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The Big Bend ExperienceSeptember 21-26, 2006
Trip Chronicles by SabreScott
Thursday, September 21, 2006 was two days after my 53rd birthday. The summer had been one of the hottest on record in north Texas. The weather was just beginning to get cooler. By cooler, I mean, the low to mid nineties. A line of showers was due to move through the Dallas area Thursday morning. Radar indicated it was just west of Fort Worth at 8:00 AM. Rain or no rain, Karen and I had other plans, like riding to Big Bend. We decided early in 2006 that this would be our big ride of the year. Today was the day, rain or shine, ready or not, Big Bend here we come.
We mounted our trusty steeds and pulled out from Sachse, Texas at 9:15 AM. We had to gas up in Garland and pull over and check our riggings and we were on our way. We hit light rain in Lancaster and pulled off of I-20 to decide whether to don the Frogg Toggs. I checked the radar and decided we would be out from under the precipitation soon enough, so we rode on.
We stopped in Weatherford around 11:00 AM and had lunch. Pressing on to Abilene took us out of the rain, into the sun and through an area I like to call the fringes of west Texas. Having been raised in Wichita Falls, I consider myself a west Texas boy, even though the small city of 100,000 is on the eastern fringes of a vast expanse of flat plains and Mesquite covering the western half of the state.
We continued west on I-20 through mesas and rolling hills stopping for gas and to change from leather to mesh. Karen was amazed at the oil fields in the Permian Basin. She calls them “pumping jacks”. To her it looked like there was one every twenty-five feet. The smell of oil permeated the air and the heat reminded me of home. At around 6:00 PM we found ourselves passing a pickup almost missing our exit to the motel in Midland.
Friday dawned cool and clear and we were off to Kent, Texas where we would finally leave the interstate for the beauty of the Big Bend country and the Davis Mountains. The wind had become a factor by late in the morning as we were nearing the end of our time on the interstate. Gusts were in the 30 to 40 mph range and the combination of semis’ and entering mountain passes kept us busy jockeying for lane positioning at speeds of 70 to 80 mph. Texas has increased it’s speed limit to 80 mph west of the Midland/Odessa area.
It was noon when we reached Kent where we headed south on S.H. 118. It seemed like we were riding through a wonderland of trees, cactus, and scrub grasses spread over mountains, hills and valleys. We stopped for a picture and the most incredibly large yellow jacket got interested in Karen’s red helmet. So we elected to move on instead of getting stung. I began keeping a vigilant eye for animals crossing the road (and large insects!)
As we pulled into the McDonald Observatory, we began experiencing the change in altitude. It was 1:00 PM and time for lunch, so we grabbed a sandwich and sat down to rest. After lunch, we went on a tour of the two big telescopes. We were so impressed we decided to return in the near future to attend a “Star Party”. This would require us to come and go to the facility at night. After riding the Davis Mountains during the day and experiencing wildlife encounters, we decided it would be safer to travel by car at night to do a star viewing. Karen has always been interested in astronomy and this part of the trip was “right up her alley”, or better stated “out of this world” and right into hers.
We left the observatory a little after 4:00 PM and rode through the unusual wilderness landscape. Fort Davis is a very interesting place. Picture the “Old West” living breathing and in full operation in the year 2006, with pickups, cars and a gas station surrounded by surreal desert-like vegetation and craggy red mountain cliffs. That’s another town we’d like to spend some time in on a return visit.
As we entered Alpine, we had our first wildlife encounter. I almost took out Bambi, or should I say she almost took out me! We were entering the outskirts of the town and an unprotected railroad crossing came into view. I looked right and then took a hard look left and as I returned my eyes ahead, not more than thirty feet in front of me was a deer! Standing directly in front of my bike and not moving. I had rolled off the throttle on my approach to the crossing, however I was still going a good 55 mph. I braked hard on the front, and had my thumb on the air horns and was ready to apply the rear brake and put more pressure on the front a second time when she ran off. I figure I was six or eight feet away. Close call. We had just been warned, and escaped without a major incident
Alpine is a pretty town. Sul Ross University is on a hill overlooking downtown,. We arrived at the motel around 5:00 pm and had some good Mexican food at Alexander’s. “The Stars at Night Are Big and Bright…Deep in the Heart of Texas”…at least they were in Alpine. I know I’m a Texan, but I’m really not bragging. You can see so many more than we are used to seeing in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. Clear, crisp, and absolutely gorgeous, you really feel the presence of a higher power when you find yourself in such beauty.
Riding into Presidio was like riding into Mexico. The town was not as big as I had imagined. We found a gas station and filled up and shed the leather. It was 11:00 AM and going to be a hot one. We headed west on S. H. 170. The mountains, the desert, the Rio Grande and the road all come together on this part of the ride. This road is absolutely a must do for any biker. Be prepared for the mountains, the twisties, and a lot of not so friendly pull off’s into gravel and on grades…but the scenery is to die for. Take plenty of water.
