#near Terlingua

[humongouscasheaglebagel]

[mothmiso]

American Southwest (2) (3) (4) (5) by David Nelson Blair

Via Flickr:

(1) Light from the late afternoon sun catches the face of Willow Mountain at a low angle. (2) Stunning blossoms of Spanish Dagger (Yucca faxoniana) grace the private Terlingua ranch the second week in March. (3) Ringed by mourning doves (Zenaidúra macroúra), a scaled quail (Callipépla squamáta) feeds at a remote homesite in Brewster Country, Texas, near Big Bend National Park. (4) Blossoms of Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) are on the verge on the private Terlingua Ranch. The plant and its sky-scraping red flowerers are ubiquitous in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora and the U.S. states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. (5) A blossom of Hibiscus (Hibiscus denudatus) graces the desert.       

[quixote-kid]

3/23/24

Windmill and moon near Terlingua, TX.

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

Despite propaganda that would tell you otherwise, the Texas-Mexico border along the Rio Grande isn't some lawless warzone. It's actually a really beautiful, peaceful stretch of river that is home to lots of very cool local flora and fauna, some of which are critically threatened or even endangered, like the Mexican long-nose bat and the Chisos agave cactus.

I live very close to the border and visit it often. It's beautiful and peaceful out here, but governor Greg Abbott is threatening both human lives and river ecosystem with his so-called floating wall, a stretch of buoys and barbed wire that cuts across the middle of the Rio Grande. These photos of mine were taken at the Big Bend Ranch State Park near Terlingua, but you can read more firsthand accounts from the border and the troubling militarization of the river near Eagle Pass here:

[chaoticdesertdweller]

Residents of the Terlingua area were shaken last night by powerful lightning, strong winds, and pounding hail.

Meanwhile, about 45 miles above the storm in the mesosphere, the drama silently unfolded in the form of sprites!

Sprites are electrical discharges triggered by powerful lightning strikes but have more in common with aurora than a typical lightning bolt. Sprites last just fractions of a second but can be seen under dark skies high above powerful thunderstorms as faint red or grey structures.

This group of sprites was captured from McDonald Observatory and was triggered by a lightning strike on the remote eastern edge of Big Bend National Park, 110 miles away. The same event was simultaneously captured by a photographer 300 miles away near Austin, Texas, which reveals that the structures are arranged in one continual line estimated to be about 30 miles long!

Sprite Parade, May 25, 2023, by Stephen Hummel

[coldcasevault]

Phyllis Berry

Phyllis Eleanor Berry, born on September 16, 1954, was last seen on November 1, 1975, in Terlingua, Texas, near the Mexican border, during the annual World Championship Chili Cook-Off. At the time of her disappearance, she was 21 years old, stood 5'5" tall, and weighed 110 pounds. She is biracial, of Native American and Caucasian descent, with brown hair and hazel eyes. Distinctive features include a flat brown mole on the lower right side of her abdomen, pierced ears, a slight gap between her upper front teeth, and a freckle between her thumb and right wrist.

She may have been known by the names Phyllis Benny and/or Phyllis Ecklison and was a registered member of the Chickasaw Nation.

Berry resided in Odessa, Texas, and had traveled to the cook-off with her female roommate. They had quit their jobs and planned to camp in the area, bringing along food, clothes, and Berry's Irish Setter puppy. Around midnight, Berry was last seen sitting around a campfire approximately a quarter-mile from the event's headquarters. She may have left the area riding on the back of a Honda 350 motorcycle with an unidentified male described as being in his twenties with blond hair. She left all her belongings behind, including her vehicle and puppy. Her roommate did not believe she left of her own accord. Berry has never been seen again, and foul play is suspected in her case.

If you have any information regarding Phyllis Eleanor Berry's disappearance, please contact the Texas Rangers at 432-249-0961.

[ghostsandgetaways]

Haunted Hangouts - A West Texas Roadtrip

Haunted West Texas Roadtrip!

Howdy, paranormal peeps! Its time to get ready for a spooky adventure through the spooky and haunted landscapes of West Texas. This haunted road trip itinerary will take you to the town of Marathon, then continuing on to Alpine, Marfa, and then my favorite…..Terlingua of course! This entire itinerary is less than 200 miles but it is PACKED with history and ghost stories. If you are thinking about doing something different for your summer vacay……this is it!!

