KJ made it back

KJ made it back from his camping trip in one piece. He had a wonderful time and wants to go with this group again. He is at his dad's for the weekend, but I thought I would go ahead and post a few of his pictures. (He took 167!) Maybe I'll convince him to do a guest blog about the trip when he returns. FYI - all pics are bigger if you click on them.

This is the Mountain Men bus. It has no heat or a/c. Several of the bus seats have been turned so they face it each other with a small table in between. Each boy had to put his gear in a 38 qt. plastic container. The bus has racks above the seats that are designed to hold that size container. Each boy was also assigned a duffle bag for his sleeping bag, pillow, and coat.




This is where the duffle bags and cots were stored. KJ called it the lounge area since the boys would just lay back on top of the bags and nap.


Also in the bus is the head of a jackalope. KJ was excited to show me this picture and wanted to know if I had ever seen one before. "Ummm, you DO know that they aren't real, right?"
"No, Mom. I pulled on the horns and they are really attached." I explained how they were popular novelty items years ago.


He still didn't believe me and directed me to this picture.

The part I circled in red is a jackalope hunting license.

This dog, Brady, has gone on every trek and expedition since he was 7 months old. He is the Fort Smith Mountain Men dog.


He and KJ got along well.


The first day they drove to Balmorhea State Park. (395 miles) I'm not sure if this is there or on the way.




They spent the night and messed around there until after lunch, when they headed on over to Fort Davis State Park. (32 miles) They set up camp and hiked a little.

They had tents, but never used them.

They spent the night there, hiked up a mountain, and went to the McDonald Observatory that evening.

I can't believe how BLUE the sky is.

This is from the top of the mountain, I think. KJ is on the far left.


They went to a star party here. KJ saw and visited with the Education Curator from the zoo. She was vacationing in the area too.


After spending a second night, they headed out to Stillwell Ranch, just outside Big Bend. (93 miles) On the way, they saw some bald eagles who had a nest with babies.


On their first day there, they hiked Dog Canyon.


Big Bend has lots of cacti.


On their second day, they had a longer hike along the Rio Grande. The river is down in the ravine.


See, there it is. It's hard to imagine illegals scaling those cliffs to cross the border.


Well, maybe they could cross here. It looks doable if you were determined.


Now THIS would be an easy place to cross. Is that a tiny building on the other side?


Yep, it sure is.


Hope you didn't buy anything, KJ.


I know these next pics are in Big Bend, but I'm not sure where.




This is an adobe building. KJ is on the far right.




After their second night at Stillwell Ranch, they drove to Wolf Mountain Scout Ranch. (332 miles), where they had a final campfire and spent the night. The next morning, they got to shoot black powder rifles before returning to Georgetown. (66 miles)

KJ learned a ton including how to do a little cooking.