BREAKING CAMP AND THAT NEXT MORNING.
I’m not sure why I’ve had some rough sleep these past two nights camping. Maybe it was the cold temperatures at night, although I did stay mostly warm. Maybe it was due to all of the barking from those nearby coyotes. Maybe it was because that was the first time I’ve camped in over 20 years and I haven ‘t adjusted to that kind of rest. Or maybe it was because my mind would only half sleep because I wasn’t in my own bed. This is a real phenomenon whereby our brain knows we are not asleep safe in our own beds so it stays partially awake to keep us from sleeping through danger. Maybe, just maybe, my brain put that together along with the fact that there was a predator barking not far away. I recently read about this in Matthew Walker’s book “Why We Sleep”. It is also why we don’t sleep well sometimes when we stay in hotels.
Frank and I both got up around 7 AM and started getting our things together. We stopped what we were doing to watch the sunrise over the mountains in Mexico to the east of us.
Sunrise in our camp. This morning we woke up and paused to watch the sunrise over Mexico.
Frank got packed up before me and we said our goodbyes. He left at 9:45 AM and I packed up slowly because it was too cold to start heading out on the bike. I was waiting a little longer for it to heat up a little more.
Later Frank. You made my stay here in Big Bend that much more memorable. Buen viaje hermano.
I finally departed a little after 11 AM and started making the long ride across the park, northwest on Park Route 12 past Panther Junction and then west, southwest past the Chisos Mountains towards Study Butte.
Study Butte, Texas
Took a pitstop here outside of Big Bend at Study Butte to figure out where I was going next and where to stay.
After leaving the park I stopped in Study Butte at the Acon gas station and acquired a map of the local area from the girl at the register. I was trying to decide whether I wanted to stay local to Terlingua since there were many camping and unique motel options (teepee’s, etc.). Or did I want to stay in Presidio, like I did five years ago, just a couple of miles from the border.
Leaving STudy Butte
Where to go next? I need a hotel but should I stay in tiny Terlingua Ghost Town or pragmatic Presidio?
I decided on a compromise of sorts. I would continue riding to Presidio but I would stop when I felt the need to sightsee, take pics and get off the bike and stretch when needed.
Understood. Before seeing this sign I was actually about to go ride up this dirt path to take a look at some crumbling ruins of what looked like an old town. Until I saw this sign…
These were the ruins I was trying to go see until I saw the sign in the dirt road leading to these. I wonder if someone now owns these on private property? You would think that it wouldn’t be possible to own the ruins to an old town. Comment below if you know.
My first stop after Study Butte was the nearby town of Terlingua Ghost Town. This place kind of reminded me of a more developed Slab City out in California in the sense of eclectic homes, old buses and unique living. Maybe like a smaller Central City, Colorado in the sense of the old west. I’m not sure what to compare it to but it certainly was different. It was definitely idiosyncratic. Odd. Undefinable.
Entering Terlingua
I like how they combined the words “ghost” and “town” to run into each other as one word, “Ghostown”. I’m curious how old that sign is or if it was just constructed to look so very old.
I almost passed the town of Terlingua. I passed “Passing Wind” below before turning around and going back to enter the town.
This was just outside the entrance to the ghost town of Terlingua. Not sure WTF this is but there is part of what looks like a recreation of a pirate ship, to scale, in the background with two different RV’s parked to the sides of it and then what looks like the top of a submarine submerged in the sand. Like I said, a unique place.
I rode all the way to the end of the small town.
Teepees for rent.
Heading to the top of town. All dirt roads and it felt like the old west.
If you read the sign, it says “Home of the Chili Cookoff” or similar. I actually just missed that by a few days. It had been just a couple of days earlier and it’s the biggest event of the year and of the area. Maybe I could have finally tried chili. Also, interesting is the fact that there are no metal detectors allowed. Terlingua was set up as the terminus for a mining operation that stretched from Chisos back in Big Bend all the way to here. Maybe that’s why metal detectors are prohibited?