Stop 1: Marathon, TX

You might think this town is on the verge of becoming a ghost town with a population of 386. In reality, this town offers a unique experience to those looking for something a little different. Established in 1882, Marathon is the second largest town in Brewster County. The town, thanks to the railroad, became a shipping and supply point for area. The first Mexican-American school to provide English classes was held in a private home, but the Hidalgo Ward School was built in 1910 for Mexican-Americans. A variety of industries came in and out of the area including rubber and oil. None of them lasted very long after it was determined that local resources were not as robust as originally thought.

We arrived in Marathon and checked into a lovely room at the historic Gage Hotel. Alfred Gage arrived from Vermont seeking the promise and prosperity of the ranching opportunities available in Texas. Mr. Gage decided to build a hotel since Marathon didn’t have lodging to offer travelers passing through. The hotel opened its doors in April 1927 but, sadly, Mr. Gage would pass away just a year after his beloved hotel opened.

The hotel continued to serve the community however the population and visitors would decrease until the hotel largely stood empty. It had a precarious future until J.P. Bryan purchased the hotel in 1978.  He lovingly and painstakingly restored the hotel so that now you can enjoy a lovely and relaxing stay in this West Texas gem.

Built in 1926, it is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a lovesick bride from the 1920s. You might see a ghost or two out on the porch, strolling through the gardens, and roaming the hallways. Rooms 10 and 39 are supposedly the most "active" spots in the hotel however I found stories of paranormal activity throughout the hotel. We walked the beautiful grounds of the hotel and met interesting guests enjoying a bottle of wine at the firepit. There were packages with everything you need to make smores available at the fire pit too (a nice touch!).

Stop 2: Alpine, TX

The town of Alpine was established in 1882 however it really began earlier when cattlemen lived in tents near their herds in the area beginning in 1878. For a brief time, the town was known as Osborne however the name was later changed to Alpine. By the late 1880s, Alpine had a dozen or so homes, a hotel, a post office, three saloons, a rooming house, a store, a livery stable, and a butcher shop.

Alpine was a thriving community and had a burst of growth when Sul Ross State Normal College (now Sul Ross State University) was built. The college, added to ranching and the railroad industries in the area, made Alpine the center of activities in the Big Bend area.

Built in 1928 by J.R. Holland, the Holland Hotel has 27 rooms that are well appointed and comfortable. We had a nice room at one end of the hall on the 2nd floor that looked out upon the street below. The hotel closed in late 1960s, there were multiple attempts at reopening, then the Greenwich Hospital Group became the last to acquire and restore it.

The hotel is allegedly haunted with guests reporting hearing footsteps, disembodied voices, and the scent of tobacco. Front desk staff told me they often hear things in the area behind the front desk, even when they are the only ones working. Our experiences during our stay include hearing movement in our room before we even opened the door, and hearing items moving on the dresser during the night. I checked with the front desk and discovered that the rooms on either side of our room were empty. The sounds we were hearing were at least not from people in those rooms.

Stop 3: Marfa, Texas!

Now we move on to the mysterious town of Marfa! Marfa, the county seat of Presidio County, was established in 1883 as a water stop for the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railway. By 1930 Marfa had grown to nearly 4,000 residents. During the 1940s, the government built a prisoner of war camp nearby as well as the Marfa Army Air Field ten miles east of Marfa. The military installations closed the next year.

This quaint town is known for the Marfa Lights, Hotel Paisano (the film location for James Dean’s final picture, Giant, with Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor), and its artistic community. Built in 1930, a large number of customers of the hotel during the 1930s and 1940s were cattle ranchers who came to Marfa to buy and sell their herds.

The hotel changed hands over the years and joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The hotel was abandoned in 2001 and the building fell into a state of disrepair. It sold at a tax auction and the hotel was re-established later that year.

My daughter and I stayed in the James Dean room while my friends stayed in the Dennis Hopper suite. The Hopper is a great 2 bed/2 bath suite with 2 living areas. We used it as our “party central” since they were just down the hall from our room. The gift shop downstairs has a lot to offer those who like to shop.

There are a variety of paranormal reports from staff and guests alike. Guests report seeing a woman in a white dress and the spirit of an old man around the property. The woman seen on the second floor may have been the victim of homicide. My daughter and I did not experience anything in our room that I am aware of.

Stop 4: Terlingua, TX

Our final destination on this haunted road trip is the ghost town of Terlingua. Ranchers moved into the Big Bend area to raise livestock and, by the late 1890s, the discovery of mercury (also known as quicksilver), brought mining operations as an economic force for the region. The Chisos Mining Company, was established in 1903 in Terlingua by Chicago businessman Howard E. Perry. For the next three decades, the Chisos Mining Company was one of the nation’s leading producers of quicksilver.

