Dugout Wells

On the road to Boquillas Canyon from the Basin, you descend into the desert and drive southeast. Halfway there, in the middle of the scrub and rock, off to the left as you drive, the green canopy of Cottonwoods stands out by itself.

You really can't miss something like that. The color effect is quite striking. There's all this red and brown and white and drab around you, and then BANG there's this bright green out there in the middle of nowhere.

We turned left off the main road and drove the short distance to Dugout Wells.

Here, in the middle of the desert, the Huisache trees were blooming, their yellow blossoms alive with the buzz of hundreds and hundreds of bees. Here, in the desert, water was running across the road. The desert air was already getting hot, but under the Cottonwoods, the light was filtered, the wind made the green leaves quake, and you could close your eyes and imagine yourself being somewhere far away.

I was here a quarter century ago or so, here at this very spot standing under these very trees. That large Cottonwood was certainly not as large then, and that branch had probably not fallen to the ground. But the windmill was here. And this path thru the trees was here. And I must have stood on this very spot. I wonder when the next time will be.

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Dugout Wells
Big Bend National Park

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