Shackelford Ranch

the biggest misconception about west texas, or any part of texas for that matter, is the wide open space. you can see for miles and miles, which makes you feel like you're in the great wide open...uncharted territory...enough ground to wonder around on and never run into another soul...adventure (!!!)...but the truth of the matter is that 97% of this land is private property. and from where i live i have to drive 1 1/2 hours before i get to land that does not have fenced boundaries i.e. Big Bend National Park. so the only way to "roam around" is to know someone who owns a ranch and to be invited to said ranch. although i do not know the exact acreage or square miles of these ranches, it is safe to say that each is 1000s and 1000s of acres. not kidding. like 16000 acres, or 30000 acres. i've heard of such chunks. after living here for 1 1/2 years i finally got myself to some ranch land...in fact, i have been to 3 different ranches in 3 weeks! after driving over an hour on hard top road, we drove another hour or so on an "off road" before we made it. here is the first...

Shackelford Ranch

on top of 4800 ft. mountain + view from porch = Mexico !

this house is totally off grid: enough solar to run a fridge and few hours of tv, other sources of light are gas lamps