World War I brought increased demand for quicksilver allowing the company to enter its most successful period. At its peak, employees were able to enjoy a company-owned commissary, a hotel, a school, a company doctor, an established water supply, telephone service, mail delivery, and several homes. Production began to decline in the late 1930s and the company filed for bankruptcy in October 1942.

You can freely explore the ruins of the Terlingua Ghost Town. Many guests have reported spirits (thought to be from the days of the Chisos Mining Company) roaming freely among the decaying structures. If you are feeling a little bit adventurous, stay at Perry Mansion where guests have reported paranormal activity. Guests have reported seeing shadows, hearing voices and footsteps, and the apparition of a man on the 2nd floor thought to be a disgruntled employee from the mining company.

On our first visit we split our time between the first floor of Perry Mansion in the La Fonda suite, then moving on to staying in a bubble at Basecamp Terlingua. While my family and I did not experience paranormal activity (that we know of) at Perry Mansion, we enjoyed the comfortable room.

I absolutely recommend attending the Dia de los Muertos that occurs November 2nd in the historic cemetery. Candles are placed on ALL graves giving it the beautifully eerie ambiance you see in my photos. It is not scary or spooky so don’t hesitate to bring the family. You can bring photos of your deceased loved ones to place on one of the altars, meet visitors from all over, enjoy music and food, and celebrate the lives of those who have gone on before us. My husband loved Terlingua so I took photos of him so he could be included in the celebration. I believe he approves. R.I.P. my sweet hubby.

Optional stop 5: Cross over to Boquillas, Mexico from Terlingua

If you have a passport, bring it and run over to the village of Boquillas, Mexico. You have to cross at the Boquillas Crossing Port of Entry (operated by the National Park Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection) within the Big Bend National Park.

For $5 you can be taken across the river by boat or you can walk over if you don’t mind walking through the river (I do not recommend). Once you cross over, you can walk to the village, or you can pay to be taken by truck or by horse. Once in town, there are a couple of restaurants and shops, and plenty of residents selling goods from tables in front of their homes. YOU MUST HAVE A PASSPORT to cross.

If you have extra time, you can visit a couple of ghost towns not far from Marfa: Lobo and Toyah. Within the Big Bend National Park are several ruins including an old store front from the days of the Chisos Mining Company. West Texas offers a glimpse into an interesting past and I recommend you not rush through it. Keep your cameras handy and your ghost-hunting gear charged up. You may need it more than you think! This road trip will be one for the books! Happy haunting, y'all! 🌵👻

[z-o-r-a-k]

Ruins and graves in Terlingua, TX, near the Big Bend National & State parks

[mabrycampbell]

Agua Fria Mountain

Agua Fria Mountain near Terlingua, Texas, 2019 www.mabrycampbell.com #WestTexas #Terlingua #landscapephotography #blackandwhitephotography #mabrycampbell #photography #potd

Agua Fria Mountain Terlingua, Texas, 2019 Agua Fria Mountain – Mabry Campbell Photograph © 2019 Mabry Campbell Mabry Campbell Photography: Website ⎟ Flickr ⎟ LinkedIn ⎟ Instagram www.mabrycampbell.com Fine art prints available through Catherine Couturier Gallery in Houston, Texas. Catherine Couturier Gallery 2635 Colquitt Street Houston, TX 77098 Tel: (713) 524-5070 Email:…

[nolonelyroads]

Endless Highway, Farm to Market Rd 170, near Terlingua, TX

[humongouscasheaglebagel]

[yohehoneymoon-blog]

Day 2: Part 2

(Read Day 2: Part 1 before this one. Also I’ll probably switch off Tumblr because it’s a steaming trash heap of a platform.)

We passed through a little city called Presidio. You could see it from miles afar, glinting with the sheet metal and dead pickup trucks that make up the majority of its borders. It might be nice inside, but we had a national park to find and there was no time to stop.

We hit a ghost town called Terlingua, famous for its chili cook off and oddities. We pulled in and slowly drove around, looking at buildings we weren’t going to enter. There was a bumper sticker affixed to a stop sign: “Don’t MARFA My TERLINGUA,” it read. What the Hell does that mean? We stopped at the cemetery, posed for a picture, and threw some quarters on these little white steps where it looked like people left offerings. We don’t know if that was OK to do, but it already had quarters on it and we wanted to pay respects for us taking a goddamned selfie in a graveyard.

