Direct sunlight streamed down on species of bunchgrass that dot the lower, flatter part of the Pinnacle Trail in the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend on June 25, 2016.
Maria Lavendar, park ranger, looks out over Boot Canyon and the dead pines that dot the steep incline. A 2011 drought in the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park took out much of the pine population that once provided food, shelter and shade to the desert mountain forest ecosystem.
Park visitors carved initials on the trunk of a Texas madrone in Big Bend National Park's Chisos Mountains.
Park Ranger and Botanist, Joselyn Fenstermacher (left), stopped often to examine and identify plant and tree species along the Pinnacle Trail en route to Boot Canyon while on a hike with fellow rangers, on her day off.
A dying alligator juniper in the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park June 25, 2016.
A dead pine in Boot Canyon. Most of the pine deaths in Boot Canyon occurred as a result of a 2011 drought and many have not recovered. Link to story in Texas Observer
The road seems to go on forever as a desert storm brought dark clouds over the lower part of Big Bend National Park.