I have to respectfully disagree with Richard on characterizing the area
around the Chisos Mountains as "empty" desert. Don't get me wrong
Richard, it is desert, and when I was a boy riding in the "way back" of
the family Dodge station wagon (numerous times) it definitely seemed
empty. My last visit was in 2004 and thirty-eight years after my
previous. As we drove through the park on the way to Chisos Basin I saw
a very different desert, an amazingly intact ecosystem given the long
history of human activity in the region. Not a place you want to walk
into unprepared for sure, not for inexperienced visitors to wander
alone, but a place worth seeing. The panoramic shot linked below will
hopefully show you what I mean.

If you've never been to Big Bend, go. It is birdier than you might expect!

http://www.panoramio.com/photos/original/17414403.jpg

To see this photo located on a map go to:

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/17414403


Richard Carlson wrote:
> The Colima Warbler hike in Big Bend requires you to start early with
> headlamps. The first thing sign my wife and I saw at 4:30 am last
> year was "Warning Mountain Lions, DO NOT Hike in the Dark, or in Small
> Groups".
> I don't quite know how I convinced my wife to keep going, but the idea
> of her waiting for me when she got tired evaporated.
>
> This is a long 10 mile all day trip. You have to hike the trail
> between mid-April and mid-May, so it's hot. If we 66 yr olds with
> crappy joints can make it, anyone can, but it's not for the faint of
> heart. Be sure to get hotel reservations in the park many months
> early. The bird is very hard to find. A major birding group owes me
> for finding the bird and guiding them to it.
>
> Lovely mountains, surrounded by vast areas of empty desert that make
> eastern Washington look like a garden.
>
> RCC
>
>
>
> Richard Carlson
> Full-time Birder, Biker and Rotarian
> Part-time Economist
> Tucson, AZ, Lake Tahoe, CA, & Kirkland, WA
> rccarl at pacbell.net
> Tucson 520-760-4935
> Tahoe 530-581-0624
> Kirkland 425-828-3819
> Cell 650-280-2965
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Roger Moyer <rogermoyer1 at hotmail.com>
> *To:* tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 3, 2009 11:42:45 PM
> *Subject:* [Tweeters] Colima Warbler
>
> I am comtemplating going after the Colima Warbler next spring and
> would appreicate input from anyone who has made the "jaunt". I
> understand it it quite a climb to get to the site. If somone could
> contact me offline about the hike and such I would appreicate it.
>
> Roger Moyer
> rogermoyer1 at hotmail.com <mailto:rogermoyer1 at hotmail.com>
> Chehalis, WA
>
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