BIG BEND 2009
  
 

Day 04

February 28

  
 

The wind whipped it up pretty good last night, but I only had one tent peg that came loose. It's still blowing pretty hard this morning and the temps are kind of cold, so I decide I'll go ahead and cook breakfast inside my tent. Andy and I want to get an early start to Big Bend and I don't think there'll be much opportunity for breakfast on the way. My ancient Eureka Timberline has a nice little attached vestibule with a vent for doing such stuff, so I clear out a spot and break out my little propane stove. First job is to heat up some water so I can get some hot chocolate made. So here I sit, out of the wind, all zipped up in my tent, on my nice 4 inch air mattress just cooking away while the other folks sleep. Being from the country, I packed a half dozen eggs and a couple of packages of country ham - both which will keep without refrigeration for a good while. With the chocolate made, I break out the ham and get it frying. I can imagine that some sleeping folks nearby started sniffing in their dreams! I gave all my butter away which turns out to be a mistake since this ham don't make enough grease to slick down a mosquito's hind quarters. So I just dump the eggs in and keep 'em moving around so they don't stick too bad. They get done pretty quickly, so I quietly go over to Andy's tent and let him know that grub is on.

 
 
 
 

It's not my best culinary effort, but it fills the empty spot and gives us the strength to do what needs to be done. With breakfast out of the way, we mount up and head down 17 to Marfa. It's a long, straight stretch and it's getting pretty cool. I put on my 4-way flashers and pull over to put on my heated gear. I look back at Andy -

"Well, I'm getting pretty cold, so I believe I'll just stop here and suit up."

  
 
 
 

Soon we're through Marfa and headed down 67 in search of the near famous FM 170 that will take us to the park.

  
 
 
 
The scenery is interesting as we approach Presidio with the buttes and mountains off in the distance.
  
 
 
  Andy is keeping close behind as we click off the miles.  
 
 
  Presidio is right on the border, situated in kind of a bowl surrounded by the higher elevations.  
 
 
  The signage toward FM 170 is a little short, so we miss the turn off, but I finally figure it out. We've been told that the road is shut down from Presidio to Terlingua, so we are fixing to find out. About 6 miles out of town, we come to the road block. It just so happens that a Border Patrol SUV is right behind us. We stop to decide what we're going to do and the Border Patrol takes the detour and moves slowly out of sight.  
 
 
 

From where we sit, we don't know if the detour is 2 miles or twenty miles. Andy is actually better equipped on his V-Strom for the gravel road than I am. But if we turn around, we'll waste a lot of travel time getting to the park. I turn to him -

"Well, let's give it whirl. It won't be the first time we've ridden on the gravel!"

In fact one of the best roads we have ever found in Tennessee, we found after too long a ride on a gravel mining road!

  
 
 
  As far as gravel roads go, it's not too bad - just a lot of washboard and thin gravel. Riding this stuff is a lot like a bank robbery - don't nobody make no sudden moves, won't nobody get hurt. I just relax my grip on Frost and sort of let her pick her own lines. Pretty soon we see our Border Patrol buddy parked just off the road. We just keep moving right along, expecting him to pull out behind us - but he doesn't. Fortunately, this detour is only about 2 miles long - not all the way to Terlingua. And for that I am thankful!  
 
 
  Never have I seen so many dry creek beds in one place. I wonder if there ever is any water that comes through here!  
 
 
  The run down to Terlingua is pretty interesting - especially when a havelina decides he wants to see if he can get across the road without me hitting him. He reminds me of a big porcupine with a bad mullet, but at least he gets on out of the way.  
 
 
 

Because gas can be scarce out here, we stop at the store in Terlingua and fill up. As I am watching the meter waiting for the shutoff, I smell gas. It turns out that the shutoff is out of order so I now have my seat, the rest of my ST and a large portion of ground covers with not so cheap gasoline. I will smell gas for weeks to come from this slight indiscretion. I carefully pull out of the mess and park over in front of the store. Not much I can do at this point to clean up, so I'll just have to live with it.

  
 
 
  We take a quick hydraulic and coke break, and then head for the park. The entrance is just a short ride away.  
 
 
 

When we get to the paying entrance, I pull my park pass out, expecting Andy and I both to be able to get in. But the ranger has other ideas -

'No, we don't do that - unless he is directly related to you' the ranger tells me.

I know better from their own website, but I figure arguing with this feller will get me a sure stop inside the park from another ranger more than likely.

"Well, we are distant cousins, but that's about it."

So I pull on ahead and wait, as Andy has cough up the dough for his admittance. When he pulls backup to me, I tell him -

'Buddy, I think we just got zoomed. But I will certainly check it out when I get home.'

