Woke up to fog…like thick can’t see the other side of the
road fog. Thankfully it was dissipating
by 9:30 a.m. but the air had a dampness to it.
We intended to get on the road about 9:30, but didn’t really get rolling
until about 11. By that time the fog was
gone, the sun was out and the air was warm.
Good time to ride!! (By all accounts,
this fog is not typical for this area.)
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None of the fellows behind the black fence were imaging last
night…too windy. But Kim stayed out
there, fiddling with his equipment, making adjustments, etc. It all contributes to the whole at some point
in time.
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Today we rode to Big Bend National Park via Hwy 385 from
Marathon…came out of the park on Hwy 118 which goes up to Alpine….came on back
via 90 to Marathon. So we made a big 261
mile loop. The cactus are starting to bloom and the wildflowers are plentiful alongside the road. Big Bend National
Park is unusual in that it contains three separate environments…desert,
mountain, and river. The park
encompasses a large of the Chihuahuan Desert, the entire Chisos (pronounced
Chee-sos) mountain range lies within the park boundary and 118 miles of the Rio
Grande which forms the boundary between the U.S. and Mexico lies with the
park. The park covers 801,163 acres and
is larger than the state of Rhode Island!
We rode through the desert, up into the mountains to the Chisos Basin
and then got within sight of the Rio Grande.
We didn’t get to dip our toes in the river because of time
constraints. I thought we’d be able to
ride down into the Santa Elena Canyon and continue on another 13 miles to Hwy
118, which would take us to Alpine. What
I didn’t realize was that 13 mile stretch of road was gravel. No thanks!
Since we now had to go back out the way we came in and retrace about 22
miles and still go another 12 miles before we were out of park, we opted to
head back before we reached the canyon area.
At that point, we still thought that Kim would be able to do some
imaging tonight and we wanted to be back before dark.
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| Sky clouded up but thankfully no rain fell. |
We were warned that today was predicted to be windy.
Encountered a little wind during the day but it was the kind that provided
relief from the stifling temperatures.
About 4 o’clock I saw 97o on my bike…I imagine it was hotter
during the peak of the day. Anyway, a
breeze on a hot day is always welcome.
As we were leaving the park, dark clouds were in the distance. I asked Kim if he thought those were rain
clouds and truthfully, at that point, a little rain didn’t sound too bad. It was still very hot. As we headed up Hwy
118, the real wind hit…a sign said it 80 miles to Alpine and we rode in
constant wind the entire time, along with gusts that threw us sideways and blew
dust/dirt across the roads. And over the
course of 1 ½ hours, the temperature dropped to 61o….that’s a 36o
drop! The temperature decrease was
gradual at first so I was still comfortable in just a shirt. But then we hit a
cool spot; I really wanted to stop to put my jacket on but was afraid of
stopping the bike in the wind. We were
heading north and the wind was from the west; in my mind, the wind would have
an easier time knocking the bike over because it would be blowing it off the
stand, not into the stand. I wasn’t willing to risk it, so I just dealt with
the chill. Fortunately Kim was able to
do what I couldn’t bring myself to do…stop.
He just pulled over because he knew I’d be needing a jacket. I was grateful for the chance to put my
sweatshirt on but as soon as we got back on the road, I was wishing I had put
my big jacket on…and gloves. While
standing still on the side of the road, a sweatshirt was enough; however, when
we started riding again, it wasn’t enough to be comfortably warm but it was
better than nothing. Overall, the ride
was great until about 5 o’clock…from that point on it was physically and
mentally draining. We did stop for a
quick bit to eat in Alpine so Kim could warm up; then we rode the 30 miles to
Marathon in the dark. Thankfully no rain ever materialized from those dark
clouds…wind coupled with rain in an area that warns of flash flooding sure
would have ramped up the anxiety for me.
What we had was enough to handle: 80 windy miles to Alpine and then
another 30 dark windy miles to Marathon…that’s 110 exhausting miles back to
camp!
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| Yep, Flame was about empty. |
As we’re approaching a border patrol stop about 20 miles from
Alpine, Kim radios me that he’s going to run out of gas.
What?! I thought he
was kidding...we both have 6 gallon tanks, we’d ridden the same amount of miles
and I still had plenty of gas to get to Alpine.
His bike was showing that he had 11 miles remaining on his tank. Yikes!!
So there’s that added to the crazy wind situation…Flame’s going to run
out of gas, I’ll have to take the gas can to get a gallon and bring it back to
Kim before it gets dark. Oh,
goody!! Well, wonder of wonders! Flame
made it to Alpine! He was close to empty, though, because it took 5.5 gallons
to fill his tank….only took about 5 to fill Zeus. All part of the adventure, right?! **This is
where I was able to put my heavier jacket on. I added the gloves after our gas
stop.**
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| Finally got a picture!! |
I’d been riding all day in the park with my camera on a shoulder
harness…it’s the best way to have quick camera access without hurting my
neck. We stopped at the Chisos Basin
with the intent of getting something to eat, if only a snack from the store
located there. As we stopped the bikes, I saw movement under a tree in front of
us…and I knew from the tail that it was a roadrunner. Oh, please, please, please…stay put until I
get my camera turned on. Got a couple of
pictures as it paused on the curb in the shade of a tree. Those weren’t the
best but still it was a roadrunner picture.
Then I switched it to video and waited for it to run. A woman was approaching from one direction so
I knew it’d go the other. Sure enough,
got a short video of it running before it was out of sight behind a car. I knew I could snatch a frame from the video
to make a still picture.
Cha-ching!!! And something I
noticed when watching the video….the head crest lay flat until just as the bird
took off running, then it popped up on its head in classic roadrunner form. Don’t know if this is typical roadrunner
behavior, but it’s there on the video. So maybe they can control the head
crest?
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Kim has been leaving his telescope set up during the day; he
has a bag that he ties down over it to protect it, then he doesn’t have to set
it up each night. Well, with the wind
today, we both had concerns about whether the scope would still be standing
upright when we got back to camp.
Thankfully, everything was as it should be.
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Saw a javelina at the side of the road today. By the time we got the bikes stopped to try
for a picture, he was making for cover in a field. We saw him several times but never clear
enough for a photo op. But we both know
we saw him. Score!!!
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Rode 261 miles today
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