breaks along the way "to enjoy the view." I joked with another couple, Bruce & Mary, who were also taking their time going up the steep slope, that this was what our friend from Denver always says: when you need a break, just 'stop to look at the view.' We had a great conversation with them, as they're heading in the direction we just came from. (Hope y'all really do stop off at
Long Draw Pizza, we promise, it's worth it!). They're two years into their planned ten year full-timing journey (we can't wait to be them someday!) and are wintering over in New Mexico this year.
On the backside of the visitor's centering, greeting you as you return from your journey into the past, is The Maker of Peace, a 14 foot tall bronze statue of a shaman inspired by the pictographs below.
RDB looked at me as said, you want to do your pose? I giggled, because with his arms lifted in the air, The Maker of Peace
did look like the top half of how I hold tree pose (vrksasana).
I'll take with me the reminder that from this vantage point, with my arms raised in appreciation and one foot grounded below me, I can look out over life with peace.
We made our way back to the camper and fixed lunch; the plan was to pack up and head to the Kerrville KOA for another night before finally making it back to Houston - breaking up the drive. But we found ourselves settling in on the couch and putting on our
favorite movie, and, well?
The sun has set and we haven’t left yet.
"Every day I go outside
and look at the vast horizons,
just because I can."
Bruce waved when he saw me outside taking sunset pictures and walked over from their campsite to hand me their contact card (I had given them a blog card before we parted ways back after the hike). We chatted for a bit about fifth wheels and diesel pushers, storage capacity and backing into tight spots (they hadn't seen the dance RDB and I did last night trying to get into this spot). It's always such icing on the cake when we get to meet people who have a passion about camping like we do.
We were at
Seminole Canyon State Park, in Site #27. Obviously a little tricky to get into if you don't get the angle right the first time, in part because of the 2-3' drop-off on the right side of the road and the really nasty thorn bushes (I was standing guide against
desert pin-striping on the passenger side, and managed to step on one of those thorns - it went
all the way thru my shoe and I could feel it with my toes!!) If we weren't so tired, we'd have taken advantage of some of the hiking trails - perhaps, that just means we'll have to come back again. Oh, darn. ;-)
xoxoxoxoxo
(One last note: all our congratulations to our guides, Jack and Jane, as they were getting married(!) this evening at the White Shaman preserve. They had family in town and wanted to host them on a tour in the morning and we just happened to join them! You know we have a soft spot for getting married in nature, seeing that we also eloped on a camping trip. <3)
