August in Big Bend is HOT! Not that this is a surprise. The daily report routinely advises us that the heat index in the desert could reach 130° F. Fortunately it’s somewhat cooler (lower 90s) in The Basin where we live. We did have the foresight to install an air conditioner in Velocity this spring. It’s incredibly noisy, but it can cool the trailer from the 90s to the 60s in about 30 minutes. Typical forecast for Terlingua which is about 35 miles away and 2500 feet lower than The Basin:

Why are we back?

Why are we here now? Our previous trips to Big Bend have spanned late November to early May so we wanted something different. August & September are typically the rainy season although there are no guarantees. We haven’t seen any flash floods, but we did get enough rain last week that water cascaded down the cliffs for a little while. We also wanted to be here in the low season. That allows Alan to be the campground host for the Chisos Basin campground while Susannah volunteers in The Basin visitors center.

Because we’re here at a different time of year, we’re seeing different plant life and wildlife. We’re not sure quite why this ladder-backed woodpecker wanted to come inside.

We’ve seen some rather interesting bug life.

The agaves or century plants were just beginning to send up stalks when we left last May. Now most of them have bloomed and gone to fruit.

The prickly pear cacti have also fruited. We understand that it’s ok to pick a few for immediate consumption, but we haven’t tried that. They seem a little…prickly. Birds and foxes apparently like the fruit as we’ve seen lots of purple poop in the campground and on the trails.

There aren’t many flowers right now, but that may change if we get more rain. Our schedules haven’t allowed for many hikes together so going up Lost Mine trail together last week was a nice treat, and we saw a couple of plants in bloom.