Big Bend, Thanksgiving week 2010

[scarysharkface]

Really just a fantastic day for a ride..

It pleases me that my riding has at least improved to the point where this kind of mix of obstacles strikes me as interesting and fun now, instead of scary and intimidating..

I actually dropped the bike here. Put it on the kickstand then managed to push it forward and it fell over. Oops.

John

 

[scarysharkface]

And the road goes ever onward..

This is a little more remote than anything we've got back home..

Way off in the distance is Panther Junction..

It's there, but it ain't close..

And the wiggly road is calling..

John

 

[scarysharkface]

Old Ore Road spills out onto Dagger Flats Road a few miles East of the main highway and 12-ish miles North of Panther Junction.

A few miles South and East of Panther Junction, Glenn Springs Road branches off to the West.

Just before reaching that point I pass a road grader coming the other direction. It seems that the baby-head-sized rocks of Glenn Springs Road are now just a memory, at least until it gets some traffic to sort things out into their natural state of bumpy...

It's soft and I'm just flying..

It's soft and it just goes and goes..

You can see where another motorcycle has passed just ahead of my tracks..

And it's soft all the way out to the edge..

And then suddenly, what's this? Hard surface?

The surface modulates between soft, deep sand that's been graded flat with baby-head rocks under the surface, to stretches where the grader blade was up and you get what you get..

The last probably 5 miles before Glenn Springs Road meets up with River Road East were so much fun I didn't stop for pictures. 40-ish mph on the pegs and it is just absolutely a blast..

Even though I've only spent a couple of days on the bike thus far, I think I got to know it a lot better than I had before. The DR350 is, for me, perfect in this environment. And to ride amidst the grand vistas of Big Bend is certainly a bonus..

John

 

[scarysharkface]

Back at Rio Grande Village to load the bike and enjoy another $1.50 shower (a bargain, worth every penny!), Jeep confirms it's been a warm one today..

I make my way back over to Terlingua to meet Ed for a venison burger at The Starlight Theater, after first grabbing a geocache out by the highway (my 4th geocache ever). Upon departure, I spot a vehicle which has inspired me to somehow replicate for 2 bikes, so my wife and I can haul our pair of DR350's out into the desert on trips like this.. I don't know the guy, but I like his setup..

It looks to me like he just shoved a straight axle underneath and lengthened the tongue to accommodate the bike.. Nice..

By the time I take a few pics and get back on the highway, it's dark.. Ed and I discussed how I can maximize my time by aiming for the Marfa area to sleep tonight. You see, my daughter is looking a colleges and my wife and I have decided I should probably make an effort to at least drive through the campus of one she's considering.. It's in Kansas, which is a bit out of the way but entirely not an impossible task to pay a visit.. So that's the plan (as it were) for now..

There are Border Patrol trucks parked in every draw from Redford to Presidio, with the exception of two. I take advantage of the first to stop and pee, only to drive over the hill and catch a huge bobcat in my headlights! Cool and kind of unsettling at the same time, but whatever..

Driving North from Presidio there are more Border Patrol trucks, although not the numbers there were along the river. Passing through the checkpoint South of Marfa, they run a K9 around the Jeep and wave me on..

I sleep at the Marfa Lights Visitors Center along the highway to Alpine. It's a nice place with enough tourist traffic through the night that I don't anticipate any problems, and have none.. The bathrooms are clean, which has value..

I sleep well and wake up to this..

John

 

[MontanaBBQ]

Beautiful pics! You have done a great job capturing the beauty of one of my favorite places. Your story makes me want to head south right now...

Sorry about the deer strike - it looks like the Jeep faired pretty well (glad you weren't on the bike).

Doug B.

 

[scarysharkface]

Glad you like.

Yes, I'm very glad I wasn't on the bike! I try to not ride at night for exactly that reason. It would have, at the very least, thrown me into the path of the oncoming truck..

On the plus side, I'm scheduled into the shop next Monday and I'm upgrading the front protection to a Warn bumper with hoop and winch mount..

John

 

[scarysharkface]

All night long there had been train traffic across the highway. I slept through a lot of it, I'm sure, and for much of it I awoke just enough to know it was there. I like trains a lot, and have in years long passed spent a great deal of time chasing them with a photographer friend all around Indiana and Illinois.. So about the second thing I did this morning was to walk across the highway and look down the rails..

