Tall tales in Big Bend
I’m two hours from the West Texan town of Marathon when night falls. I jump at tyre scraps that look like armadillos and jackrabbits jump at me, fleeing my headlights for the safety of the inky black. When I enter Marathon it’s so dark and silent I wince as my car door slams. Have I woken any of the 60-odd schoolchildren who live here?
The dark is deliberate. Marathon has earned a “Class 1 dark sky” rating for astronomy and stargazing, which means all of its residents and businesses help to maintain the blackness. The town is close to Big Bend National Park, a rite-of-passage wilderness that most Texans have visited at least once. It encompasses an entire mountain range and sprawls over both sides of the Mexican-American border.
A rock dome in Big Bend called El Solitario is rumoured to be continental USA’s darkest place. El Solitario is 17km across and visible from space — but big things are common around here. At 500 square miles (1300km²), Brewster County alone is larger than some American states.
I’m at the B&B’s co-ordinates but, instead of a
