Marfa Flights: Aerial Views of Big Bend Country

IX. Over the Land of Plenty: Orbiting Green Valley and Paradise Valley

OVER THE LAND OF PLENTY Orbiting Green Valley and Paradise Valley IX. 96. Bandera Mesa About fifteen miles south of Plata The plateau (left) is the broad flat top of Bandera Mesa, which measures about four miles wide and seven miles long. A stock tank (left) provides water for livestock and deer on the mesa. In the distance (right) are the relatively water-rich ranchland of Green Valley and the distinctive shape of Needle Peak. I relish the dreamy color of this lyrical pastoral scene. 97. Needle Peak Green Valley Needle Peak (center), altitude 4,265 feet, rises from Green Valley near Rancho del Martillo. The peak is a syenite dike formed by magma injected into a crack in Duff tuff. The rock pinnacles are approximately 80 percent feldspar. Other mountains in the distance (left to right) are San Jacinto Mountain and Cerro Boludo. To the right is another intrusion simply called the Dike. ◀98. Green-Terraced Valley Floor Two miles northeast of Bandera Mesa Terraces banded with vegetation and a stock tank ringed with green slow and catch the runoff from Bandera Mesa in Green Valley. The playful rippled pattern of green lines and the dot of water appearing in the desert basin add a whimsical note of life to the dry open range. ▶ 99. McKinney Mountain Thirteen miles west of Texas Highway 118 McKinney Mountain (center), 5,006 feet, and Turney Peak (right), 4,854 feet, dominate this view looking northnortheast toward Paradise Valley. Clegg Fowlkes operates Hammond Ranch in this area around McKinney Mountain. Beyond that are Paradise Draw and the upper reaches of Terlingua Creek. Distant peaks just to the right of center (top) include Goat Mountain, Cathedral Mountain, and Cienega Mountain. I gleaned this image from the bunch of pictures for the pure drama and monumental presence of this monolithic mountain rising from the valley. Orbiting Green Valley and Paradise Valley : 137 100. Valley Edge Detail Green Valley Between Needle Peak and McKinney Mountain, a sash of green hugs the base of the red hills along the edge of Green Valley, creating an impressionistic scene in this austere land. I was charmed by the soft, pastel colors of this scene, especially the earthy reds and the gentle green in the distance. 101. Bootlegger Canyon Twenty-seven miles southwest of Alpine Located in the Devil’s Den topographic map quadrant, Bootlegger Canyon (right) still lives up to its name as a viable path for smugglers coming up from Mexico, then across Green Valley northward to One-O-One Flats. During Prohibition , bootleggers brought illegal Mexican liquor, especially sotol and mescal, across the Rio Grande and north into Texas. In the background (top) is Gemelo Mesa on the north end of Paradise Valley in Presidio County. ...