Big Bend in November (let's try this again)

Kevin from Boerne here again. I tried to put a ride together to BB a couple weeks back but had to pull out due to a change at work. Well things have settled down finally, so let's try this again.

I was thinking a 5 day, 4 night trip; leaving on a Thursday morning and returning home on Monday. My plan would be to cut cross-Texas that morning and enjoy the Hillcountry while heading Southwest. End up in Marathon and entering the national park from there that afternoon. We could meet up along the way, in Marathon, or at the campground. Camping would be 4 nights at Cottonwoods Campground down on the river. It's $15 a night and you can have multiple tents per site so if we get 3 of 4 people coming it would work out cheap enough to split. You'll need to bring your own food provisions as there are no restaurants close. The campground has toilets and running water but no electricity and no showers. It's primitive. There's a state store close by that sells some basic provisions and they had beer last time I was there

Dirt / gravel roads are fine and encouraged, but no plans for soft stuff or single track as I'll be on my Vstrom.

I'll do a poll for the preferred dates and I am sending PM's to those of you who expressed interest in the last attempt at the trip.

If the plan is to camp 4 nights at the same place, then would it work if I trucked my KLR out there and left my truck at the campsite all 4 days?
Regards,
Will from Houston

Very much interested although I dont see the poll here on the phone. Ill check back when i get to a computer.


Edited and voted. I might be able to get 2 more guys to come along if that's not a problem with the OP.

NSA, this post is just for you.

WillQ said:

If the plan is to camp 4 nights at the same place, then would it work if I trucked my KLR out there and left my truck at the campsite all 4 days?
Regards,
Will from Houston

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Truck in if you prefer as there is plenty of parking at Cottonwoods. That way you could also bring a BBQ grill and some firewood

charrito said:

Very much interested although I dont see the poll here on the phone. Ill check back when i get to a computer.


Edited and voted. I might be able to get 2 more guys to come along if that's not a problem with the OP.

NSA, this post is just for you.

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Bring em on......

I might be able to talk the wife into this. LOL. We would truck the bike up Friday afternoon so we have all the heavy camping gear stuff and leave Sunday night. Will continue to follow the post.

phsablue said:

I might be able to talk the wife into this. LOL. We would truck the bike up Friday afternoon so we have all the heavy camping gear stuff and leave Sunday night. Will continue to follow the post.

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Sounds great, look forward to meeting you and the Mrs so long as she's not offended by a bunch of burping, farting, drinking, and no bathing for 4 days, men....

Looks like the poll is closed now but I'll be up for the Nov 13-17 weekend.

Kevin, do you have in mind riding dirt (River Road, Old Ore, Black Gap) or something else or play it by ear?

AdventureDallas said:

Looks like the poll is closed now but I'll be up for the Nov 13-17 weekend.

Kevin, do you have in mind riding dirt (River Road, Old Ore, Black Gap) or something else or play it by ear?

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Well, looks like the 13th to 17th has won out, so il gonna put in my time off request at work tomorrow! Can't freakin wait!

Hey Dallas, yes sir, I'm always up for riding dirt roads. Just have no desire to do any soft stuff or single track on this bike; much too big and too heavy. I have a KTM for that....

Tell ya what Bud, if you're gonna make the trip, then plan us out some routes for a day in the dirt and let's make it happen.

is there room for another rider or two???

viffer07 said:

is there room for another rider or two???

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Yes sir. Historically speaking, in the past when I've put rides together, and granted I can't say too much because I bailed last month, but if 10 people say they're coming, expect 5..... So if we have 5 now, I'd expect 2 or 3. Not being negative, but sh*t happens and I understand that. We all have real lives.

So if you're up for 2 more, then counting myself that would be 5 of us, which IMO would be perfect. So long story short, heck yeah, bring em on!

hmmm.... my PTO-O-Meter is pointing at "pretty darn empty" at the moment... but i might be able to get down after work on Friday and back on Sunday.

Come on down man, love to see the new Beemer.......

I'll do a little thinking and planning and will post some ideas by Wednesday.

To wet the appetite a bit...

Just uploaded the video from the June ride on Dagger Flats Auto Trail and Old Ore Rd. Skip to 22m:36s to avoid the not particularly interesting Dagger Flats part and get to the start of Old Ore Rd section. When you get bored the big puddles start adding a bit of variety at 1h:30m:00s.

I didn't put any music over my goofy comments (mic in helmet) - to remind myself how the heat melts the brain in the desert.



