OldSchooling on the "Lone Star Trail"

[BeerTeam]

Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive
- Sotol Vista
- The view is one of the best in the park.
- overlooking Goat Mountain, The Santa Elena Canyon and Kit Mountain

[BeerTeam]

Over untold ages, the gritty Rio Grande River has worn its way through the limestone Mesa de Anguila, carving a narrow gorge 1,500-foot-deep.

The cut of Santa Elena Canyon can be seen for miles and miles

[BeerTeam]

It must of been a rough life for the residents of the house. The house was on a small hill to keep from being flooded out with high water.

[BeerTeam]

ÔÇöAccording to Indian legend, when the Great Creator made the earth and had finished placing the stars in the sky, the birds in the air, and the fish in the sea, there was a large pile of rejected stony materials left over. Finished with His job, He threw this into one heap and made the Big Bend

The name Big Bend is applied to the area surrounded on three sides by the Rio Grande, where this great river swings deeply southward into Mexico. All of the area in Brewster and Presidio counties south of the Southern Pacific Railway is commonly considered as the Big Bend country. Big Bend National Park lies within the southernmost tip of the area and is only a portion of the Big Bend country

[BeerTeam]

Mule Ears Peaks, the name for these twin peaks requires no explanation

[BeerTeam]

Pictured above:
one of the few tunnels in west Texas

Enter park through Maverick entrance (west end), and ride approximately 48 miles to Rio Grande Village, Boquillas Canyon, and Hot Springs

Pictured below:
Some (irrigated) large cottonwood trees on the Rio Grande Village Farm

[BeerTeam]

Big Bend - Chisos Mountains

[BeerTeam]

WELCOME TO THE BIGGEST LITTLE MALL IN TEXAS!

HOME OF HISTORIC STUDY BUTTE STORE This is the Big Bend's Walmart, as the nearest Walmart is more than 150 miles away in Fort Stockton. When was the last time you were 150 miles from a Walmart? When I am adventure riding, the further I am from a Walmart, the better the ride always seems to be.

Study Butte -(pronounced stoo-dee beaut)- named for a rancher who pronounced his name ``Stoody''

Study Butte/Terlingua (Tur-lin-gwa) owes its existence to the mercury mining (cinnabar) industry established in the area around 1900, now Study Butte and Terlingua (Tur-lin-gwa), are the homes to many retirees and adventurous motor bikers

[BeerTeam]

The porch, upper left of photo

The mid-1880s discovery of cinnabar, from which the metal mercury is extracted brought miners to the area, creating a city of 2,000 people.

The only remnants of the mining days are a Chisos Mining Company ghost town of Terlingua, Texas

Terlingua, Texas cemetery

Goat Track Trail, Terlingua, Texas

[BeerTeam]

Big Bend National Park - The Chisos

Looking up into the "Window" from western foothills of the Chisos Mountains, Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive

Looking up into the "Window"
western foothills of the Chisos Mountains

[BeerTeam]

Looking up into the "Window" from western foothills of the Chisos Mountains

[BeerTeam]

There are things in Texas worse than a mere fifty miles of rock and sand. IÔÇÖd rather be broke down and lost in the wilds of Big Bend, any day, than wake up some morning in a penthouse suite high above the megalomania of Dallas or Houston.
-Edward Abbey

While most motorcycles will stay on the 112 miles of paved roads in the park, those with a dual sport motorcycle can enjoy over 150 miles of unpaved roads. Remember: stay on established roadways. No "off-road" allowed. All vehicles must be street-legal.

Standard Road Conditions:

Dagger Flat
ALL VEHICLES
Bumpy but ok for cars; very sandy near end of rd.

Grapevine Hills
ALL VEHICLES
Usually passable for all vehicles to trailhead

Hot Springs
ALL VEHICLES
Narrow road; no RVs, Trailers or wide vehicles

Old Maverick
ALL VEHICLES ??
Rough; often impassable after heavy rains.