Mexican ghosts appeased, we got back on the road.

Next stop was a desolate golf resort called Lajitas. We saw no golfers, but we stopped for water and a bag of Mexican snacks called “Donitas.” We got the Chile y limon flavor, and they’re really good. A hand painted sign promised “No Gas for 50 Miles!” so we gassed up at $3.58/gal. There was a small pen with goats off to the side and we pet them. They bleated when we walked away. We pulled off to the side and made some Mother’s Day calls. The sheriff pulled up next to us and asked what we were doing. I told him what we were doing and he left, and then we left.

About ten miles down the road we saw a gas station.

Past Lajitas the roads became a windy and hilly mess. If I hadn’t been driving I’d be losing my Donitas. We got stuck behind a guy who insisted on doing 30MPH even when the speed limit changed to 45MPH. Eventually we got around him. “He doesn’t look old,” we said, as if that was the exclusive reason for someone’s slow driving. We passed through a couple small towns that had some variety of infrastructure, but no people. Does anyone live there? Two-thirds of the buildings were bombed out, as if by a drone strike.

We made it to Big Bend Ranch State Park, which sure as shit is not Big Bend National Park, but leads into the latter.

We pulled off the road because a wooden sign said “HOODOOS” and we had to know what that was about. We careened into a small overlook with a trailhead. I overestimated how much power we needed to get up that hill. Another couple was there an gave us a funny look as we kicked up dust and came to a halt. They had three dogs who were not happy about our presence. They offered to take a picture of us with our Fuji Instax camera we borrowed from a friend. It’s a mini Polaroid type deal. She said “how hipster of you” as she took our picture. The film pushed out of the top of the camera and lifted the brim of her hat up. She had a lot of tattoos and a weird attitude. We thanked her for the picture and left.

We finally hit Big Bend National Park and were treated to an even more amazing sight than out trip down US-67. Without any development beyond the road the land was free to breathe its vast nothingness. The speed limit was 45MPH and we didn’t want to do a hair more than that. It was beautiful.

And then we came to the Chisos Basin Campground and every single “amazing, beautiful, wonderful” thing we had seen until then was put to shame. The brownish red rocks are dotted with greenery and tower into the sky at such an angle you’d think they were made on purpose. It looks prehistoric. This is what video games try to emulate. They have thus far failed miserably. We drove, jaws dropped for the entirety of the Chisos Basin area.

We secured site 57 at the Chisos Basin Campground.

Diana made us sandwiches with turkey, roast beef, baby Swiss, pale ale beer mustard, and pickles all on some variety of expensive bread. You know, the kind with seeds and shit all embedded in it? That kind. We sat and listened to birds as we ate out of the back of the van. A fox trotted by.

When the sun got low Diana made Jiffy Pop. It took us fifteen minutes to figure out how to use the butane cooker (that cigarette lighter was left under the counter for us on purpose, it would turn out). We lounged in the back of the campervan with the back doors wide opened and listened to Mysterious Universe, a podcast about paranormal odds and ends, and ate popcorn.

We set an alarm for 3:00 AM so we could see the night sky without the half moon, which was near its zenith at 9:00 PM. We fell asleep.

When the alarm went off the moon had just a tiny journey left before it receded behind a mountain, so I closed my eyes and dozed off for a while until the skies were clear. I had two consecutive dreams, each entailing me waking up and looking outside to find the Milky Way and calling Diana to come see. I haven’t dreamt that lucidly since I was very young. I’ve heard the desert can cause strange dreams, either from a general, subconscious discomfort from being in such a hostile environment, or by way of some natural magics that permeate through the land. Take your pick, but be warned: You’ll never know when you’re truly awake.

Somewhere between 3:30AM and 5:00AM I shuffled out of the van and looked up. I saw an immeasurable number of stars and a thin, gossamer strip running through them. Was that a cloud or the Milky Way? I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. I’m going with the latter. In flip flops and basketball shorts I tottered a few steps back to get a better look. Something yipped and barked in the distance and I jumped. There are numerous signs about the mountain lions in the area that can drag you off by the throat before you can even scream. I know cats don’t bark, but I wasn’t in my right mind, anyway. I was too lost. I woke Diana up and we stared up for a while until the shifting in the bushes became too much to bare. All I could picture was a set of green reflecting eyes pouncing on my well-fed, awestruck ass.

