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Texas Two Times
Big Bend National Park & Hill Country
December 26, 2004 - January, 2, 2005
Tuesday, December 28
Fort Stockten to Terlingua 293 miles
I must have been dead tired because I only heard the alarm clock go off once at 5:30AM. When I actually woke up it was after 7AM already. We scrambled to get the bikes unloaded off the trailer, our riding gear unpacked and our bike luggage re-packed on the bikes and all the hiking stuff we didn’t need back on the truck. We finally managed to leave by 9AM. With sunrise arriving at 7AM, it was actually better to take off later and allow the temperatures to warm up. The sun was very warm, but the air was cool. Mid 30’s turned in to low 40’s by the time we left Fort Stockton and headed West on I-10. The ride on the interstate was a brisk one and I had the heated vest on and running, but once we turned off on 17 South I turned it off. The temperatures were quickly climbing. 17 was a blast on the bikes. Great scenery and pavement, some tight curves but mostly sweepers. We turned on 118 North, which was an even better road. The curves got steep and sharp near the McDonald Observatory as we climbed in elevation. There was even some snow on the side of the road in the shade. Once past the observatory, 118 got narrow but still remained very twisty. I originally wanted to do the 118/166 scenic loop but in order to do that, we should have stopped and got some gas before turning North on 118. Past the observatory, it dawned on me that we didn’t have enough gas to make it all the way around and back to Fort Davis. I didn’t know if there were any gas stations on 166, there didn’t appear to be any towns on my paper map. We rode a few miles past the observatory and turned back this time stopping at the McDonald Observatory Visitor Center. It was surprisingly warm here, I expected cooler temperatures at higher elevations but here it was the opposite. Too bad that we wouldn’t be able to check out 166, but at least we were going to ride 118 again. We found a picnic table on 118 near Fort Davis and decided to have lunch there, we brought the last of the food with us and if we didn’t eat it soon, we would have to throw it out. We pulled in to Fort Davis with about 10 miles of gas left in our tanks.
From Fort Davis We took 17 South to Marfa. Then it was a straight shot down 67 South to Presidio on the Mexican border. And indeed it was straight and flat for a while. We passed a Border Patrol station, which was stopping cars heading North on 67. At this point we were making great time and it would look like we would be arriving in Terlingua with still enough time to maybe hit Big Bend for a short ride though the park. The sun would be setting at 6PM, so at that point we wanted to be done riding for the day. After a while I started to notice the mountains ahead of us growing in the distance. The road started to become wavy, then twisty, then it shot up and down with some amazing views of the mountains. This last section was such a blast to ride though that the straight section was so worth it.
We pulled in to Presidio and stopped for gas. The high temperature for the day was 68 degrees and at this point it would not be getting any warmer. I was going to hook up my helmet cam so I could record the ride down 170, also called the Camino del Rio (the River Road). This was supposed to be an awesome road and also the steepest highway in Texas with grades up to 17% at times. While at the gas station a red ST4 pulled up. The rider of the Ducati confirmed that this road, which he called a “roller coaster” was a blast. After some chit chatting Brian and I took off East on 170 following the curves of the Rio Grande, the ST4 took off toward Marfa. We passed a few BMW bikes going the other way. Not too much traffic here. This road turned and twisted like a serpent, sometimes allowing us a glimpse of the Rio Grande, sometimes the mountains in the distance. On the other side of the river lay Mexico, this is the closest that I’ve ever been to it. We stopped so much on this road for pictures, that at some point we noticed that the sun was hovering really low over the horizon. Where did all the time go? We actually needed to get going in order to get to Terlingua before it got totally dark. So far out of all the wild animals living in this area, we had only seen various birds, tarantulas and roadrunners. The roadrunner are super fast, you really can’t see their legs when they run, they move so quick. They like to cross the road right in front of the bike.
The sun was already setting as we passed though the town of Lajitas and by the time we got to the three miles of road that was under construction, it was already dark. The road was made up of nicely packed dirt. I had no problems riding on it, actually it was fun, although dusty. Terlingua was a busy place tonight and some of the motels were already full. We got the last room at the Mission Lodge, which is operated by the Big Bend Motor Inn across the street. The rooms were modest but the view was grand. Our room faced a nice mountain. After we unpacked, we walked down the road to the Chili Pepper Café but all the tables were being used. We walked toward the gas station on the corner, which also had a restaurant but decided that the Chili Pepper Café was worth the wait. The sky was clear, so you could see all the stars. And there were millions of them. It was also pitch black out there, I could have used a flash light to get around. Finding the shoulder of the road was difficult at times. The temperatures were still pleasant in the 50’s and by the time we walked over to the café for the second time there was a table open. I ordered a beef enchilada and Brian a beef fajita. The food was not cheap but it was good. After getting back to our room, I wanted to check the tape I recorded earlier of the road with my helmet cam. There was nothing on the tape. What a major bummer since that road is just amazing and I recorded an hour of it. Either one of the cables wiggled loose or the helmet cam batteries were not charged enough to run the helmet cam.
