We headed north on Terlingua Ranch road trying to get a feel for the bikes on this washboard shellrock road. We took a right on Marathon Road and headed northeast for the back entrance into Big Bend National Park. We were getting used to the road and picking up speed when we hit some deep sand and Ron was suddenly swerving wildly. He managed to regain control without going down. Several miles into road we stopped to take pictures of landscape that looked like the moon surface. This road was shellroack and sand, good in places and poor in others. We found many washes and curves with deep sand that took steady speed and maneuvering. There were good views of mountains, buttes, and desert landscape. Ron spotted two huge golden eagles. We crossed into Big Bend National Park before hitting the paved road. In the 23 miles from Terlingua to the paved road we saw no vehicles and only a few distant desert hovels.

We headed south on Hwy 385 to Panther Junction. Speed limit was 45 mph on all park roads, but enforcement was negligible. In the three day we rode the Park we saw several Park Rangers in SUVs, but they were always in the busier areas. At Panther Junction we turned east heading to Rio Grande Village. We met Nancy's parents at the campground there. The javalinas (little wild pigs) were raiding the tent next door. After I took the photo shown here another eight came walking out of the tent. Park rules say to collapse tents during the day to keep the pests out - they actually knew how to open the zippers too. We saw lots of road runners here too.

We continuted east to the Boguillas Crossing and watched tourists being rowed across the Rio Grand and riding burros to town for Mexican lunch. We decided not to make the crossing. Another mile or two east and you come to the end of the road where the Rio Grande slices through the mountain. This area was originally a river flowing over flatlands. Movement of tectonic plates caused uprising of land area with river continuously eroding through it. This left a narrow gorge through vertical mountains that we see today.

Returned via Study Butte, Hwy 118, and Terlingua Ranch Road.

We were awakened shortly after crawling into the tent by the noise of an animal walking on our tarp. Nancy shinned the light on the wild skunk. At first Nancy was concerned but "Sammy" became a camp site regular every night. He would wonder under our feet as we had dinner and never sprayed us. Other animals that we saw around the campsite were Javelina's, jack rabbits with huge ears, road runners, and a coyote. We were surprised that we didn't see any snakes the whole trip.

SUMMARY:
Total mileage for the day 150.
Study Butte gas was $1.54 per gallon while other places in TX were $1.01 to $1.19.
No newspapers.
Groceries mainly in small stores in RV areas and gas stations. Not much to pick from.
Study Butte was desolate and boring, glad we didn't stay there.
On the back roads stay away from the road edges and be careful on the curves and washes.