Where the Cactus Flowers Grow

One of my favorite images from Big Bend. I took this frame up on the South Rim - which is about a 12 mile roundtrip hike from the Chisos Basin Trailhead. When we visited in mid-April, I was hoping to find a claret cup cactus in bloom positioned in front of some dramatic scenery. After hiking about six miles with our backpacks, setting up at our campsite near the rim, and still no cacti, my friends and I headed a bit further down the trail to explore some lesser-visited areas on the South Rim and find a nice sunset composition. As we rounded the corner around edge of the South Rim , a bright red shape came into view several hundred yards away. It was this beautiful claret cup cactus perched on the edge of the South Rim! The light was perfect - clouds rolled in about an hour before sunset and the sky lit up. I also slightly blurred the background to give the photo a dreamy look. I named the image after a line in Robert Earl Keen’s “Gringo Honeymoon.” This line felt like it was talking about a moment just like the one I captured!