Texas—Big Bend Country 2007 The Davis Mountains

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	By late afternoon of Day 5, we had made our way to the Davis Mountain area of west Texas. On the flats below the mountains, we observed a variety of wildlife, including this pronghorn antelope.
	Once in the Davis Mountains, we stopped at the McDonald Observatory, one of the major astronomical research facilities in the world. We made a brief stop in the Visitor Center to get information, then drove up Mount Locke to see the telescopes.
	Atop Mount Locke (6,792') are two reflective telescopes, including the original 82" Otto Struve telescope, completed in 1939. The Davis Mountains are said to provide the McDonald Observatory with some of the darkest nighttime skies in the world.
	Nearby on Mount Fowlkes (6,659') is the Hobby-Eberly reflective telescope, completed in 1999, the mirror for which is the largest yet constructed. It is currently the world's fourth largest optical telescope.
	The top of Mount Locke offered sweeping panoramas of the Davis Mountains. Like the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend, the Davis Mountains—the most extensive mountain range in Texas—is an ecological island. Extremes of altitude produce both plains grasslands and pinyon-juniper-oak woodlands.
	Overnight on Day 5 we stayed at the Indian Lodge in Davis Mountains State Park. The historic section of the lodge was constructed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The architecture is said to resemble a Southwestern Native-American-style multilevel pueblo village.
	On Day 6, after breakfast at Indian Lodge, we visited Fort Davis National Historic Site. As noted on their website: "Fort Davis is one of the best surviving examples of an Indian Wars' frontier military post in the Southwest." The historic site is located just outside the city of Fort Davis, which at an elevation of 5050 feet makes Fort Davis the highest town in the state.
	Officers Row is one of the best-preserved groups of structures in the park.
	For Davis had a long history. Ruins are all that remain of some of the buildings.
	The post hospital is currently undergoing restoration.
	Fort Davis was a key post in the defense system of west Texas, protecting emigrants, freighters, mail coaches, and travelers along the San Antonio-El Paso Road, remnants of which can still be seen in the park.

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