January 27, 2005; Marfa, Texas

I came down today.* After being rained on all night in Chisos Basin I packed up and descended to the flats in search of the waterfall once again. With any luck, the rain last night would produce a more spectacular waterfall.

I took one of two gravel roads, unmarked at their entrance and on the map; their path covered by the dense fog. “…and you are not it”. After a mile and a half, the gravel road delivered me to a wide spot in the road followed by a blocked service road just after that. I continued on foot past the gate and soon came to sign pointing to Cattail Falls. The fog was still thick on the trail; bringing out the aroma from the Juniper trees.

The trail lowered into the valley and I could hear the sound of the falls ahead as the clouds parted. Cacti yielded to leafy plants and a small stream soon appeared. I had finally reached the falls.

The falls were less dramatic than what I had expected. In fact, I could not even det back to the falls themselves, but it was a cool place none the less. Besides, if I would not have seen it, the thought of missing it would have driven me crazy.

Marfa was the next stop after Big Bend; home to the Marfa Lights and the Chinati Foundation. The Marfa lights are an unexplained phenomenon that occur near Marfa on Hwy 63. I will let the plaque tell the rest of the story.

The original stories of Apache fires, lost travlers, and even wandering spirits were more believeable than the later, more Hollywood re-tellings. The embelished tellings that described anything from a sea of lightning bugs to spinning whirling globes of light. I did not find the lights to be either of those things really.

Here are two photos taken from the same point of view, as closely as I can approximate. They were fairly unspectacular on this given night. The range and change in color was from green to yellow, and they did move, separate and merge. I suppose the real entertainment is in the mystery of it’s science and lore; with theories on both abounding. The Marfa Lights were not as grand as I had expected. However, I would have kicked myself if I would have missed them.

*bonus points for you philosophy buffs: name the book this famous first line is from. For additional points, and some light fondling: why does this line not apply to me.