Big Bend NP- the Now'r Nev'r trip

[Phattyre-Phready2]

Roller coaster like roads! I rode this section 3 times!!!






A little extra added thrill... possible rock slides to go with jackrabbits the size of mule deer!



I was so into the ride on the way through here earlier that I didn't take pics, knowing I'll be back shortly. Now I can't go a mile without stopping, not knowing if I'll ever be back and I don't want to miss a thing! Yeah... right.







Just looking at this pic makes me wish I'd had time to beachcomb here. Those walls in the foreground just look so inviting!



But at this point, I was still planning to check out the Ghost Town.



And there were too many spots where I'd paused earlier and decided to stop on the way back.



Another spot I could easily spend an afternoon.

[Phattyre-Phready2]

Originally Posted by acejones

What bad things had you heard about Lajitas ?

Probably just sour grapes from several mtb'ers I know who used to race there. They said a rich dude bought everything up, built a 'golf resort' and you have to be filthy rich to stay there. Of course, a pack of mtb racers is just what a bunch of rich snobs want to mingle with around the pool!

[Phattyre-Phready2]

There's a narrow, slot canyon here that I'd planned to hike if I had time. The Rio Grande is on the other side of that ridge and you can reach it through this slot which is said to be narrow enough to touch both sides in places.
































Yep... I should'a been a geologist!

[Phattyre-Phready2]

When I see this, I get the strongest deja vu feeling I believe I've ever experienced! Even though I know I've never been here, I KNOW I've seen this scene. Just past the bridge is a pullout with signage for the Contrabando Movie Set, where many old westerns were filmed. That explains the deja vu! That ridgeline has been in too many old westerns to count.



I realize if I explore the movie set, I won't have enough daylight to explore the Terlingua Ghost Town. I try to ride close enough to the sign to take pics, but the light is wrong for that angle, so I put the sidestand down. The angle of the parking lot makes the bike stand too upright, but since I'm just taking a couple quick pics, I leave it. The wind is blowing hard through here and is making it hard to get steady for the pic. About the time I get the signage lined up... WHAM!!! A chunk of my windshield rolls over my foot! The biggest gust blew my bike over and the windshield broke into 3 pieces!!! It even broke the mount!

It's hard to put into words how I felt at that moment. A sick feeling that made me forget all about taking any more pics. I almost threw my back out trying to lift the bike into the slope of the parking lot and had to spin it on the footpeg and right luggage rack to get the wheels downhill. I finally got the bike up and put the busted windscreen in the trunk. At that point, I was afraid the entire front fairing piece would have to be replaced to repair it! Needless to say, I didn't feel much like exploring the Ghost Town anymore and rode right past it and back to camp. I didn't take another picture the entire way, much less one of the sign I stopped for or pics of Jessie napping! I finally took 2 lousy pictures of the damage.






I had a miserable ride home into a cold Northeast wind the next day. The temps were in the low 50's, but I was chilled to the bone by the time I got home. I managed to ziptie part of the windscreen back on, but it made 380 miles feel like 600.

The good new is I found a used windshield mount for half price and bought a Cee Bailey windscreen I like much better than the old one. So all's well that ends well!