Llano Estacado of Texas Ideas?

I'd like to explore the Llano Estacado of West High Plains Texas. Say from Amarillo to Lubbock or something like that.

Any of you weather beaten Texans have any route ideas, tracks to share, ideas of where to go/how to get there....ect ect?

Be best on all dirt/gravel roads.

Throw what you know here or send me a PM.

Thanks,
devro

Check out The Roads of Texas. A great Resource for things like that. Do it soon before the Heater is turned on...And stays on a long time.

Thanks FotoTex, I sure will.
This is going to be a 2014 trip: "Dicovering the Comancheria". So will take in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma.

Thanks for the help.
devro

Check this out.

http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80356&highlight=lubbock+loop

Supposedly it was called the Staked Plain because it was so featurless that explorer's had to place stakes in the ground so they would know where they had been. It's not as bad as that.

m

Actually it is worse than that.

Thanks Meriden. Looks like I need to sign up on the Two Wheels Texas site. Not a problem.

If anyone is a reader and interested: There is a GREAT book about the Comanche empire and the Comancheria:
Empire of the Summer Moon. by S.C Gwynne

Sure thing.

The wife finished that book about a month ago and really liked it. I'll pick it up this summer. Enjoy your ride.

Oh yea, there's a big canyon up there somewhere, so take care. ;-)

m

And every once in a while if you stray off the edge you find stuff like this

And this

After seeing the inside of that jail, I sure would not want to spend August in there.

Or December for that matter.

It's weird how it's just put there in the middle of the middle of nowhere.

Hey there, this rental company is nice enough to allow free downloads of the routes they recommend for customers (I am not affiliated to them btw). I'm pretty sure the Wild West one or the Colorado covers the area you are looking for:
http://www.sportryderrentals.com/Main_Pages/Maps/Ride_Maps.php

Heres the direct link I believe:
http://www.sportryderrentals.com/Main_Pages/Maps/Maps/Taos_Ring.pdf

Empire of the Summer Moon was a good read. Check out Larry McMurtrys Comanche Moon and Dead Mans Walk if your into fiction. Gus and Capt Call spent some time in the staked plains.

El Llano Estacado: Exploration and Imagination on the High Plains of Texas and New Mexico, 1536-1860 by
John Miller Morris.

This is the best book available about the southern high plains.

Great pics Stevie!

Hey Jim, if you want to ride somewhere flat, why don't you come over here and ride in my backyard, NE Arkansas? It's a heck of a lot closer than the Texas panhandle!

If you want to retrace Indian history, we can search for arrowheads behind my house in the bean field. I have to run the meth-heads off occasionally for wandering around searching for them (that's what they tell me they're doing).

I worked on some of our conveyor at Excel Beef in Friona a few years back. Not much to see in that area until we took a side trip to Palo Duro Canyon. That was impressive!

Greg

Whatchudoin on my Texas thread? How'd you find me here?

Back to your question: Maybe it has to do with mosquitoes? LOL

You design the ride, they will come.

I saw the thread and remembered reading about it in geography back when I was a young displaced Arkansan growing up in Mesquite, TX. Then I saw your name attached and wondered what you had up your sleeve!

I forgot about the mosquitoes around here since they haven't made their presence known yet... but they will here in another month!!!

Greg

So it comes down to mosquitoes and ticks or rattle snakes and scorpions?

Don't forget about the beloved little fire ant! We don't have those up here in NE Arkansas (yet). I used to say that about armadillos too.

Greg

How's about ferrel hogs?