It’s obvious that I have seen too many John Wayne movies, where he rides out across the Rio Grande River with the cavalry following him! I expected that the river of the movies would look like the real Rio Bravo. But this is it. Small enough to chunk a rock across! Very fast and muddy from the desert rains of the morning. Trees and brush in the background are Old Mexico!
The park seems bigger than most states we’ve crossed, and so wild that we might as well be on the moon. Rock formations and vegetation change almost imperceptably with the miles. We watch for wildlife but only see a few birds on the horizon. Almost no cars. We have the desert to ourselves.
Following the road down the mountains to the river, we see a large cut in the landscape in the distance. We believe it to be manmade, until we get closer. It’s the Santa Elena Canyon, a massive split in the limestone earth created by the river. An unbelieveable site.
We read that early explorers put a boat in the head of the canyon, but only splinters of the craft were left as it came out through the white water.
