February 21 - Day 7 in Big Bend National Park - Dagger Flats Auto Tour and Boquillas Canyon

We were pretty worn out from yesterday's paddle trip, so we took it easy today. There's a gravel road on the map called Dagger Flats Auto Trail which sounded like it might be have good birding possibilities. We've done really well on seeing new birds so far (21 to date), but kind of so-so on getting good photos to post here.

The NPS Big Bend site lists the Dagger Flats road as 7 miles one way, ending in a small valley full of giant dagger yuccas. We were expecting to come across some pull off areas along the road with interpretive signs or something similar, but it's basically just a ride through the desert on a road that ends in a small valley full of giant dagger yuccas - just like the web site said. We were very surprised that we didn't come across very many birds at all. The road was in decent shape most of the way, but there were a few places that might have been trouble for a 2WD car.

We still had a good time despite it not being what we expected. The small valley was indeed full of giant dagger yuccas along with other desert plants covered in sharp, pointed obtrusions. Below is a bit of what we saw.

While we were stopped, I also kept an eye out for reptiles, but came up empty once again. One good thing was that there was no one else out there or on the road until we got about halfway back to the pavement. From here, we headed back to the campground to eat our big meal and figure out what our next move would be.

We still had plenty of daylight left, so we decided to hike the nearby Boquillas Canyon Trail. It's a fairly easy 1.4 mile out and back hike that ends in a canyon with views of the river along the way. The winds had really picked up during the day and unfortunately there's a lot of sand along the trail near the river. We got sandblasted along the way and didn't really enjoy this one as much as the other hikes. I guess we were spoiled from the outrageous scenery we had seen the day before, so this probably isn't a fair assessment of this part of the park. Here's what I shot when I wasn't picking sand out of my teeth.

From here we just called it a day and headed back to the campground to chill for the rest of the day.