We stopped at Lajitas for lunch and had a heck of a time finding the Ocotillo Restaurant. The food was good, expensive and the attitude was as if they could’ve cared less for the business. However, the view of the Rio Grande and Mexico was great.
You have to realize that when you get this far out the towns are typically 60-90 miles apart and any towns mapped in between have no gas, no food, no water and no restrooms. Cell phone service at best becomes limited and in some areas is non-existent. The last McDonalds we saw was when we were leaving Alpine. Plan ahead. Carry snacks and extra water. Keep your tank topped off and take a potty break whether you need to or not. Plan your route and know it will likely take you twice as long as usual to get from point A to point B.
After leaving Lajitas, the road widened and we came over a massive mountaintop and headed down through a spectacular view of the Chihuahuan Desert and it’s mountains as we rolled into Terlingua. We gassed up and rode into Big Bend National Park. Now, for the rest of the story…
Big Bend National Park is 800,000 acres of mountains, prairies and the desert all wrapped up in one large package. Wildlife abounds although due to the expanse of the park, you may or may not see much. There are at least 24 mountain lions in the park. At any given time while visiting the park, you are in one of the lions’ territories. We saw four deer while going to dinner in the Chisos Mountain Basin walking from our lodge to the restaurant. There are black bear and many birds and unusual species of plants, rodents and insects.
The most fabulous sight we saw was the sunset through the mountains from the Chisos Mountain Basin called “The Window”. Storm clouds were developing ahead of a cold front and the sunset caused the reddish glow under the clouds over the mountain to look like a volcanic eruption. The sighting lasted about a half an hour and changed minute to minute. It was a very special time for Karen and me. That one experience defined the trip for us. Awesome doesn’t even come close to expressing the event. God has a way of displaying beauty, strength, and wonder all at the same moment. This was it.
Sunday dawned and there was a 10% chance of thundershowers. The cold front was beginning to reach the Big Bend area and the warm air had begun to produce some cloud cover. We decided not to back track and ride the road to Santa Elena Canyon as we were both tired and elected to go to the Rio Grande Village. It was shorter, less demanding and less scenic. The cold front pushing through was packing wind gusts between 40 and 50 mph. Glad we weren’t in the
twisties! The ride to the Rio Grand Village was nice, fairly straight and mainly desert. There was a tunnel a couple of miles from the turn around point and a nice view of the valley overlooking the mountains across the border in Mexico.
We stopped for a photo op and headed back to Panther Junction to get gas and head for Marathon.
Just about four miles from the northern entrance to the park, “Sadie” turned 30,000 miles. I thought that was a pretty good milestone in our rides together, so I celebrated her birthday with several long blasts on the air horn. Forty miles further up the road Karen and I began to look for gas and something to eat. We found a nice little corner gas station turned into the “Cottonwood Station Café”. Good warm home cooked food and burgers. We had battled a cold headwind all the way out of the park and would continue to on into Ft. Stockton. At least we began coming out from under the cloudbank and got some sun the final twenty miles.
The landscape had gone from desert to a mix of cactus vegetation and scrub to ranch land. The mountains began to drop away and the western prairie became prominent. We arrived in Ft. Stockton around 4:00 PM cold and tired from battling a good significant headwind with 30 to 40 mph gusts.
Monday was cool and partly cloudy. We headed up U.S. 67, another long stretch of lonely west Texas road to San Angelo. About half way between Ft. Stockton and San Angelo we encountered a family of four deer crossing the highway. They came across one after the other. Fortunately we spotted them a quarter mile away. As we got closer and the third one was in the highway, I laid on the air horns and the fourth scurried out of the brush and across the road. We picked up the pace and I remained alert for more wildlife. A half hour or so up the road I spotted a large bird at the side of the roadway. Four or five more were feasting on a large animal near the fence and they began to take off as I approached. Again I blew the horns and several vultures and two bald eagles took flight. We ate lunch in San Angelo and began our afternoon journey to Abilene where we would spend the night.
Just prior to arriving in Abilene we came through an interesting field of windmills. You will see hundreds of these wind energy windmills on the mesas of west Texas. They’re part of the Green Power Partnership. Karen thinks this is very cool. The road cut through the middle of them so we got to observe them up close and personal. We then headed through the last of the mountain passes we would see and on into Abilene.
When we arrived in Abilene, things were beginning to get back to normal. There were plenty of motels, gas stations, a shopping mall and restaurant chains we are used to. Civilization. Wow, what a trip.
Tuesday morning was cool, but we headed into the sunrise for Dallas. Things warmed up and we shed the leather in Lancaster after having a good lunch in Weatherford. Finally around 2:30 PM we pulled into the driveway. Over 1,500 miles later we were home and it was hot. Oh well, there’s no place like home…or is there?
Big Bend
