Capote Falls

[Big Bender]

Interesting, the data indicates that Capote Falls is 180 feet high but the photo show it might be more like 80 feet.  Is this because of distortion of the photo or is it grossly over estimated like most waterfalls.  There are certainly much higher waterfalls at Big Bend.

[Joe]

Interesting, the data indicates that Capote Falls is 180 feet high but the photo show it might be more like 80 feet.  Is this because of distortion of the photo or is it grossly over estimated like most waterfalls.  There are certainly much higher waterfalls at Big Bend.

I hadn't paid too much attention to it, but I went back and looked at the photo after I read your post.  It's too bad there's nothing in this photo for scale - Capote Falls is one of the highest watrfalls I've seen in Texas.

[homerboy2u]

Really nice picture Richard..can you give map coordinates to this location :?:

According to http://www.lat-long.com/Texas/Capote-Falls_1332137.html, the coordinates are 30.21417N, 104.55917W

The lat-long.com site is kind enough to bring up a Google map interface showing the location.

Capote Falls...very interesting Richard M, indeed . Google is definetly your friend.

[01ACRViper]

thats it, i'm gonna carry a lon g string with me an MEASURE each of these falls i see... and the window pouroff is not a waterfall

[Big Bender]

Yeah,

I've found that most waterfalls on the surface are grossly over estimated.  I actually have a 200 foot tape that I use to measure some drops.  For other drops, I use known rope lengths.  Using the tree in the photo of the waterfall, Copote Falls might be 80 to 100 feet.  So, it's possible that the picture is distorted or that you can't see all of the waterfall.  

Waterfalls underground are usually more accurate because cavers know the lenght of their ropes and can make a little more accurate guess.  But to figure heights, you can also use either the average height of a tree or a person, and then use that to compare with the subject of interest.

[Big Bender]

Rereading the issue on waterfalls, I think some of the biggest in the state aren't even listed.  There is one waterfall that has some water poring over it most of the year that is approximately 400 to 500 feet tall followed by a second drop that's 250 to 400 feet tall.  It's hard to get to and very hard to see the entire drop.  The upper falls is almost entirely freefall and comes from a small slot canyon.  I've stood at the top of this one and really wished I had a rope.  However, if lands at the top of a hanging valley, pours down a very narrow slot canyon, then off the second drop.  To see the entire falls requires that you view it from across a pretty big valley and use a pair of binoculars.    

It would be something to really see it roaring.

[Roger, Roger]

I was browsing through one of my parents' bookshelves this weekend, and noticed a book called "The Brites of Capote".  Their copy was dated 1950, and was the 1st edition of this book, which was printed by the TCU press.  The Brites are the people that own much of the ranch land around the Seirra Vieja, including the falls.  I browsed through the book for about 15 minutes, and there was some fascinating history, as well as a bunch of old photos.  

There was one good picture of the falls, which made it seem much higher than the vantage point of the picture posted on this link.  There were also several pictures of some pre WWII era vehicles around the ranch, including one where a lot of the cars are parked right on the edge of the Vieja's looking down toward Mexico.

[Joe]

Here's a link to a bit of history: Brite Ranch Raid

[BigBendHiker]

I was browsing through one of my parents' bookshelves this weekend, and noticed a book called "The Brites of Capote".  Their copy was dated 1950, and was the 1st edition of this book, which was printed by the TCU press.  The Brites are the people that own much of the ranch land around the Seirra Vieja, including the falls.  I browsed through the book for about 15 minutes, and there was some fascinating history, as well as a bunch of old photos.  

There was one good picture of the falls, which made it seem much higher than the vantage point of the picture posted on this link.  There were also several pictures of some pre WWII era vehicles around the ranch, including one where a lot of the cars are parked right on the edge of the Vieja's looking down toward Mexico.

Thanks....any chance the pictures could be scanned and posted here?

Thanks,
BBH

[Roger, Roger]

Thanks....any chance the pictures could be scanned and posted here?

Thanks,
BBH

I apologize for not getting around to this...I don't have a scanner at the house so I've procrastinated.  But interestingly enough, I was eating dinner Saturday night at Lonesome Dove in the Stockyards of Fort Worth, and they have the exact photo blown up in the men's restroom on one wall.  On another wall they have a historic photo of the mercantile building in Sanderson.  I meant to ask the manager where they had gotten the photos, but I had drunk a little too much wine by the end of dinner and forgot.

[spiderartist]

By accident, I found my photo of Capote Falls posted by RichardM on June 6, 2005.  I took the photo with a 4x5 view camera in November of 1971 after a tough hike up the canyon with permission from the landowner.  This picture was used without my permission or any acknowledgment whatsoever, but if RichardM would acknowledge this and provide a link where he found the photo, I don't mind the posting.

By the way, the hike was tough since we didn't have much time before sunset and hauling the camera gear with those constraints added to the difficulty.  Running over those boulders up that canyon was an unforgettable experience; I was in much better shape then.

[SHANEA]

Greetings and salutations spiderartist.

[RichardM]

By accident, I found my photo of Capote Falls posted by RichardM on June 6, 2005.  I took the photo with a 4x5 view camera in November of 1971 after a tough hike up the canyon with permission from the landowner.  This picture was used without my permission or any acknowledgment whatsoever, but if RichardM would acknowledge this and provide a link where he found the photo, I don't mind the posting.

By the way, the hike was tough since we didn't have much time before sunset and hauling the camera gear with those constraints added to the difficulty.  Running over those boulders up that canyon was an unforgettable experience; I was in much better shape then.

I must have been in a hurry when I posted, as I usually include a link to the website/source.  I found it via Google at http://spiderjohnson.com/Resources/CapoteFalls.jpg.  I do recall that I had problems accessing your site, other than the Capote Falls image.  Maybe that's why I didn't post a link to the page on which it was found.  At the time, the image URL was the only one that worked for me.  :?

[spiderartist]

Hello, Gentlemen--

  I want to thank RichardM for acknowledging my Capote Falls photo and am glad to participate in this forum.  Big Bend continues to charm and enchant folks, and this is a great way to share it.

  My experience of the area reached its zenith during the late 60's and early 70's and I didn't visit much afterwards until the late 80's; what a difference.  Folks actually had moved into Terlingua and Jack Kingston was still playing guitar at the Hot Springs (now Chinati Hot Springs) to very occasional and few visitors.  Things have changed but the desert is too fierce to be tamed -- its beauty will endure.

  Glad to run across adventurous kindred spirits...

[aggiehiker]

I just explored the Lat-Long site. It's wonderful. You can click on hybrid and get a map overlaid on the satellite view. Some of these aren't really waterfalls but are rapids. I'm a kayaker and know Slumber Falls, Dolan Creek and Hidalgo. Dolan is the tallest, about 6'-8', Hidalgo isn't a falls at all even at very low water levels and Slumber is only 2'-3'. Pedernales is questionable also.