Article: In the most rugged corner of Texas, the desert is full of surprises.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, Texas _ Daylight was failing fast as we hiked the last quarter-mile out of the Grapevine Hills. The early evening sunlight was bouncing beautifully off the ocher-colored cliffs, masses of granite boulders rising dramatically over a sandy wash. We'd gone slowly along the lightly defined desert trail, stopping to take photographs, to watch tiny lizards and just to gawk.

Finally, as the sun appeared ready to disappear over the horizon, we reached the dirt-and-gravel road that signaled the end of the trail.

Except it wasn't the same part of the road we'd started from.

We paused briefly to panic _ and to mentally kick ...

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