For my first overnight hike on my recent quest for badlands within Big Bend National Park, I chose a rough, barren looking area (found using Google Earth) about 2 miles west of the intersection of Glenn Springs and Black Gap roads deep in the backcountry of the park.
This hike turned out much harder than I expected. I made it to an interesting spot, but I did not get to explore the area as much as I had wanted.
Swirl
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The landscape turned from typical Chihuahuan Desert to something resembling Death Valley. I did not see a lot of typical badland-type features (i.e. barren soil hills), but the starkness was different and very interesting.
The "Green Folds"
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The "Green Folds" is one feature I spotted using Google Earth and had pre-marked (using GPS coordinates) as a spot of interest for my hike. Turns out that it wasn't so green in color :-)
Morning View from my Campsite
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I wish I had more energy and time to explore that area. I only saw a small portion of it, and from a high vantage point, I could see more badlands, including typical barren-soil hills, in the distance.
I'm certainly not disappointed. I really enjoyed this first trek, although it was hard :-)
Up next, the Rattlesnake Badlands. Stay tuned...
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