The
trailer didn’t move today.
Route Planning
We spent time last night thinking about the bigger travel picture
and how to address concerns about high temperatures in Arizona. The Phoenix forecast for the next
three weeks includes temperatures exceeding 110°F. We decided to abandon the idea of wandering
around in Cochise County (southeastern Arizona). We had planned it as a lark. The probability of such intense heat removes
the fun.
About the Day
It was 69°F in Alpine at 8am ... the coolest start to a day in
quite a while.
We headed out on a day of exploring (actually re-exploring) around
10am.
A Mystery Solved
We saw a curious, “pointy” mountain yesterday. Today we saw it on the way to Ft. Davis and now
know it as Mitre Peak. It’s 6,073 feet high and is located west of
TX-118, 10 miles north of Alpine.
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| Mitre Peak |
West Texas Scenery (Along TX-118)
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| Sotol(?) |
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| Comanche Prickly Pear |
Ft. Davis
Ft. Davis is a town and a historic site for a key post in the
defense of west Texas from 1854 until 1891.
Troops protected emigrants, freighters, mail coaches and travelers on
the San Antonio-El Paso Road. We first visited
here in 2008.
The Town
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| Jeff Davis County Courthouse |
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| Ft. Davis State Bank |
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| The Main Drag |
The Fort
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| Parade Ground - Officer's Quarters |
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| Officer's Quarters |
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| Officer's Kitchen - What's for lunch? |
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| Two-Story Officer's Quarters |
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| Post Chapel (used for schoolhouse, dances, entertainment) |
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| Enlisted Men's Barracks |
McDonald Observatory
The observatory is located in the Davis Mountains … on the Mount
Locke Summit and the Mount Fowlkes
Summit. There are 10 telescope domes
in the complex. One of the telescopes is
the third largest in the world. We first
visited here in 2008.
We watched the Solar Viewing
program where we got a live, safe view of the sun and then took a Self-Guided Tour of the Mount Locke and
Mount Fowlkes facilities.
 |
| No problem. We attended the Star Party in 2008. |
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| The Observatory Visitor Center from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope |
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| Hobby-Eberly Telescope on Mount Fowlkes Summit |
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| Carol visits the HET Dome |
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| Harlan J. Smith Telescope (L) Otto Struve Telescope (R) on Mount Locke Summit |
The Campground
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| There are trees, level sites & excellent utilities. |
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| Site C13 |
Tomorrow
We’ll explore Marfa.
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