I violated rule #55 of CFR-NPS and a couple more! The Vermillion Flycatchers really put on a combat show. The fish keep jumping and turtles swimming in the Rio Grande River that keeps rolling along from west to east making up the border with Mexico for 90+ miles on the southern edge of Big Bend N.P.’s 800,000 acres of remote desert and mountains in south western Texas.  This is a favorite kayaking & “hiking” stop in my wanderings on my winter Adventure to the warm places in the USA.  
    The canyon walls tower about a thousand feet above me on both sides and this year the water in the river is very low and the air temperature outside the shade of the canyon in the sun soars way over a 100˚ here in the Sonora Desert. My walks (not really hikes) there need to be over by 9a.m., because it’s just too hot after that and at 6pm when I pull my kayak out of the river it’s 100˚ in the shade. The coolness of the shade is why I paddle up into the Canyon as I listen to the echo of the Canyon Wrens call, and marvel at the Canyon walls. The heat takes no prisoners; it’ll fry your brain. It must be dealt with seriously, and I’m here in latter March!  Imagine what it’s like here in July or August!! There’s more description at www.nps.gov/bibe/ and my photos show it better (more at www.lakiva.net/ and all can be purchased) than my words can express. Today is my last day to enjoy the Canyon for this trip. I go towards Cibola NWR on the Az./Ca. border tomorrow, then Las Vegas to feast at the buffets. But this afternoon I’ll be doing HH in a cave at LaKiva’s (www.lakiva.net/) in the town of Terlingua just west of here and stuff myself with their BBQ.
    Here in the Canyon I don’t ever see any colorful birds to impress me; the water is muddy so who knows what’s lurks in its depths. And there’re no bears or alligators, although there are snakes, lizards and bobcats.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see a coatimundi (a large raccoon like animal I used to see near Huatulco, Mx.), a mountain goat or sheep scaling the walls, though. As I write the sun is dancing on the rim and getting more directly overhead, stealing my shade, causing me to retreat up this ledge to stay in the shadows. I paddle to a place like this that is beyond the hiking trails egress that brings an invasion of the tourists. I have to move again - the sun’s pursuit is relentless. Here there’s no level rock to sit on, my ACB may tip over and my chips and guacamole that I made, may slide away. A place like this is silent except for nature’s sounds.  There’re no people, car or airplane noise, except for an occasional river guide and customers as they float down river in their canoes or kayaks.  Here is definitely near the top of My Don’t Miss List (send me an email for the list). It would be nice to see something astounding stick its head around a “corner,” though, but it’s the serenity, and lazy muddy water drifting by that cut this canyon, that’s fantastic! Oh! One more thing, I like. The flies are slow enough for me to swat them, immensely satisfying. Probably another park service rule violation.  
    Trying not to do something that will attract the fuzznics is a continual effort for me. The many places I meander present way too many rules to keep track of. Here I’ve been given advice from rangers to hide all my seashells and other natural stuff and I usually do. Today a ranger stopped me and said he wanted to talk to me, asked for my ID, and went to his vehicle. I thought, this is not a good thing, especially since I was carrying an open ACB. He finally came back and warned me not to throw egg shells on the ground, leave my kayak locked to a tree by the river, and not to collect anything. Easy, I can handle that. No megabucks ticket!
    Yesterday I took a break from kayaking and went to Cottonwood Camp Grounds. It is one of the few places  where you can see Vermillion FlyCatchers. A very difficult photo, because they flit around constantly. The males are brilliantly red.  Birders come here from all over the world to see them. I’ve seen them before since this is my ninth time I’ve included Big Bend in my winter trip. There are also road runners and a great horned owl. They didn’t put in an appearance, but two male Flycatchers were aggressively fighting an aerial territorial duel, then one pinned the other on the ground. Wow, what a photo, my action picture of My Adventure.