European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 8, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine a tog 0/oiig the South rim Trail of the Celsos Mountain in big Bend National Park trans Pecos out where Texas is Texas sized by Peter Applebome new York times n the Early morning tire he. As you drive West torn Pecos. I he mountains in he distance look  Lithco densely Iii Iund. Low lying Bank of Clouds of 3 nor rage the woe i to terrain has Beon so hard and so Flat for so Long i a i the mountains in inc distance scum As improbable As an Ocean but Iho mountains arc a Cal. And their cold lonely  gives identity to the one Parl of the slate where the mythic Texas of endless Villas and limitless Pace resonates with the most Force. This is Iho trans Pecos inc desolate forbidding reaches in rom Jhc f ecu1 Hiver to the state s Western tip at Al Pato the Spanish explorers called the Region  Dos Pletado. Inc unpopulated place though there  Indian Peoples living in the Region humans have  been eclipsed by the vast Ness of he land  count atone the largest of inc nine counties in Iho area is equal in is e to Connecticut and Shodo Island combined bul ilm Vij a population of about 7,700 or a Little More than Onti person per equate mite the whole a a.  Aish Loo to.  Loo a. Too duly or Loo rugged for some travellers its Lood and amenities Ollyn leave som Elhag to be desired bul if there is any place Hal encapsulates  ancestral my Aliquo Idal Sarll Sjoli ies Scias to Quiej dvrs. In can to found in the endless expanse of land the Slark Rocky i Maslone peaks and inc a Island isolate re Lovins like fort Davis. Maria. Alpine or Marathon Hal function As Independent Little teas duchies places like Van Horn the Only Jown of any si2t for 175 Miles along inner state 10 As a focal his Lonan named Viromia Ladison us of to say this is the place trans Pecos i hero All the lies you Hoard about Texas Are Jno " Tho most potent so role cd Row of the Region to Itie 700.000-acre big Bend Namani Pafk wih its slash canyons and chills and dramatic desert Llora. Many people come Lof he mfr Brj a of Jons Jong the Rio Grande Loans in particular sometimes come to Beal the worst of the Bummer a heal in inc i Ian vuly Cool Mountain Lowns Ike fort Davis in Tho Winter temperatures tend to a or arc Boul 60 Degrat is Duniy the Day and Marfa oilers one of the nation s truly startling an exhibits. Jul the ultimate Appeal of Trie trans Pecos in something More than the sum of its parts the radio station in Alp Milf. Hills itself As fax or if of the t am  a  o i Roann , \ i of country music Ami Kunlun into Vitti its sunday. Novembers 1987 Madcap accordion sound and Caplis preachers in Pecos. Winds Down to a scratchy handful of stations in a pm until you near Presidio on the mexican Border a Here in s impossible to pick up much More than the Brassy mexican stations across the Borden in Ojinaga As you head through Tho dig Send area Ihu Recto picks up nothing Al All and inc silence and the sense of Iso Ladon is so startling d s almost impossible not to think How easy it would Bolo All Olf the lace of inc Cabihi Vithous a Liace you travel of course by car Maliak Amanz moly enough slops in Alpine and some hotels a ill help arrange transportation from there Lor hrs tors atm trr.1 usual Way to travel 15 to Fly into to paso or Midland jul in a car and see where it lakes you towns at High Elev Lions. Like Maria and Forl a i j and pads of big Bend National Park Are relatively Camlo Mable n Tho summer and Sirj Bend Bills i sell Ai a year round Park but summer temperatures Wett up in Ine 90s Are Iho Norm in rough much of the trans pc-co1. Ioil you Don t like in hot. You Don i want to visit in the summer even in you do it is essential to inspect the Sun s Loco and to bang no Mph Vator the Best mos to Visil Are Spring and Lall heading West irom to if Grid. Facos is a Good dumping Eft Point bul not much More Mccoe is Tho area s Larf Josl town. I ii a Jjo Pullion of 12.865 its Wil of the Pocos museum in the old Oncil hotel is one of tie nest collodion of Western artefact ii in the 0 Liv bit Picc it to i mart1 in common  tie cult \ Montit Iliili  Uri f inc a a the stars and stripes Page 13