West Texas

[rdking647]

took my trip to west texas. I decided to head down near big bend national park. I only spent 1 day in big bend and the rest of the time i drove around the area. ther only problem was my first full day there a front came through with a dust storm so visibility was pretty low for 2 days. despite that i still got some good shots and had a great time. I knew west texas was fairly unpopulated but it was more empty than even i thought. i spend time in brewster county which is 500 sq miles larger than conneticut but has a population of under 10k it could be 60 miles or more between gas stations


this is jersey lilys,the saloon of judge roy bean. its in the "town" of langtry texas which for all practical purposes is a ghost town

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8645071397/][img][/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8645071397/]DSC_8129 (1)[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/rdking647/]rdking647[/url], on Flickr

to me this is just the stereotypical image of west texas.
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646071434/][img][/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646071434/]DSC_8750[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/rdking647/]rdking647[/url], on Flickr

sunset with the mounatins in the background
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8645051469/][img][/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8645051469/]DSC_8204[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/rdking647/]rdking647[/url], on Flickr

terilingua,home of the famous chili cookoff is a ghost town. formerly a mining town where they mined quicksilver the town is now inhabited by just a few people. the cemetery in town is still used and has a large ceremony for the day of the dead in november

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646004588/][img][/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646004588/]terilingua 45[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/rdking647/]rdking647[/url], on Flickr

Terilingua has a church that is slowly being rehabbed. inside the church was a dusty old piano
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646114244/][img][/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646114244/]DSC_8525[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/rdking647/]rdking647[/url], on Flickr

Big Bend National park
one of the largest NP's in the US,larger than the state of rhode island but only vistited by 300,000 people a year. you can see how dusty it was
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8645023681/][img][/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8645023681/]DSC_8400[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/rdking647/]rdking647[/url], on Flickr

this is my favorite shot from the trip. Santa Elena canyon. this is the border between mexico and the US. The US is on the right and mexico on the left with the rio grande between them. the canyon is only about 25 ft wide here and the walls are 1500 feet high
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646035796/][img][/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646035796/]santa elena canyon 13[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/rdking647/]rdking647[/url], on Flickr

another view of santa elena from the canyon mouth
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646028346/][img][/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646028346/]santa elena canyon 43[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/rdking647/]rdking647[/url], on Flickr


hey you get your ass off the road
a herd of wild donkeys
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646109852/][img][/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646109852/]DSC_8572[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/rdking647/]rdking647[/url], on Flickr

miles and miles of texas
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646090272/][img][/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646090272/]DSC_8691[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/rdking647/]rdking647[/url], on Flickr

a dusty day in west texas
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646048214/][img][/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdking647/8646048214/]just a little dusty[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/rdking647/]rdking647[/url], on Flickr

[bluedigger]

1. Looks like a good trip.

Some very nice shots! I shuddered when I saw the timing of your trip. We had a nasty rain/dust storm here Last Monday, and I knew it was headed your way.

[rdking647]

2. no rain but a lot of wind

i went to the mcdonald obervatory and saw they were having a star party that evening. i was going to go and take some shots from 6800 feet high in some of the darkest skies in the country but teh dust came and shot the hell out of visibilty. ill just have to go back after all its just a 7 hour drive

[Callalily]

3. Indeed, this was a very successful

trip for you. I am marveling at each and everyone of your shots.

[justiceischeap]

4. Very nice example of leading lines in the following photos:

santa elena canyon 13 & DSC_8691.

I'm jealous of your ghost town photos. There's only one (existing) ghost town I'm aware of on the east coast (that I could drive to) but it's heavily guarded, has installed vid security cams and has sensors that trip. It's a ghost town near a nuclear reactor power plant.

[Solly Mack]

5. Great shots!