[ame="http://youtu.be/ByUUcfEQrXI"]http://youtu.be/ByUUcfEQrXI[/ame]

To start the conversation - the map below shows most of the dirt roads in BBNP: River Road, Old Ore, Glen Spring, Black Gap, etc.

The live Google map of the dirt roads in Big Bend is linked below. I have gpx tracks for everything in red on the map.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zWDm-tzv3qbY.kwOtEmAwdDts


My personal inclination is toward dirt. The Wee is not an MX racing machine so I go slow but I like to have an adventure on it - so I'm open to attempting challenging roads with some planning and without rushing.

If River Road (in BBNP) is not reasonably passable, or if we have time, I would also suggest as a possibility a day ride to The Sauceda Ranger Station inside Big Bend Ranch State park. It's 27 miles of gravel/dirt road from the BBRSP entrance to the ranger station / headquarters. That would make it a 54 mile round trip - roughly equivalent to the length of the River Road in the National Park.

Just some initial ideas... I'd love to get ya'll's thoughts.

That looks freakin great Dallas. Personally I'd like to do the River Road in BBNP and the road to the Ranger station in BBSP also looks interesting. I'm good with either........ or both. We have 3 full days of riding, so I agree to getting in as much dirt as possible. I think if we keep it at a slow to moderate pace and not lose touch with the fact that we're on big bikes and not thumpers, we can have a good ride. And since we'll be baseing out of Cottonwoods we're at a real good connection point. Also we won't have to pack all the panniers / gear, not to mention the cooler weather, so it should be much easier than your last BB dirt report I read last night....

If you go to Sauceda remember that you have about 60 miles of pavement before you get to the start of the dirt. gas up in Study Butte, and consider popping into Presidio after the dirt for a top off. Another loop you might consider instead of Sauceda is taking Bofecillos Rd north to Casa Piedra Rd and going to Marfa. It turns to pavement along the way, but Marfa is a good lunch stop. Then go out via 2810 down Pinto Canyon. It is dirt on the best portion and drops you on 170 at Ruidosa TX.

The road in and put of Sauceda has been dusty and washboard every time I have ridden it. There is some good stuff to see, but the best requires parking the bike and hiking. Most of the really good riding in the state park needs to be done on a small bike.

If y'all ride the Pinto Canyon trip I might jump on the GS and tag along. If you don't mind the company.

ed29 said:

If you go to Sauceda remember that you have about 60 miles of pavement before you get to the start of the dirt. gas up in Study Butte, and consider popping into Presidio after the dirt for a top off. Another loop you might consider instead of Sauceda is taking Bofecillos Rd north to Casa Piedra Rd and going to Marfa. It turns to pavement along the way, but Marfa is a good lunch stop. Then go out via 2810 down Pinto Canyon. It is dirt on the best portion and drops you on 170 at Ruidosa TX.

The road in and put of Sauceda has been dusty and washboard every time I have ridden it. There is some good stuff to see, but the best requires parking the bike and hiking. Most of the really good riding in the state park needs to be done on a small bike.

If y'all ride the Pinto Canyon trip I might jump on the GS and tag along. If you don't mind the company.

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Ed, thanks for the local suggestions!

I was looking at the distances and estimated times...

From Cottonwood campground (starting point in BBNP) to the turnoff from 170 to Bofecillos Rd is 90 miles, between 2 and 3 hours.

Then up to Marfa it's 70 miles an another 2.5 -3 hours given the dirt sections.

Marfa to Ruidosa probably another 55 miles and 3 hours (or more?) Are the Chinati Hot springs worth a stop?

Then from Ruidosa back to Cottonwood in BBNP is another 140 miles... nearly 4 hours considering the slow going on Ross Maxwell...

This is just me thinking out loud Any corrections on my travel time estimates would be greatly appreciated.

I spent a bit more time today looking at how we could possibly maximize the 3 riding days (Fri, Sat, Sun). Anyone who's done these before and has better time estimates, please chime in. The order of rides is random, I just numbered the days for tracking purposes. I thought we could have alternatives just in case... When I was there in June River Rd was closed due to recent rains. It's been pretty dry this summer but who knows :

Day 1

River Road / Hot Springs
(Cottonwood to Rio Grande Village) - 67 miles, ~52 dirt. I've read reports of riders covering this road in between 5 hours and 10 hours (I assume with breaks for food/rest/water). Perhaps soak in the Hot Springs if we're making good time. Return from Rio Grande Village to Cottonwood on paved park roads is 57 miles and 1:40 hours. Perhaps a dinner at the Chisos Mountain Lodge after all that dirt would be in order on the way back to the campground.

