2006-03-01 Big Bend-La Clocha camp 05

We have to start our hikes sooooo early. Our first night is at La Clocha, near the hot springs. The Hot Springs in Big Bend were commercialized in the early 1900's or so. There are still several structures standing and the primary foundation for the hot springs building. The hot springs building is gone, lost in the frequent flooding of the Rio Grande, but the foundation still exists, creating a pool about knee deep to soak in. We got to our campsite and just relaxed for the afternoon. A week ago we were freezing in 10 degrees, and now we're baking in 98 degrees! It took us a little while to adjust. We had enough privacy at camp that Andrew was hanging out playing his guitar in the buff. Around sunset we drove over to the hot springs for a soak and on the way we saw a coyote crossing in front of us. We met a couple of nice folks, one guy from Alpine and another couple who were school teachers from Texas, but they have a place in Grand Junction, CO. They told us about how wonderful the city was. We may have to take a closer look at Grande Junction, CO.
Later that evening we split our last beer and sat out by the Rio Grande watching a zillion stars.