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Fort Hancock to Mexico, a Giant Loop

izz

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Location
Dublin, Tx


The Three Amigos make a "Giant Loop" Slabbing it 200 miles from Presidio to Fort Hancock, cross into Mexico, camp for three days as we bushwack our way back to America, 450 miles total.

Oilfieldtrash
izz
Muddmissle

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get your paperwork together and 100 pounds of gear, water and fuel, we are going on an expedition!

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Not much, in the way of Mexican immigrations was there izz. ( as in nothing) We did Fort Hancock to Persido on big bikes in an eighteen hour day.
Tell is more about your trip.
 
We did all our paperwork in Presidio, even though nobody ever asked to see it, even the Army didn't look at it, our route had us zig zagging through the mountains instead of taking the River Road:

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Our goal was to find a way to make it back to Ojinaga through the sierras. The trip via the north side following the river has been done before and it was of no interest to us. We wanted to explore and find another way while enjoying the mountain scene, old cavalry trails, smuggler's trails, etc. So, we did our paperwork in Ojinaga and slaped all the way to Fort Hancock where we stayed at the Fort Hancock Motel. If you are not too picky, it'll do. However, be advised to bring good earplugs since the back rooms are just a few feet from the railroad tracks. Here is us getting ready to cross Sunday am.
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As you can see, we are not too far from the tracks and the trains come and go all night long!

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We are finishing the last details and we are on our way to the border. This is the first time I see the steel wall. That thing is huge! I couldn't take pictures and you all know why.
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One thing that surprised me was that we were stopped by US customs first and after a few questions about weapons, drugs, and ammunition, let us go on our way. The Mexican counter part was also very amicable and asked us the same questions getting the same answers. From there we headed south for a short period of time and then we headed south following the river for another short period of time. We encounter on this section of no more than 3 miles the only sign of human life for the next three days. A truck was parked kind of blocking most of the road and three fellows were just shooting the breeze. I took no chances and did not stop to ask what was wrong. In no time we were out of sight and into the hills.

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Logistically speaking, we had to carry food, fuel and water to last us 3 days; therefore, we were loaded to our eyeballs. You may think why it's taking them that long? We are exploring a maze of trails, ranch roads, river beds, goat trails, cow trails, and fences not knowing if there is locked gate, fence, or washout that can stop us from going through. So, we have to be prepared for any eventuality. I personally carried more than 100 lbs between saddlebags, duffel bag, and dromedaries.

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The trip started early, we left my house in Dublin around 4:30 AM, by the time we got to Marfa it was lunch time so we hit the local Dairy Queen. Since they had some difficulties doing the math on making my cash change they gave me this cone for FREE.

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Nice pictures. Looks like fun. And I'm impressed that somebody who doesn't live in El Paso has even HEARD of Ft Hancock.
 
Oilfieldtrash thinks if the diesel additive is good for his Dodge it must be good for his KLX450R:

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Nice pictures. Looks like fun. And I'm impressed that somebody who doesn't live in El Paso has even HEARD of Ft Hancock.

If these cats could cross into Mexico on their way to Zihuatanejo , well then it would be good enough for us to cross there:
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What's Chad, the trashman, lookin for, tp? Heehee. :haha:

I sure wish I could've gone with you guys.
 
What's Chad, the trashman, lookin for, tp? Heehee. :haha:

I sure wish I could've gone with you guys.

We had stopped there for a snack, yep, right in the middle of the road. Not a tree in sight for 10 miles. I was sitting next to my bike using it as shade and looked up under my rear fender to find the bolt holding my muffler on MIA. Had to take a dromedary off, a Wolfman Dry Duffel off, and pull every last thing out of the "Giant Loop" to get to my tool kit!

I wasn't the only one w muffler issues. The cap on Izz's pipe resembled the work of a drunken mechanic who had riveted on a Chicken of the Sea tuna can. He was a quarter of an inch away from having the loudest bike in Mex!:eek2:
 
Back to the story, we headed for the mountains and it was looking very promising till we ran into the first locked gate. This one meant business, no way around it and no weak or down points. We were staring at the trail disappearing into the mountains and we couldn't get to it. I don't have a picture of the gate but I took one from the sides while I was looking for a way to go around it.
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Massive stone wall! We have to make a decision to go and investigate a possible road about 2 miles to our right or west or backtrack to a possible track that could take us to a road that possibly would lead us back to the same track we were following. Every alternative had to be weighted in terms of fuel consumption as well as water. we decided to back track a few miles and bush-wacked our way through the desert till we met our planned track.
[ame="http://youtu.be/lIm35tx81Uc"]First locked gate - YouTube[/ame]
 
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Back to the story, we headed for the mountains and it was looking very promising till we ran into the first locked gate. This one meant business, no way around it and no weak or down points. We were staring at the trail disappearing into the mountains and we couldn't get to it. I don't have a picture of the gate but I took one from the sides while I was looking for a way to go around it.


Massive stone wall! We have to make a decision to go and investigate a possible road about 2 miles to our right or west or backtrack to a possible track that could take us to a road that possibly would lead us back to the same track we were following. Every alternative had to be weighted in terms of fuel consumption as well as water. we decided to back track a few miles and bush-wacked our way through the desert till we met our planned track.
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Non edited version of a section of the first day heading into the mountains'

[ame="http://youtu.be/L0UcRwPb7jc"]FILE0942 - YouTube[/ame]
 
Great story!

Did you track your route with a GPS device of any kind?
 
Yes, we all have some kind of GPS. Izz tracked and had the tracks on his Montana, which was a great tool. I had a 62cs and Oilfield had one as well. The Montana had the Mexico maps as well as the SW USA maps. I was very impressed with Izz ability to use his Montana to get us in and out of the sierras. My GPS had no maps of Mexico so all I can see was the tracks, if we were on track.
 
We did some bushwacking and ended up connecting to a road that was supposed to connect somewhere with the track we were following. Now, you have to understand that these tracks has been done just using Garmin's Base Camp, Google Earth, Bird's Eye, and Maps from Mexico. From the sky, any thing can look like a promising trail. Fortunately, the Montana could show official roads, elevations, and changes in topography. So, we ended up on this road with the following sign.
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The road seemed to has been out of use for quite some time. We encountered many washouts and deep roots. In one of these Izz dropped his bike as he was trying to turn it around and circumvent the obstacle. Then I ran into this.
[ame="http://youtu.be/nQ7H34lzPZ0"]FILE0945 - YouTube[/ame]

We ended up on this dried river bed looking for the way out. We took a breader once we found the road again and had lunch.
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After lunch we headed out and started to climb noticing that the vegetation was getting greener and the air cooler. It was turning out to be a beautiful afternoon. We stopped at the top of one of the hills to take some pictures and determine where it would be a good place to set up camp for the night.
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We kept loosing the trail due to washouts and overgrown desert plants so we had to do what some of us like best, bushwack! It is amazing that after all the mesquite, cactus, and whatever we ran over we did not get a single flat. All thanks to Slime and other tire sealants.

[ame="http://youtu.be/RKc4pXc5rB4"]Bushwacking in the desert - YouTube[/ame]

We ran into some difficulties as we were getting tired but we prevailed.

[ame="http://youtu.be/8apNLBdJHqk"]still bushwacking - YouTube[/ame]
 
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