Big Bend Feb 2007

[Mellow]

<font color=blue size=5>Big Bend
Feb 1-4, 2007</font>

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With sleet falling in Dallas I wasn't sure I'd make this trip but
the temps rose enough to melt everything so off I went...

http://mellow.smugmug.com/photos/127588427-Ti.jpg (http://mellow.smugmug.com/photos/127588427-L.jpg)http://mellow.smugmug.com/photos/127588881-Ti.jpg (http://mellow.smugmug.com/photos/127588881-L.jpg)http://mellow.smugmug.com/photos/127590896-Ti.jpg (http://mellow.smugmug.com/photos/127590896-L.jpg)

Day One - Wed Jan 31
(DFW to Lost Maples State Park)

Mac decided to head towards Big Bend from Dallas instead of
waiting for me to get off work. I ended up leaving just after
noon and made it to Lost Maples State Park around 4:30. I
found where everyone was setup and started unpacking.
Around 6pm the other guys showed up after getting some
dinner.

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We started a fire and the Constantine handed out some kind
of dried Russian fish. It was pretty good.

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We stayed up talking for a bit then went to sleep.

Day 2 - Thu Feb 1
(Lost Maples SP to Rio Grande Village Campground in
Big Bend Nat'l Park)

Today our main goal was to make it to Big Bend. Pretty
easy day even though it started raining around 5am
with light sprinkles until we were packed up.

We ate breakfast in Leakey then hit the road.

We had to wait at the immigration check for a few minutes.
Apparently, when you answer 'No' to the 'Are you a U.S.
citizen' question they get a little curious.

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On the way, we stopped in Langtry, TX to check out
the Judge Roy Bean exhibit.

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We made it to Marathon, TX where we met up with Cheif
and Beep (Mike/Cindy) then made it to Rio Grande Villiage
campground around 4:30.

As we rode through the campground, looking for others, we
found Mac and his huge circus tent setup.

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Later, Jerry (Gold Rush) showed up with what few of us were
aware of was the 'Breakfast Trailer'. Thanks Jerry for making
sure every one started the day full.

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Everyone setup their tents and made introductions, it sure
looked like it was going to be a fun weekend.

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As the moon rose and the stars came out...

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People were still showing up.

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Day 3 - Fri Feb 2
Some Hike!
Some Ride!
Some Get Dirty!

Hikers
Cindy, Mac, Bill and myself left the Chisos Basin Headquarters
area trailhead and took the Pinnacle Pass 3.5 miles. Along the
way we saw some wildlife.

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From there, we took the Emory Peak Trailhead about 1.5 miles.
The very end of this trail is a vertical rock climb that I wasn't
expecting. I'm not really afraid of heights but this gave me the
feeling of being on a steep ladder 7,800 ft tall.

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At the very top we met two other hikers from New York. It
took us about 3 hours to get to the top but it was well worth
it. The view from the highest point was great!

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It was great to experience this with such good friends.

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This hike was a total of about 10 miles and took us 5 hours.
We met beck up with Mike and Jerry at the bottom and had
lunch at the Basin Restaurant.

Riders
Mike and Jerry rode some of the park and the infamous River
Road (170) both directions. There's lots of gravel on the road
but it's still a fun ride.

Let's Get Dirty!
(Rick's Report)

Konstantin, Judson, Robert and myself headed for dirt on
our BMW GS?s.

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We started on the East side of River Road
and headed west. The first part of River Road was
awesome and we made fast time of it. We cut off 9 miles
in and headed north on Glenn Spring Rd. After a mile
or so Glen Spring got a little more difficult than a few
liked so we turned back for River road. This was the
fist time for Judson and Robert to have their Big new
bikes off road.

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I was leading this ride and I made the call
at the beginning of the day if anyone wanted to turn
around for any reason we all would follow.

Back on River Road we headed west and the goal
was to complete all 40+ miles of the sand, mud, water
and rock road. The good thing about going east to
west is the road gets harder as you go and you don?t
seem to notice it that much.

Judson

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We stopped at the
Mariscal Mines and hiked up to check it out.

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The new guys did great for the first time out and you
could see their skills improve with every hill climb,
mud crossing and beach landing they encountered.
After all the rain they had in the area, parts of River road
looked like an old riverbed with rocks and sand.

