Buenos Aires HQ trails

After yesterdays hike we took an easy hike day.  It’s still warm and sunny, shorts & T shirt weather.  Leave the rain gear in the camper, like we’ve been doing for weeks now.  It was 12 miles to the Visitor Center where they have a couple trails.  First we went to the Aguirre Lake trail.  The lake is dry, lots of grasses growing in it, but signs of moisture.  Enough so that there are lots of birds hanging around the edges.  Gambel Quail, Mexican Jay, Painted Red Start, Spotted Towhee, Lesser Goldfinch, Oak Titmouse, Sora, Berwicks Wren, Savannah Sparrow, Brewers Sparrow, White Crowned Sparrow and Pyrrhuloxia.  Some identified by us, many by sound via the Merlin app.

Lunch by the “lake”.  Then up to the Visitor Center and a hike around their nature trail.  Inside the visitor Center we watched a video of the history of the area, talked with the volunteer and learned that the smoke in a photo from yesterday was a prescribed burn to refresh the grasslands and burn up the chopped Mesquite.  The Mesquite is not natural here and competes with the grasses, so they cut it down and stack it until they can burn the area.  Burning is natural and necessary to the continuous grasslands.

We also met some neighbors out here in the camping region.  The long road we hiked a couple days ago with a camper part way out is theirs.  they also have a 3 year old Yellow Cream Lab.  He and Skye got together out on the lawn of the center for some play time.  They had noticed our camper and truck and recognized the truck in the lot.  Harry and ____ are from Madison WS and hit the road in Nov.  He is originally from Alpine TX, a town we both have admired north of Big Bend.

One more full day here before heading to Phoenix for EOT.

Sunrise this morning 

Aguirre Lake

The Lake trail

This little guy is about an inch long

Skye and friend

They biked from their camp.  The dog rides and runs, alternating as needed