All prints signed by Daniel Shippey

Rio Grande flowing through Cañón de Santa Elena - VIew from Big Bend National Park in West Texas.

“To the left is Mexico, to the right is America.”

Big Bend had been on my short list of National Parks to visit for a few years. The genuine remoteness of this region is what drew my attention. Olivia and I took US-90 out of San Antonio toward the border town of Del Rio. We spent the night there before continuing our drive. We watched the land change through the car windows as we drove westward beyond the Pecos River all the way to Marathon, TX. From there we turned south and a sign told us it was 79 miles from Marathon to Big Bend. A quiet, narrow two-lane road crossed the arid terrain. Mountains came into clearer view as we approached the border. Once inside the park, we stopped at several vistas along the way to the canyon overlook. After parking, it was not a long walk to the trailhead and the amazing view of the canyon. It looked like a massive fortified wall stretched out along the horizon with a narrow gap which allowed the Rio Grande to escape. The water was warm, shallow and slow moving. We stepped out onto a sandbar and “crossed into Mexico” briefly just to say we had done it. The left side of the canyon is the state of Chihuahua, Mexico and the right side is the U.S. I took notice of the vegetation along the riverbanks. A mixture of various cactus species, ocotillo, creosote and mesquite among others that I didn’t recognize. After a few small groups of people left it appeared we had the entire canyon to ourselves. It was a quiet memory that I hope I never forget.

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