Big Bend N.P. day 4

What great day today, I think it hit 80 degrees. We started our day with a ride though a dry river bed just behind our camp site off Indian Head Road. It was first gear all the time and I saved the bike from falling like 20-30 times. It was very good practice for me maneuvering over rocks, sand and some mud.









Even found some mud in this dry place





Road block

After doing the dry river bed we rode Indian Head Road, that's where I had my little spill. This road is short but amazing, not all gravel like the roads in the park, and very scenic.



The sand made me crash, I was fine and a little smarter now



Indian Head Road









In the afternoon we rode out to the Big Bend basin



When we got back Byron from Ohio was already there, his tent was already set up



Myself, Mike, Byron, Felipe and Ara went out to Long Draw Pizza on Hwy 170 1 mile west of the Ghostown in Terlingua. The pizza was very good, we got three different ones.

Big Bend N.P. day 3

At 8AM I woke up to 22 degrees.....brrrrr... I was wrapped inside TWO zero degree bags. The guys slept in the trucks and the women in their tents AGAIN! A water hose busted and sprayed a tree all night and morning until they turned the water off. Proof of how cold it was last night.



Other things were frozen also, like my liquid-gel toothpaste and the drinking water in the back of the pick up truck. But the sun was already warming the air and it was promising to be another warm and clear day.

John and Becca left this morning so only Mike and I were left although we're expecting a few more people to arrive in the next day or two. We rode to the east side of the park today.



East side of Big Bend N.P.



Rio Grande



Mexicans on the other side of the river (waiting to cross maybe?)





The temperatures climbed in the mid 70's in few places, turned out to be a really great day. It went from cold to warm and back to cold.



This is the road to the Hot Springs, it's short but pretty cool and very scenic. Something about the edge made me nervous though.









Trying to make it back to camp before sunset



Mike and I had dinner at High Sierra Bar & Grill in Terlingua, great food.

Around midnight I heard a bike in the distance. It was so dark that I couldn’t really see anything, but then I heard it again and I saw it. It was another one of the riders that rode from Austin, TX and was going to ride and camp with us.

I found Felipe riding in circles, trying to find the tents, but it was so dark he had problems seeing anything, I waved him down. As he was setting up his tent I was hearing water running. I went to investigate. Sure enough, further up the hill there was another water hose that had busted. Since my tent was down hill from the water I decided to move my tent a bit. I didn’t want to wake up in a puddle the following morning. It wasn't that cold tonight, only low 30's, the water wasn’t going t freeze.

As I was telling Felipe where the bathroom was we heard a bunch of horses running around, but we couldn’t see them for a while. But sure enough, later I saw a bunch of them running though the gas station and on the street, then they ran though the camp again, really close to the trucks and tents. Did they become loose or were these wild horses?

I had a hard time falling asleep knowing there were wild horses running around, I heard them near by for a while but finally I fell asleep.

Big Bend N.P. day 2

Becca and I stayed all night in our tents, Mike headed for his truck in the middle of the night and John was already sleeping in his truck, the winds kept me up all night.

I was the first one up this morning and I watched the sun come up, the winds were still blowing. I was surprised the tents survived all the wind and the bikes were still all standing. BTW, we were the only people with tents in the entire camp site, everyone else were staying in RV’s.

My eyes were swollen from the sand flying inside my tent all night. When I got up I realized that last night I had left the covers from my camping chairs out on top of one of the trailers, they were not there this morning, they apparently blew away. Since the winds were still blowing, I got started looking for them before they blew away too far. I started to walk in the direction of the blowing wind, I found one of the bags stuck on some shrubbery a short walk away, I continued and found the others half a mile away and over on the other side of the hill.



The tents survived the wind

The winds finally died down around noon, and everyone went their separate ways, doing their own ride around the Big Bend park.

















All pictures above shot off Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive

I just rode Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive today and stopped for everything that looked good on the way, the ride took the rest of the day and I didn't get back until dark. It was not as warm today as it was yesterday, but a great day anyway.



Dinner at the Starlight Theatre in Terlingua

John, Becca, Mike and I went out to dinner tonight at the Starlight Theatre. Very nice place with live music and good food.

Big Bend N.P. day 1

It was a cold one in Alpine. In the morning, Becca took off for a ride around the Davis mountains. At the end of the day she was going to make it down to the Terlingua campsite and join me and a few dirt riders.



Becca leaving on her BMW ST



Frosty



118 from Alpine to Study Butte has many nice views and twisties

I drove straight from Alpine and arrived in Terlingua in the late morning. There were already a few people there at the Big Bend Motor Inn and RV Park. I unpacked and got the bike ready and a couple of hours later we were having lunch and then we rode out to Big Bend N.P.



Lunch at Kathy's Kosmic Kowgirl Kafe in Terlingua



From left to right: John (TX), Anna (IL), Ara (FL), Mike (LA), Spirit, Ara's dog



Today I did the Old Maverick road. This was my first real dirt road experience. It felt really strange at first, the weirdest sensation was the bike shaking, especially while in deep gravel. By the time we got to the Santa Elena Canyon, I was almost used to it, and I started to have fun.



Old Maverick Road



We got of the bikes and explored the Santa Elena Canyon and the Rio Grande. It was a beautiful day, the temperature in the 60’s.



The Rio Grande



Heading back to camp on the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive



When we got back to the camp site, we erected our tents, got dinner going and relaxed around a propane heater.



Mike made Chili for dinner

No camp fires allowed at the site. The wind had picked up and the temperatures had dropped. The wind howled all night, reaching speeds of 40MPH or more. I couldn’t fall asleep at all, my tent was shaking and there was a lot of dirt blowing inside my tent. At least it wasn’t that cold, low to mid 30’s and my zero degree sleeping bag was keeping me warm.

On the road: day 2

Funky Monkey and I leave OKC in the morning and spend more money on tolls, it's worst then Chicago



Somewhere in Texas



80MPH speed limit... yea baby



I met up with Rocketbunny (Becca) and we split a motel room in Alpine, TX. It was raining today a bit for me up north and then got really foggy in Alpine



Dinner was downtown Alpine



Mmmmmmmmm dark German beer



The other white meat



This was a really fun place with good food

Road trip... TX here I come!

I leave tomorrow morning YAY! This is the most stuff I've ever brought with me, but I need camping stuff, riding stuff, hiking stuff, normal every day stuff... that is a lot of stuff.

Pirelli M21: new off-road tires for XT

My Pirelli M21 DOT off-road tires are here. They are suposed to be the most agressive DOT street approved off-road tires.