Day 2

Old Ore Road & Boquillas
From Cottonwood to its north end we have 50 miles and 1:15 hours of paved park roads. Then 26 miles of dirt, probably closer to 30 if we visit Ernst Tinaja. I did it in 3.5 hours in the spring. Are we talking lunch in Boquillas? Crossing closes at 5pm but that should give us a couple of hours down Mexico way for tacos & cervesas Then couple of hours to get back to Cottonwood.

Day 3

Black Gap / Glen Spring / Juniper & Pine Canyon Rds
45 miles - roughly 1 hour to the North end of Glen Spring Rd and get off the pavement.

~ 9 miles of Glen Spring to Black Gap
8.5 miles of Black Gap
30 miles of River Rd if we head west toward Cottonwood (22 or so miles if we head east to Rio Grande village)

So - 48 miles of dirt. If we include rides up Pine Canyon that's +8 miles and Juniper Canyon + 12 miles.

This day can end up being 68 miles of dirt, roughly half of it the Western portion of River Rd (which we would have already covered). The nice thing is that we'd end up at the campsite, without having to cross the park to get back.

Day 4 / Alternative

Big Bend Ranch State Park & Terlingua
It's 90 miles and 2:30 hours of pavement to the entrance at Bofecillos Rd. Probably 2 hours on dusty washboard (as Ed indicated) to Sauceda Ranger station in the interior. That's 1/2 a day. The return trip would be the other half, perhaps with dinner in Terlingua to finish it off.

Day 5 / Alternative

Pinto Canyon / Chinati Hot Springs
It's 140 miles of pavement and over 4 hours to get to Ruidosa, then another 8 miles and 1/2 hour to get to the Chinati springs. That's the area of Pinto Canyon as well... Double all that for the return trip...

Fire away...

ed29 said:

If you go to Sauceda remember that you have about 60 miles of pavement before you get to the start of the dirt. gas up in Study Butte, and consider popping into Presidio after the dirt for a top off. Another loop you might consider instead of Sauceda is taking Bofecillos Rd north to Casa Piedra Rd and going to Marfa. It turns to pavement along the way, but Marfa is a good lunch stop. Then go out via 2810 down Pinto Canyon. It is dirt on the best portion and drops you on 170 at Ruidosa TX.

The road in and put of Sauceda has been dusty and washboard every time I have ridden it. There is some good stuff to see, but the best requires parking the bike and hiking. Most of the really good riding in the state park needs to be done on a small bike.

If y'all ride the Pinto Canyon trip I might jump on the GS and tag along. If you don't mind the company.

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And NO BEER at the Big Bend Ranch State Park bunkhouse!!

The ride I described is about an 8 hour loop from the gas station in Study Butte. I forgot to factor in the hour each way to/from the campground down by the river. Add in picture stops and I suppose it might be a bit much. Pinto Canyon is one of my favorite roads out here. Chinati Hot springs is a destination in its own right. Worth spending hours or better yet an overnight stay at. Dropping by for a quick look is almost like Chevy Chase's character in the movie where he visits the Grand Canyon.

If y'all have a short day of riding let me know and we can get together at my place in the desert to grill some sausage, heat up a pot of beans, and ice down a 30 pack.

Got approval from the boss today confirming I have off work Thursday 11/13 through Monday 11/17. Already had pre-approval from the real boss (aka the wife) so I am 100% in-like-Flynn.

Spoke on the phone with AdventureDallas (Evgeniy) this evening. He's put a lot of work into planning some really cool routes and we both agree that we'd like to focus on quite a bit of dirt. Before I scare anyone off, and to restate my original post, we're talking about dirt roads and not single track or hard-core boon docking.

So that said, it would make more logistical sense to camp out of Rio Grande Village (RGV) rather than Cottonwoods. RGV is on the SE corner of BBNP but still on the river, and it allows for more direct access to the good dirt roads. This means much less commuting back and forth across the park (60 miles) as we connect dirt routes and or head back to camp. And as an added plus there's a gas station and more amenities and provisions available at RGV.

http://www.nps.gov/bibe/planyourvisit/rgv_campground.htm

Eugeniy is calling to get us a tent camping reservation at RGV just in case we need it. So that said I'd like to get a headcount of everyone who feels they are at least 90 to 100% committed on making the trip.

So whose in for some great riding?

Got room for an Okie down there?

tulstrom said:

Got room for an Okie down there?

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Yes sir, come on down. There's only two so us confirmed so far, so you'd make three, and all of us on Vstroms so what could be better! But I expect we may pick up a couple more over the next 10 days. We'll promise to keep the Oklahoma jokes to a minimum......!