Day 18 - Big Bend National Park, TX

Today we woke in cottonwood campground to partly cloudy skies which became completely sunny by 11.  The campground is about 8 miles from this huge canyon that was created by the Rio Grande, and campsite #2 is literally just a stone throw away from that very same river.  Can you say arriba arriba?

Since it was so beautiful out we decided to pull the bikes out and ride down to the canyon.  What a ride.  This contrast of the canyon, mountains and desert plant life is so amazing, not to mention the sunshine and warm weather.  And we were greeted by the most amazing canyon when we reached the end of the road.  Once we we there, we locked up the bikes and then hiked the Santa Elena Canyon trail.  A short trail round trip, this one takes you into the canyon to a point where the water rests along both walls.  Very cool.

We rode back to the campsite and afterwards felt like we had had a good workout and a bit of a sunburn as well.  Gotta love the desert.  Before dinner, we drove the opposite direction down the road to a scenic lookout that sits well above the canyon and the Rio Grande to enjoy the sunset.