The history of this theater is interesting. It was constructed in the 1930’s for entertainment for the quicksilver miners in town. At some point the theater became roofless (not sure about this) and it was reinvented in the late ‘60s as the Starlight Theater as an open roof music venue. Now it has a roof again and it is a restaurant and bar. The pics of the interior look pretty cool. I’m guessing this is the hub of activity within Terlingua.
Arts scene
There’s definitely some kind of arts scene here but not in a trendy artsy town kind of way. Just more basic and organic without all the annoying people other arts towns have.
Bottles on metal wires.
Parked on the way down at the cemetery.
It looked old and interesting. I love old mining town cemeteries.
At the top, I turned around and stopped off at the cemetery for some pictures.
Was this the original entrance way into the cemetery?
Some of the ghost town ruins in the background.
Leaving the town there were some more unique, almost anachronistic, sites.
You’re going to need to be more specific please.
I continued towards Presidio and passed a large cage alongside the road. There was a sign next to it that I noticed as I passed. Within seconds my brain was screaming for me to turn around and see what that was about. What I found was the mayor of this tiny town of Lajitas in a cage.
The mayor is lying towards the front and center in the cage. He is a goat and drinks beers given to him by tourists. See link below.
I stopped at the Lajitas cemetary to take some pics and found that I oddly picked up some wifi. I took the opportunity to make some phone calls and reconnect with those that I hadn’t spoken to in days.
The history of this cemetery.
The teepees in the distance were actually picnic tables in a rest area along the river covered and shaded by the teepees.
After this I continued down Highway 170 and from Lajitas all the way to almost Presidio the road was amazing! This is probably the best or one of the very best motorcycle roads I have ever encountered. It was scenic through canyons, had tight twisties to lean over in, long sweeping curves to speed through and elevation gains that made me feel like I was on a roller coaster. The hills would go up and up and finally crest whereby you couldn’t see what lie ahead. As you hit the top of the crest you would realize that the drop was so steep. My front wheel would lift off at times and I would drop down like I was on Rolling Thunder at Six Flags. It was beyond what I could have imagined.
On the way, needing a break from all of this mountain riding, I stopped off at a rest area and trailhead that was indicated on a wood sign as “hoodoo”. What is a hoodoo? I passed it, went about a quarter of a mile and returned to see what a hoodoo was.
Here is what the city boy in me takes away from all of this wonderful information on this trail:
Blah, blah, blah, blah…”Do not run if you encounter a mountain lion or black bear…pick up small children...fight back if attacked…” blah, blah, blah…something about a trail.
Those rock formations are hoodoos. I wish I could incorporate the word hoodoo into normal conversation.
I stopped off at Fort Leaton just before Presidio for a stretch and to see some more history. I took the $5 self-guided tour.
I finally made it to Presidio and stopped off at The Three Palms Motel, the place I stayed last time I was here. There are only two motels that I know of in Presidio and the other one looked empty and kind of crappy. This one is average with an above average price. It was $80 for the smaller room and $90 for a slightly larger room. Hearing this I started to ride north to Marfa, TX because there would be more options when, about half way there, I realized that I did not want to do this. It was flat, boring, windy and the road just went forever. Tedious. I turned around about half way to Marfa and committed to staying at the overpriced motel in the spirit of convenience and not wanting to ride long slabs of boring highway to save some money. I’ll eat it tonight so I can be only two miles from the Mexico border in the morning.
That evening I spoke to guys in a large group of motorcyclists that were visiting from the Tulsa, OK area. They trailered their plated dirt bikes down to Presidio, as they do ever year, and get together for days of riding in the nearby Mexican dirt roads and nights back at the motel having beers and telling stories. Great guys. In the morning I spoke to some of them again as I readied my bike to leave for Mexico. I left a little later than planned and hit the U.S./Mexico border around 10:30 AM.