Seminole Canyon

While in Del Rio we learned about Seminole Canyon State Park, about 30 miles North outside of Comstock Texas, that allegedly had fantastic droves of ancient rock art. Sadly we arrived in Del Rio late on Sunday and learned that the only way to see the rock art was on a Ranger guided tour, and those only ran twice a day on every day except Monday and Tuesday.  As a result, we couldn’t stop in on our way to Marfa.

Because we can, we decided to backtrack after Marfa and take in the Canyon. It was a 4-hour one-way trek but turned out to be well worthwhile. Seminole Canyon is a deep crevice created from water erosion resulting from heavy rains that frequent West Texas. The rock art has been dated back some 4,000 years. However, it is interesting that no current indigenous culture has claimed that those residents of Seminole Canyon are their predecessors. That doesn’t mean that those residents didn’t continue on to current times, however, apparently no current culture has history stories that include those early inhabitants.

We hiked the length of the Canyon taking in all the easily visible art. Scientists have concluded that the art is of the Pecos style, which is prominent in Western Texas centering around El Paso. So, despite no claim to these residents, from the style of their art, they would appear to at least be similar to the other residents in the area. We saw the panther above from across the waters of the Rio Grande. The meaning of this winged human figure is not clear – there was no written dictionary left behind of what the symbols mean – but it and the other art in all these protected shelter areas are awesome.

Seminole Canyon, after heavy rains, drains into the Rio Grande. When we hiked the Canyon rim, we ended up at the Rio Grande once again. We thought that we had left the Rio Grande until our next Texas romp when we left Del Rio. But we managed to find our way back here again. Apparently, the river is one of those vortex areas that draw you in.

We also managed a couple of Lifers that we didn’t expect. While on the Ranger tour into the Canyon, our guide told us that the lovely bird calls were that of a Cactus Wren. She said they were highly elusive and weren’t prone to show themselves, so we might just have to settle for the sound of their beautiful voice. But on our Canyon rim hike, we were graced with an appearance.

We also spotted a White Crowned Sparrow. As with other birds, it is entirely possible that we have seen this guy before, but we never got a good look, or was able to actually determine what it was.  But again, our Canyon rim hike was the charm. I got a really good image, and we were able to locate it in our Audubon birding book. Nuther Lifer – yippee!

Talk to you soon!