Travel – deep in the wilds of far West Texas
The image of Texas widely held might not encourage the timorous traveller to head that-aways. Texas is usually viewed as a flat desolation roughly the size of France and Spain combined, full of hard-bitten rednecks at best and out-and-out psychopaths at worst, such as have been portrayed in films such as Bonnie and Clyde and, more recently, No Country for Old Men. The reality is somewhat at variance with the image. West Texas is attractive rolling hill country, and far West Texas, that portion beyond the River Pecos, is mostly mountainous, rising to almost 9,000ft in Texas' highest point, Guadeloupe Peak. This is a wild and empty country, the location of some of the most rugged and remote corners of the US outside Alaska, and home to two staggering National Parks that get very few visitors due to their location. West Texans are also the friendliest folk I have met in my travels in the US. When they say, "Howdy, y'awl, how ya doin'?" they mean it.