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When it was all said and done we only had 2 slow speed
drops of the bikes. I have to say we all had fun but we
were beat and glad it was over. We at lunch in Study Butte
and then headed back to camp.

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Day 4 - Sat Feb 3
(Big Bend to Garner State Park)

Jerry made some more breakfast and Mac made some more
great biscuits.

Some of us decided we'd break camp and head towards home
so Sunday's ride would be an easy one. Some also wanted
to get home in time to watch the Superbowl.

So, we got together for a group picture before leaving.

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Steve & Virginia, Mac and Jerry were going to leave on Sunday.
Mike & Cindy wanted to head for San Antonio to check out an
Art Gallery.

The rest of us were going to head towards Kerrville via
River Road!

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It's my opinion that River Road is the best road in Texas.

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Bill broke off in Brackettville to head back to Corpus and Robert
left us at Uvalde to head to Austin. The rest of us made it to
Garner State Park.

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It was going to be a cold night for all except Constantine who
brought a portable heater.

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And cold it was...

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Day 5 - Sun Feb 4
(Ride Home)

Nothing special here, just 350 miles home.

Here are the rest of my pics. (http://mellow.smugmug.com/gallery/2282868#119277002)

Here are the rest of Rick's pics. (http://blink.smugmug.com/gallery/2433234#127877997)

[motomac]

Rick and Joe, very nice report. And I for one would love to go back there and explore more of the Park. Had I had a clue what was there when I was stationed in Houston and Ft Worth, I probably would have been there every weekend!!!!

One thing not mentioned in the report, the red arrow in the picture from on top of the rock is pointing at Buzzsaw Bill sunning himself on the trail. And Cindy had water, lunch, dinner and maybe a little breakfast in her pockets.

[Mellow]

Rick and Joe, very nice report. And I for one would love to go back there and explore more of the Park. Had I had a clue what was there when I was stationed in Houston and Ft Worth, I probably would have been there every weekend!!!!

One thing not mentioned in the report, the red arrow in the picture from on top of the rock is pointing at Buzzsaw Bill sunning himself on the trail. And Cindy had water, lunch, dinner and maybe a little breakfast in her pockets.

Well. I didn't want to make Bill feel bad for not making that last section....guess I'm getting soft in my old age...

I don't know if you had a chance to make it to the Sol Tol vista overlook and the Santa Elena Canyon... We should have done that after hiking but I know I was pretty pooped at that point and just wanted to sit and take it easy... again, old age kicking in... (and I was the youngest on the hike!)

Here are a couple pics from previous trips of the sol tol vista over look

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And, the Santa Elena Canyon

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and the road there...

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It seems we never get tired of going to Big Bend even though we've been there many times and we could just as easily hit Colorado or the Smokies but we just keep coming back.

Maybe we can do another trip in October...

[dannyk]

Very nice write up and pictures, hope I have the time while at cheapstoc to explore some of this. BB is on the menu after we leave Junction. DK

[motomac]

Joe, I didn't mention he didn't make it to the top!!!! I just said he was sunning himself on the trail.
DK if you get the chance to get to BB, it is definately worth the trip. And you can'[t even begin to see it in a wekend, week, or month. Absolutely huge!!!

[Mellow]

Joe, I didn't mention he didn't make it to the top!!!! I just said he was sunning himself on the trail.
DK if you get the chance to get to BB, it is definately worth the trip. And you can'[t even begin to see it in a wekend, week, or month. Absolutely huge!!!

ooops..... :dizzy1:

[GoldWingGL]

Great report Joe, thanks....:)

[Tombstone]

Nice ride report!!

[Gold Rush]

SUPER Ride Report!!!! :) :) You guys do a wonderful job capturing the essence of these trips. Wish I had that gift... :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I have to agree -- is was a GREAT TRIP !!! :eek: :eek:

[VoyagerJohn]

Hello There,
Great trip report and Great pictures.
I am the Safety Officer for our motorcycle club, The Lone Star Voyagers. Our club is going to ride to the Big Bend area the 3rd weekend of March. We are riding out of Alpine and plan to ride 118 down to FM170 and over to 67 and back to Ft. Davis then return to Alpine. This will be the first time in the area for most of us. Our rides are mostly Kawasaki Voyagers and a mix of other touring type bikes.
I am interested in the condition of FM170, where are the bad places, and do you see any problems with our type of bikes negotiating the bad places. We are experienced riders and most of us have 20 plus years riding. The picture you posted in your report with the washed out road looked like it could be a problem if it came up unexpected, espescially if it was dark and you had a car coming at you.
Maybe we will meet on the road sometime. Thanks and Ride Safe.
John Herring, Liberty, TX
LSV Safety Officer