A green signal, eh? Well, of course, there's been traffic all night, so why would I expect it to slow down any after sunrise?

I give it about half a minute and we've got ourselves a (blurry and out of focus) train..

Double-stacks..

It's a really lovely morning, albeit a bit chilly..

And soon another..

I drive West into Marfa for breakfast.. It's Thanksgiving and nothing is open except the gas stations. I eat Subway and head again Westward to places I've never been before..

John

 

[Bhos]

Thanks for the write up and great photos! What set up do you have for your camera?

 

[scarysharkface]

Thanks. Glad you're enjoying it.

I'm shooting with a Canon EOS 50D, using a Tamron 18-270mm zoom with a UV filter to protect the front element. I shoot in RAW mode at half-resolution (so the pics are smaller than 12mb and fit on smugmug), and tweak the saturation just a little bit. Sometimes I'll bring the mid-tones up a bit as well, but never really lighten or darken anything or do any cropping. I figure I've either got it in-camera or I don't, coming from a film background.

I prefer the Canon stuff over the Nikon stuff only because it makes more sense to me. They're both excellent at the pro-end and consumerish at the consumer-end. The Canon EOS 50D is remarkably similar to the Nikon 300D my wife has used..

John

 

[Gregster]

... Upon departure, I spot a vehicle which has inspired me to somehow replicate for 2 bikes, so my wife and I can haul our pair of DR350's out into the desert on trips like this.. I don't know the guy, but I like his setup..

It looks to me like he just shoved a straight axle underneath and lengthened the tongue to accommodate the bike.. Nice..

...John

You could put one bike in front of the trailer like he did and another on the rear trailer bumper to balance things out. Putting two DRs that close to the hitch would be adding 5 or 600 pounds of tounge weight wouldn't it? And of course you would also check the axle and springs to be sure they'd be up to the job.

Great pics by the way, thats some beautiful country. :smiley_drive:

 

[scarysharkface]

You could put one bike in front of the trailer like he did and another on the rear trailer bumper to balance things out. Putting two DRs that close to the hitch would be adding 5 or 600 pounds of tounge weight wouldn't it? And of course you would also check the axle and springs to be sure they'd be up to the job.

Great pics by the way, thats some beautiful country. :smiley_drive:

I've acquired the frame from an old travel trailer, with the intent to mount a bike on each end and have a sleeping box in the middle. It's got 4 on 4.5 hubs and I can't find any rims locally, otherwise I'd have it built already. >:/

I guess I'll keep looking at options and other avenues. The guys in Michigan Great Lakes Dual Sporters tell me I should just get a cargo trailer, install bunks and an egress window and be done with it, and they may be right..

John

 

[JamesDowning]

Great trip! I'm really enjoying the pictures!

 

[scarysharkface]

Great trip! I'm really enjoying the pictures!

Glad you're enjoying it! Thanks!

 

[scarysharkface]

Have I mentioned how pleased I am with this setup?

Looks like a Homeland Security blimp to me..

Just West of Valentine.. I had to stop!

Somewhere not too far North of Van Horn..

Moon's still up..

And it's still pretty chilly..

When I travel, I make it a point to roll the driver's side window down all the way whenever I step out to take a picture. Sometimes I leave the key in the ignition and sometimes I don't, but whichever the case I don't want to find myself locked-out at the side of the road in the relative middle of nowhere..

The clouds leave interesting shapes on the mountains..

The road behind...

And the road ahead...

I really don't have a plan for when I get to the T in the road some miles up ahead. An answer will come when it's needed..

John

 

[scarysharkface]

I come to that fork in the road, and take it. Then I pull a U-turn and go the other direction.. I probably would have done likewise had I initially chosen differently.. I am fickle that way..

Salt flats and blue skies..

And salt flats..

And more cobalt-blue skies..

This road leads to El Paso, but that's not where I'm going..

Turning North on one of the Farm to Market roads, and winding around a wee bit, I eventually am confronted with a surface change near the New Mexico border..

No more pavement and only one other person in a truck going the other direction for the next, oh, 150-ish miles..

John