indian lodge

this is a cool old hotel maintained on the davis mountains state park property. we were camping, but just a short walk away and it was very beautiful. some reading on the porch for sure.

the first night in davis mountains was cold, around 21 or 22 degrees. only time i have ever been cold in my sleeping bag.

for more info on the davis mountains in texas, click here. we camped there first before going to big bend.

our main motivation was to visit mcdonald observatory, a world-class observatory owned by ut austin, my alma mater. i had been once before, and this time it was colder - nineteen degrees on mount locke. yikes.

most people don't think of texas as mountainous but in fact we have many peaks over 6,000 feet and several over 8,000 feet. this is pretty impressive for a state whose base elevation is quite low.

more on that later, no doubt.