Big Bend - Cattail Falls

Within Big Bend National Park, you can find the Chisos Mountains. It'll be cooler in the Chisos than on the river, so we headed there two days to hike. On the first day, we approached the mountains from the plains, hiking up to base at Cattail Falls. If we didn't know it was there, we never would have guessed.

At the base of the cliffs, there's a pour off that collect in a pool at the base. In wet years there's actually a falls. I understand the Chihuahuan desert has been in drought for 13 years now (and believe me, it looks it!), so there was no water running over the falls.

There was, however, a deep mirror faced pool at the base. Water was seeping into the pool, as evidenced by the flow from it into several pools down stream. This small chain of pools extended perhaps 100 yards from the base of the cliff. Past that, the water disappeared.

The Chisos Basin above the falls hosts small white tail deer, bear and mountain lion, among others. You'll find real trees here, including pine and oak. Here we're looking west towards the Window, which is above the area containing Cattail Falls.

Here's a closer look through the Window into the desert below. There is a Park Service lodge in the Chisos Basin. It's a desert, and they're short on water. Instead of fighting this, they've decided to go with the flow. Most of the precipitation in the Chisos basin drains down through the window and out into the desert below. There, the Park Service has drilled a well from which water is pumped 1500 feet back uphill to serve the lodge. Geesh!