Santa Elena Canyon at the end of the trail Another hot day, the high was near 100. Today we started with a tour of what used to be a small inn around a hot springs, right off the Rio Grand river. We then headed for the Ross Maxwell scenic drive and the old town of Castolon, which is now a visitor center. This was a remote farming and ranch area for many years – it certainly looked like a meager existence. The highlight of the day was Santa Elena Canyon, which is an 8 mile long canyon with 1500 foot walls, through which the Rio Grand emerges. We took what was supposed to be an easy hike (about 1.6 miles round trip) into the canyon. Surprise- this hike was mostly up and down which was difficult in all this heat. The start was up a paved set of steps and slopes for several hundred feet – we saw a lot of people give up after a few of the switchbacks. We did make it, but this was almost too much for Mary after her knee surgery 2 weeks ago. We were rewarded with a beautiful view of the canyon from a shady and sandy shore. A number of folks canoed through the river as we were watching (we envied there easier trip down the river). This evening, I went on the nature trail to get a sunset view of the both the Chisos mountains and the Sierra Madres on the Mexican side.
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