[bloodedcelt]

photo of Bluebonnets and the Milkyway near Terlingua, Texas by Jason Weingart of  http://www.jasonrweingart.com/the-workshops/

[chrisgiuliano]

Texas Road Trip 2018

I just got back from a three-day Texas road trip. I flew into Austin with my friend, where we met two other friends of ours, and immediately started driving west. The car, as usual, was my friend Nick’s old 2000 Buick LeSabre, a hand-me-down from a family friend. 3,500 lbs of Flint-built late-90’s luxury, another friend of mine says the LeSabre is “like a living room on wheels”. The A/C only sporadically works, which makes driving through the desert in the summer difficult, but we did it.

We stopped in Llano, Eden, San Angelo, Midland, Odessa (or “Slow-Deatha” as somebody we met called it), Alpine, Marfa, Big Bend National Park, Terlingua, Del Rio, San Antonio and then back to Austin.

Texas is probably the state in the US most eligible to be its own country. In The Nine Nations of North America, Joel Garreau divides it into three different nations - Dixie, the Breadbasket, and MexAmerica. Since it’s so large, its geography is more diverse than most states, with swamps and piney woods in the east, the hill country and prairies in the middle of the state, the high plains in the panhandle, and the semi-arid and desert areas of the west and Big Bend. This time, we saw the breadbasket and MexAmerica regions.

In the Breadbasket, farming towns and their associated midwestern values dominate. Store clerks told me to “have a blessed day” when I bought cigarettes, grain elevators were the tallest buildings in the towns, and feed stores and farm and tractor supply stores were the biggest attractions by the side of the highway.

In the Permian Basin, which encompasses Midland and Odessa, oil dominates. Those cities are centered around oil production and not much else. We drove through the night and saw the lit flare stacks in the oil fields and the lazy churn of pumpjacks extracting oil. The air smelled of sulphur and the parking lots of roadside bars were filled with F-250’s, but had diverse crowds of whites, blacks, Native Americans, and both men and women, which I doubt we would have seen in the farming country just a few hours behind us. The lobbies of office buildings at night looked like movie sets from the 1950’s, and the streets of the cities were empty.

I had never seen the desert before. We hiked a bit through Big Bend, into the Chisos Mountains, and down toward the Rio Grande at the Santa Elena Canyon. We stopped near Terlingua for lunch and then on our way back for dinner, too. On the way back to Austin, we stopped in Del Rio, the only true border town that we saw. I wish we could have stopped in Ciudad Acuña across the river, but we didn’t have quite enough time.

Texans are proud of their state, which once an independent country (and has been a part of five other countries throughout its history). The more I go to Texas, the more I see where their pride comes from. It’s a beautiful, varied state, and I’m glad I finally got the chance to see some chunks of Texas that are often forgotten about. Photos to come eventually.

I will be doing a zine of my road trips over the last three years titled Travels I-III. It will be limited to about 20 copies, and anybody who buys a copy will receive a pin that I recently made as well as a postcard or vintage photo from the Texas Trip. Stay tuned for the announcement, likely to come at the end of June!

[micklemeelmo]

Venting

I’m just venting.

He has barely spoken to me since coming back from Terlingua. Asks for sex like I’m a vending machine. Which is fine but I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t miss the cuddles afterward. Won’t talk to me about anything going on in his world and doesn’t want to talk about what’s going on in mine.

Said everything is changed since “this last one” in Terlingua and I’m sitting here flummoxed because it’s like I fucked the football team! I’m utterly confused and wish he’d just shit or get off the pot.

How long is this going to last? Days months years until he can “trust” me, when he never really did? I want a partner who will be supportive with me. Loving and forgiving.

I would totally understand all this if I had misbehaved egregiously. A hand on the back, too close conversation, and lower inhibitions really?? I might get mad and jealous but it wouldn’t be a deal breaker even if I saw it happen two or three times over 12 years.

I’m tired of apologizing first. I’m tired of minding my Ps and Qs. I’m tired of being blamed for the loss of affection. I’m tired of being scolded like a child for innocuous stuff or honest mistakes. I’m tired of being screamed at when I express my own boundaries or needs or fears. I’m tired of the fuck yous and fuck offs that have been happening since damn near day 1.

Ugh! I’m so frustrated

[z-o-r-a-k]

Visited 4 farms outside of El Paso today. Here's our grocery haul for camping out near Terlingua, in Big Bend National Park.