Big Bend. 250 miles of the International Border with Mexico. 1250 square miles, which is 60% of the size of Rhode Island. 9000 yr. old artifacts. The largest protected section of the Chihuahuan Desert in the U.S. It has contrasts of weather from freezing to 118 degrees, with ground temperatures in the summer that have been recorded to 180 degrees. 
We had to leave. the rest of the miles taking us home to California were calling
Many a story to be told in these parts...........
Including the art work in Terlingua, Texas...........
Our next evening's camp took us to Hueco Tanks State Park, just east of El Paso.
"Hueco" means 'hollow', and it describes the rock basins which hold water all year long, and have tiny, translucent fresh-water shrimp. Foxes, bobcats, falcons,golden eagles, lizards, and others are attracted to them. In the summer's blistering heat, the Native Peoples went up to this area (4500-4800 ft. elevation) into the naturally air-conditioned caves.
The rock paintings, among them more than 200 masks, are thousands of years old. Through the centuries, new people have painted, sometimes over the old paintings. We saw 'paintings', which we tend to call 'graffiti' up into the 1980's, painted over thousand yr old ones. The park is now protected, only by reservation can you stay. You must attend an orientation with a ranger, sign in, report to them when you're going out to see the art, or to climb (a haven for rock climbers!)
Centuries of rock art. Who's to say, eh?
As the ranger said, we humans like to leave our mark.
She wasn't excusing defacing art milleniums old, just saying it's who we are, it seems.
More rock art photos in the next post...................RJ
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