Sotol Vista

— The Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive offers some of the most expansive views in Big Bend National Park. The Sotol Vista is one of my favorites. Not only is the scenery breathtaking, but you can also catch a glimpse of Santa Elena Canyon way in the horizon (that little cut in the center of the photo). Sotol is the Spanish name for the Desert Spoon plant. The flowering stems shown in the photo here can be used for making friction fire, and the stem itself can be used as a spear or walking stick. Sotol (the drink) can also be distilled from this plant’s core. Although it takes the plant about 15 years to mature, unlike the agave, which flowers only once in its lifetime, the sotol flowers a few times. Although this shot was taken in 2006, the beauty of the location is timeless.