'Well, I reckon he's the law right here, so there's not much we can do" Andy adds.

We've also heard that the speed limits are strictly enforced in the park, so we take no chances. But moving on these deserted roads is very painful at 45 mph.

  
 
 
  Since we're here, we plan on riding as many of the paved roads as we can cover, plus check out the campgrounds for some ST friends that are coming back in April. The first turn off takes us to the Castolon Visitor's center. Some interesting, wide open spaces - and a ranger passing out a blue light special!  
 
 
  At the end of the pavement, you get a bit of a glimpse of the Rio Grande by walking across what would pass for a nice, white sandy Florida beach.  
 
 
  On the way in, we noticed a road that leads to the 'Mule Ears Viewpoint', so we chase that down on the way back. The rock formations in the distance are little short for the mule ears I'm familiar with, but I can see the resemblance.  
 
 
  As we wind our way back up in to the mountains, we see a pull off for the Sotol Visa that looks like a great photo op.  
 
 
  It gives some really great views of the park as the terrain stretches out before you for what seems to be miles and miles.  
 
 
  It's good place to get a shot of Frost with the rugged West Texas terrain as a backdrop. I can only imagine someone trying to make their way through this area with no idea of what they would encounter next. There is sure not many opportunities for water and shade trees that I can see from here!  
 
 
  We then head for the Chisos Basin, another campsite and set of facilities. It's a pretty interesting ride in but it sure would be a lot more fun if the speed limit was a little higher! There's a motel here and a restaurant, but we don't dismount to check them out. The campground is way down in the valley and there are lots of warning signs about cougars in the area.  
 
 
  Our next stop will be the Rio Grande Campground so we can see for ourselves (and others) what these sites look like. Here the land levels out as it approaches the river bed itself.  
 
 
  The RV sites with power are lined up like a Wal-Mart parking lot and there seems to be some old closed campsites across the way.  
 
 
  The 'unpowered' campsites looks a little nicer, with lots of shade trees and more spacious sites. There are bathrooms in the camping area, but the nearest showers are in the little store at the entrance, probably about a mile away.  
 
 
  As we pull out of the campground, we see beautiful colored cliffs in the distance. There is a paved road that will take us in that general direction, so we decide to chase it down to it's conclusion.  
 
 
  This turns out to be one of the most interesting places that we stop. It seems that at one time there was a tramway from the Mexico side to the Texas side to bring mined ore across.  
 
 
  Nothing is left except some of the original foundations of the tramway towers.  
 
 
  From this viewpoint, you also get a really good view of the Rio Grande, flowing the way you would normally expect a river to flow.  
 
 
  As you leave the area, you get to 'thread the needle' through this tunnel.  
 
 
  I notice, as we head for the north gate on the way to Marathon, numerous clusters of what I would call overgrown prickly pears. I'm sure they have a fancy cactus name but they sure remind me of the little ones we used avoid in Tennessee when you were running barefooted.  
 
 
  Slowly we make our way along the 26 miles of 45 mph from the Rio Grand area to the north entrance. There's no traffic, and no place for a ranger to hide, but we still mind ourselves and are good law abiding citizens. What we find so frustrating is that just as soon as you exit the park, the speed limit jumps up to 70 mph!  
 
 
  Marathon's main claim to fame is the Gage Hotel, built by Alfred Gage in 1928 as headquarters for his vast ranch and a hotel. We move quickly on highway 90 to Alpine. Since we've cooked up all the vittles that I brought and it's about supper time, I start looking for a grazing spot. As we turn up 118 to head for Fort Davis, I see the Longhorn Steakhouse. It's parking lot is full so I figure they must not have killed anybody yet. We finally find a place to park our bikes way down at the end.  
 
 
  What we don't know is this week is "Cowboy Poetry Gathering Week" and this place is loaded to the gills. In our serving area (which is pretty large), there's only one feller and he's as busy as an air traffic controller in Atlanta - and clearly overwhelmed. We finally get our orders placed, and Andy and I talk about the ride back home and the events of the day. When the food arrives, it is absolutely scrumptious - some of the best chicken fried steak I've ever latched my teeth onto - and well worth the wait. I also figure out that is place is not usually this slammed and they did not 'overstaff' for this event. Definitely a place I would go back to if I am ever in the area again. With some good grub down the hatch, we settle up and then make our way back to the campground. The temps are already dropping, so we make short work of climbing into our sleeping bags when we get back. Tomorrow will be back to slabbing it to Dallas, so we need all the rest we can get.