Croton Springs
ALL VEHICLES
Slippery mud after any rain

Paint Gap
HIGH-CLEARANCE
High-clearance past PG 3 campsite

Old Ore Road
HIGH-CLEARANCE
Recommended
High-clearance vehicles only

Glenn Springs
HIGH-CLEARANCE
High-clearance vehicles only

Pine Canyon
HIGH-CLEARANCE
High-clearance vehicles only; rough, rocky, & slow

Juniper Canyon
HIGH-CLEARANCE
High-clearance vehicles only; rough, rocky, & slow

River Road East
HIGH-CLEARANCE (sand)
High-clearance vehicles only

Texas Tip
There are two "river roads" in the area of Big Bend National Park. One is the scenic paved state highway Texas FM170 (El Camino del Rio) connecting Lajitas to Presidio to the west of the park; the other is the fifty-mile primitive dirt road connecting Castolon to Rio Grande Village inside the national park.

River Road West
HIGH-CLEARANCE (sand)
High-clearance vehicles only

Black Gap Road
4X4 ONLY
4x4 required! never maintained

North Rosillos Rd
HIGH-CLEARANCE
Deep ruts and sand; little-traveled

Dirt Road Definitions
All Vehicles
These are maintained gravel roads where a standard 2WD drive passenger vehicle is able to travel at low speeds, on long, dry straight-of-ways, without losing control due to wash boarding, ruts, or dips. In hilly areas or in curves, the safe speeds may be significantly lower.

High Clearance
These are primitive roads where a high clearance 2WD vehicle is able to travel safely at low speeds on long dry straight-of-ways, without losing control due to wash boarding, ruts, or dips. All high clearance 2WD roads may be rocky with areas or soft gravel or sand that makes travel unsafe for sedans or RVs.

Four-Wheel-Drive (4x4) Roads
These are primitive roads where a high clearance 4WD vehicle, in four-wheel- drive, driven by a driver experienced in 4WD drive techniques, can drive the road without getting stuck. All 4WD roads may be rocky, with deep sand or gravel and steep hills.

[BeerTeam]

There's a guy from Illinois at the Chiso campground,riding a black F650 named Bob. Tell'em I said "Hi" and will see him at the Pecatonica Flea Market.

Hi Bob
Bob's my buddy whom I bought my R100GS from. Last winter Bob sent some photo of dual sporting in the Big Bend area, and told me to stop on down to the Bend.

Heath Canyon, TX Abandoned International Bridge (La Linda Bridge)
AKA Hallie Stillwell International Bridge

La Linda Bridge is about five miles east of Big Bend National Park, but over a 100 mile round trip from the west entrance.

The closing of the bridge created the longest stretch of U.S.-Mexico border without a legal border crossing, almost 400 miles, between the Presidio, Texas-Ojinaga and Del Rio, Texas-Acuna crossings.

Closed and barricaded since 1997 by the U.S. Department of Treasury due to smuggling activity. . . Across the river lies the Mexican Abandoned mining village of La Linda, now owned by the Mexican goverment. There are no paved roads reaching La Linda on the Mexican side. La Linda began life as a fluorspar (mercury ore) mining town.

The bridge was built in 1964 by Dow Chemical to transport acid grade florspar ore from La Linda, Coahuila, to the railroad at Marathon. Dow sold the bridge to Dupont in 1972.



La Linda Linky

[VanFrederick]

Alright, my K75s have been my PMT for 9 years, I have 80K miles on my butt since 2000, 65K of which is in-and-around-town, so I don't mind pleading ignorance.

What's old-schooling?

[BeerTeam]

What's old-schooling?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oldschool
www.advrider.com/ old-skool

oldschool
3 entries found.
Function:
adjective
Date:
1803
1 : adhering to traditional policies or practices

2 : characteristic or evocative of an earlier or original style, manner, or form


And from that Urban Dictionary
old school

Anything that is from an earlier era and looked upon with high regard or respect. Can be used to refer to music, clothing, language . . .motorcycles
example:
Client: We have three PC's running MS-Dos 6.
Consultant: ...that's old school.

old school
Anything that refers to a previous generation of a subject/idea/object/etc. Typically, they are highly regarded and sometimes the very thing that started it all

Old School is in the Merriam-Webster, the (ing) suffix is the made up part. I make up words occasionally.

I like to see and photograph old things, like schools, churches, bridges, court houses. It will be a rare day when I take a photo of a new school, church or court house.

I also travel the same way I have been traveling for the last 32 years. I travel on an old Airhead, no cell phone, lap top, XM radio, Bluetooth or any of the other do daddies riders must have except for an older GPS.

I guess Oldschooling sounds better than oldthinging. I think "old's cool".

Santa