[Mellow]

John,

1st of all, welcome to the site.

as far as River Road (170) there are two River Roads, the one the dirtbike guys know about (this was also the part shown in the pics with the washed out road) that is within the National Park and 170 which runs from Terlingua to Lajitas and Presidio. That one is not within Big Bend Nat'l Park and it is completely paved... So, no problems with that road that aren't problems we normally have to deal with.. gravel, loose livestock, etc.

The hardest part to get used to with River Road (170) is the hills that have a curve on the other side and even though the sign before the hill shows the road curves to the right or left.. you don't see it until you are over the hill so it's tough to get used to.. just ride it at your own pace and slower is better than faster.

If you are touring within the park.. all the roads are paved however if you head towards santa elena canyon, some of them have sand but it's only towards the end and if you just keep it slow, you'll be okay.. again, nothing drastic, just a little sand/dirt on the road but still paved.

Let us know if you have any other questions. I've seen a Chopper on 170 once with a big fat tire, he was going slow but he still didn't have a hard time and if he can make it .. anyone can.

Hello There,
Great trip report and Great pictures.
I am the Safety Officer for our motorcycle club, The Lone Star Voyagers. Our club is going to ride to the Big Bend area the 3rd weekend of March. We are riding out of Alpine and plan to ride 118 down to FM170 and over to 67 and back to Ft. Davis then return to Alpine. This will be the first time in the area for most of us. Our rides are mostly Kawasaki Voyagers and a mix of other touring type bikes.
I am interested in the condition of FM170, where are the bad places, and do you see any problems with our type of bikes negotiating the bad places. We are experienced riders and most of us have 20 plus years riding. The picture you posted in your report with the washed out road looked like it could be a problem if it came up unexpected, espescially if it was dark and you had a car coming at you.
Maybe we will meet on the road sometime. Thanks and Ride Safe.
John Herring, Liberty, TX
LSV Safety Officer

[motomac]

John, Several of us that did the Big Bend ride and camp were on Gold Wings. 170 is a fun twisty, up and down road that you will get air born on some of the whoops. I know Gold Rush mentioned he did, I did on my Wing and Steve and Virginia did on their ST1300. It isn't a big thing, and I guess if my back tire hadn't bark a little when I set back down, I wouldn't have known I was off the ground. The scenery is spectacular and Joe and Rick's ride report touch on some of it, but until you do it..... Just do it.... and you'll see what I mean.

[GoldWingGL]

Oh man, rub it in Mac....that is just my kind of road...;)

[Slink]

Great report Joe, wish I'd have been there.
Slink:(

[Restorganize]

Each time I read the report, I get to re-live it. What a great time and trip we had. Alaska - 7 weeks and counting. I can't wait.

Judson

[PNWSTman]

Very nice report!
great pics!

M

[J-LO]

What a great trip!

I just joined MotoCampers and am taking my first moto camping trip to Big Bend the first week of August. Having this trip posted on the site is inspirational and helpful.

After ya'll experienced 30 degrees, I will be able tell the opposite tale of what will likely be one very hot ride!

[Trailace]

What a great trip!

I just joined MotoCampers and am taking my first moto camping trip to Big Bend the first week of August. Having this trip posted on the site is inspirational and helpful.

After ya'll experienced 30 degrees, I will be able tell the opposite tale of what will likely be one very hot ride!
First off welcome to the site.

I have never been to BB in August but I'm sure it will be hot. But it will be a dry heat.:D

[Tx White Knight]

Welcome J-Lo

There is a lot of information here so soak it all in and enjoy.

[ImRubicon]

yeah its a dry heat alright .
Pack lots of fluids and have a good trip.
And for those that get upset its a halloween pic
http://www.bjwinslow.com/albums/rotted_corpses/Lucy_Skeleton_28.sized.jpg

[Mellow]

Yeah, it's gonna be a hot one.

Welcome to the site.

We usually go in Apr-Mar or Oct-ish. Get a camelbak, you'll love it.