Wednesday, November 14:
Today was going to be a big riding day. We would be basically circling the entire Big Bend Park, heading east on the Dagger Flat Trail, south on Old Ore Road, west on River Road to Castolon and then north back to the Ranch.
After filing our "flight plan" with Rod at the Ranch we left at 8:40 am heading north on Terlingua Ranch Road and then north easterly on Marathon Road to 385. This road was much easier after several days of riding in the area. We took 385 south to Dagger Flat Trail. This shell rock road took us 7 miles to a dead end camp area at Dagger Flat. Here the vegetation was very different, thicker and very reminisent of old cowboy movies.
We back tracked west to the Old Ore Road. Heading south on Old Ore Road found the riding much more technical but nothing too difficult. We stopped at McKinney springs, touted in the guid book as a reliable water source. We found only damp sand. Continuing south on Old Ore Road brought us to some great views
looking southwest at the Chisos Mountains which we planned to completely circle today. A few more miles brought us to the ruins of old McKinney Ranch with various cactus growing in the ruins of the home. The terrain became more difficult as we continued south to Hwy 118. We passed a gravesite with a fresh wreath. The Old Ore Road was a good dual sport road, with several sections of varied and technical riding - sand, ups, downs, rocks, washes, etc.
We hit 118 and headed east a few miles and then turned south onto the east end of River Road. The first 10 miles were rather boring with wash board shellrock road. The road became even rougher as we neared the Rio Grande.
We had lunch at Solis, a beach on the Rio Grande covered with burro shit. We were just too tired and hungry to find a better place to eat. This was the site of the poorist campsite we had seen. After choking down a sandwich we continued westerly over some rough roads to the Mariscal Mine. Continuing west on river road became more technical with beautiful views of the Chisos Mountains to the north. We also encountered different vegetation with flowers and different cactus. We stopped at Black Dike to find the second worst campground - in fact none of the camp sites on the Rio were any good.
By the time we reached the paved Santa Elana Road we were tired, sore and sunburned. We got a soda at Castalon before heading home. As we entered Terlingua Ranch Road we could see a storm building to the east with lightening and huge brightly colored clouds. We decided we needed to secure our campsite with extra tie downs for the tent.
SUMMARY
- 200 mile day with approx 140 miles of dirt - all we could take for one day.
- We were disappointed with the ride on River Road which we thought & heard would be the highlight of the trip.
- Old Ore Road was much better dual sport riding.
- Scenery was great along both roads.
- Navigation is a no-brainer in the park - every road and campsite is well marked.
- Various weather conditions could make rides in the park completely different. We were riding in very dry conditions which made for easy riding.
- High points were the scenery and lack of human presence.
- We were amazed that people could survive and live in this area without modern technology and conveniences.
- The area is desolate, dry, water unreliable. Food and other necessities must have been brought in long distances, requiring several days journey.
- It must have been tough in the old days!
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