Leonid Trip 2002 continued

Frost dotted the leaves and flowers of Big Bend, creating a lace appearance which sparkled in the mornings light. A new world awoke, fresh and full of possibilities. A warm glow cast on the mountains seemed to promise the vanquishing of the cold of the dark night and our hearts warmed with the thoughts of the adventures that lay before us.

Carrie fixed breakfast as several Havelina's passed near our camp scrounging around for small morsels to eat. She told me that Mark took a hike and would be back 4 hours later, approximately 12:30pm. After eating some wonderful eggs, Carrie and I jumped in the car and went to the lodge. We wanted comfort for that night because we would need a nice solid nights sleep before the meteor shower...no more fighting with the cold.

The two of us drove out to the fossil exhibit, that we passed on the way in. As a rock hound anything involving geology is on my list of things to see. However, the fossil exhibit was not as impressive as I had thought it would be.

For lunch, Carrie grilled some hot dogs and we enjoyed the view. Visitors to our camp included three small deer. At about 2:30 Mark still hadn't shown up. I was concerned, but Carrie reassured me that he was probably fine. Even those familiar with forested areas and hiking can get turned around, especially in unfamiliar territory.

Mark had left early that morning to hike to Emery Peak. What he thought was a four hour roundtrip hike was actually eight hours. With a camera in hand he began his climb.

Carrie and I ventured out on the Scenic Loop. Volcanic peaks rose out of the ash clouds as creatures from another time. I loved every minute of the walk across basalt, tuff, and ash. Picking up rocks and imagining their creation had me spellbound...

Daylight was fading fast and we decided that we must continue on. We drove to Santa Elena Canyon, just as the sun set. A few old buildings caught my eye, and I had to investigate at least one of them. I made a mental note to go back and visit them again when I had more time. Brilliant reds cast their glow on the mountains to the East highlighting the way back home. It was 7:30pm when we drove up and I was concerned about Mark.

We found Mark in his car napping...and tired, but just fine. The hike he had taken was a climb towards Emery peak a very strenuous trail that is eight hours round trip. He had sent two guys back to tell Carrie and I he was fine, but Mark beat us back to camp anyways.

The three of us went to get a hot meal at the lodge. We were told that there was a mountain lion that hung out around the lodge at night terrifying visitors. We never did see sign of the cat though. Then we all took turns enjoying a nice warm shower in the lodge room, then we all quickly went to sleep.

The next morning we all woke up to find cloudy skies. Worry filled our heads as we wondered how much land the clouds covered. The Leonid shower was that night and we needed clear skies...bad.

Mark suggested going into Alpine to check out the weather on the internet. I took advantage of the stop and emailed friends and family:) The weather outlook said that it would clear out, but we noticed a large area of clouds just Southwest of Big Bend and we know how weather forecasts can change. After all the forecast for Big Bend was mostly clear, where we found it mostly cloudy until we left the area around 11am.

Abilene looked clear we talked about all of our options and decided to head toward Abilene where we would check the forecasts one last time.

Our LONGGGG Drive took us from one end of Texas to the other and we finally made it to Abilene. Skies would be clear in the Fort Griffin area so we decided to get a room and prepare for the show.

We found a cozy little hotel and impatiently waited for the show. It was decided to take a nap to make sure we were well rested for the show. I couldn't go to sleep. My excitement was such that it took me what seemed like forever to calm down. I finally cleared my mind and went to sleep. At around 12:30am we headed out to Fort Griffin. We were each layered with so many coats, pants, gloves, hats, and anything else we could put on that we could hardly move!

It was really quiet in Fort Griffin as the three of us took some night shots of the ruins at the park. Then the show began!

Meteors crossed our skies with a brilliant fire and each time we caught our breaths. Green, yellow, orange colors fascinated us with some of the meteors. Trains were left for several seconds after several Leonids past by. Mark took four minute counts as the shower continued. This shower was not as grand as last years, but with a best friend on each side of me, stars above me, and those sparkling brief guests of the sky... my heart was warmed:)

From 4:01 to 5:01 Mark continued counts of the Leonids. We noticed several bright meteors cross the skies over Mark's car and we joked about aiming our camera's at Marks car to catch them. We saw a handful of very nice Leonids, but over all they were much fainter than last years.

by Carrie Ponder

Venus crept into the sky and we decided that we had seen the best that the sky had to offer us that night. We climbed into our cars and headed back to our warm hotel room.

The next morning we left the hotel and headed home. Memories from the trip ran through my head. Hopes for another trip where the three of us could explore the wonders of the natural world ran strong.

I wondered as we parted, if Carrie and Mark thought as I did. Spending five days together traveling everywhere in Texas (but the panhandle...) I hated for it all to end. Carrie and I got into the Jimmy and drove South and Mark drove East. On the way home I kept expecting to look back and see Mark's car trailing behind us and wondered....when we would travel together again.