Friday May 24 2024

May 28, 2024

Friday May 24 2024

Friday May 24

Travel day to Davis Mountains State Park which is deep in west Texas. From Seminole Canyon there is only one road that leads to Fort Davis, so we took it! The topography grew more mountainous as we headed west and by the time we arrived in Alpine we were in the Davis Mountains – the most extensive mountain range in Texas. Alpine is a nice town, we stopped for coffee and groceries before heading north to Fort Davis and Davis Mountains State Park.

The park is situated in a very picturesque valley just west of Fort Davis. We checked in and found our campsite which had some shade, but not as much as other sites and not as much as we would have liked. The temperatures were right up there again (38 C) and we got Free-da set up including the sun shade tarp. The park has a road that winds to the top of the hill on the south side of the campground. We toured up there in the truck to escape the heat and to get a view of the surrounding area from above. The views were impressive with the lofty Davis Mountains surrounding us and the McDonald Observatories atop two peaks to the north.

Back in camp, we put our camp chairs in the shade and chilled out until suppertime. Afterwards we took a relaxing stroll around the campground and enjoyed the relative cool of evening. As soon as the sun went down, the trailer cooled off and we able to get a good night’s sleep.

Saturday May 25

After breakfast we got ready for a hike up the mountain on the north side of the campground. By the time we set out it was already over 30 C so we weren’t moving too fast. Lots of interesting blooming cacti and the odd shrubby tree to catch some shade. The trail is a 4 km loop that descends next to the Indian Lodge, an Adobe structure built in the 1930s. Currently the lodge is being renovated and the trail was closed in the area above the lodge. The trail closure was posted so after we reached the scenic overlook we retraced our path back down to camp.

Back at camp, we took showers to cool off and clean up a little before heading off to the MacDonald Observatories for the afternoon.

The MacDonald Observatories sit atop two peaks northwest of Fort Davis and are home to three main telescopes and multiple small ones. There is a large visitor center with displays and descriptions of the facility as well as some general information on astronomy. The guided tour was full, so we opted for a self guided tour. They allow visitors to drive their vehicles up to the two observatory sites and then walk to points of interest at each site. The most modern observatory has a large foyer and a glass wall separating the foyer from the telescope allowing visitors to see the inner workings of the observatory. Even though we weren’t part of the tour, we were able to listen along as the tour guide did their spiel.

Two of the larger telescopes were built in the 1920s and 1960s and have been continuously upgraded over the years in order to stay relevant. The newest facility, built in the late 1990s, houses the Hobby-Eberly Telescope which is the second largest telescope in the world and is optimized for spectroscopy.

We enjoyed our tour and the fantastic views of the surrounding desert and Davis Mountains from an elevation of 6,814 feet above sea level.

We returned to camp, it was still too early and hot to prepare dinner, so we went back up the scenic overlook road as we had not followed it to the end where there is another lookout. There we saw a herd of mountain sheep, grazing and hanging around a very rocky area just below the lookout.

As the sun was setting, we made our way back down the scenic drive for a relaxing and cooler evening at the campsite.