Colorado Cruiser: Texas Big Bend Ride - Day 4

This was a much slower paced day than the previous two. All we had on our todo list was to ride around the park and see the sights.

Between breakfast, chit chatting with other riders, buying supplies from the store, and prepping the bikes, we didn't get on the road until 10:00am. The temp was in the 60s as we climbed the road out of the lodge. Have i mentioned how cool I think this little hidden valley is?

We started the day by riding to the West side of the park and turning South towards Castolon and Santa Elena Canyon. We skipped all of the pullouts and overlooks on the way down and hit them on the way back out.

While riding, my phone suddenly rang. Which is especially surprising because I haven't had cell service since I entered the park. I keep getting warnings from AT&t that I might be charged for international service. I guess I'm getting cell service from across the border in Mexico. Anyway, my daughter Klair called after visiting her doctor to tell me that if she hasn't delivered by Sunday, they will induce her. I might get away with having my ride AND being their for my grand daughter's birth.

As we rode south, we could see sheer rock cliffs rising on the horizon. The cliffs kept growing and the road kept descending toward them until they loomed over us. Finally the road turned West and paralleled the cliffs. Farther along we could see the a break in the cliffs and the road wound down to there. The break was Santa Elena Canyon, and it let the Rio Grand through the cliffs. The canyon was a very narrow cut through the cliffs, and the river flowed through it, then turned to follow the cliffs East.

I'm not sure why, but it never occurred to me to take my boots and socks off and wade across the Rio Grand into Mexico. There were allot of people doing it, and it wasn't like there were illegal aliens repelling down the cliffs trying to cross the border. It would have made a good story and photos.

By now, it was noon and the temperature was starting to climb, so we headed back up and took every paved turnoff there was and a couple unpaved ones. There were some nice views and still good temperatures.

When we got back to Panther Junction, we gassed up and tried to decide whether to head East, go back to the lodge for lunch, or skip lunch all together. I made the decision to go back to the Lodge for lunch. We aren't in a hurry, and why suffer while on vacation? Plus I love riding the stretch of road from the main highway into the lodge. Have I mentioned that I love this lodge?

After lunch we headed back out and turned East towards Rio Grande Village. The road wasn't nearly as scenic as the West road was. We just bobbed and weaved through the desert, slowly descending until we reached the end of the road. There was a visitor center that was well air conditioned but just had the same things as every where else.

The temp was way up by now and we were sweating. I opened my saddle bags and grabbed the bandana that I'd bought with my son and nephew at Zion Nation Park 2 years ago I stuck it down into the ice and melted water of the ice chest for a few minutes, then gingerly wrapped it around my neck. It felt sooooo good. The initial ice shock is great, but it continued gently dripping cooling water down my back where the wind would dry it causing even more cooling effect. We learned to love dipping these in the ice chest on that summer ride through Utah's national parks, and it still felt great today.

John studied the map for a while and said we should have turned off 1/2 mile back. So we back tracked and took the turnoff, then another turnoff to an overlook over the Rio Grande (just realized I've been misspelling it).

We were on a small bluff, about 20 foot above, and 30 foot back from the river. At first we were just looking around at the river and the greenery up and down the river, then we realized there was a group of men across the river. They were talking casually under the trees, and every so often, one would walk down by the river. I also became aware that they were on horses. After 5 minutes, most of the men mounted their horses and road West along the river.

I also noticed on our side, right beside us was a large piece of cardboard with some shiny things on it, and some sticks beside it. I walked over and saw that it was something like an "on your honor" gift store. There were some beaded bracelets, some ceramic things, and the sticks appeared to be saguaro cactus ribs smoothed down and painted as walking sticks. We stood looking at them for a bit, then I heard some splashing in the river. One of the men had ridden his horse down into the river and was very slowly riding across the river toward us.

The other tourists around us casually (but definitely) got in their cars and left. John said he wasn't going to run off in his own country, so we walked around a bit as the guy slowly climbed his horse up the bluff. He dismounted and looked over the knick nacks and checked the donations jar. I stood there for a bit, then remounted the horse and rode down the bluff and out of sight. I didn't pay attention to where he went. We stood for a bit longer, then got on the bikes and headed back up the road.

I forgot to mention that there was a legal notice posted in the rest area saying that receiving any goods from Mexican Nationals was against the law. I don't think I would have paid attention to the sign and would have bought something anyway, but there was nothing there that I wanted. It was all pretty junky.

We rode back to the Panther Junction gas station and parked the bikes in the shade on the East side of the station. Then bought ice cream bars, and sat on a bench in the shade to enjoy the cool breeze. The temperature was probably in the mid 90s, but with the sun beating on you it felt allot hotter. So sitting in the shade with a breeze was enough to make the difference between unbearably hot, and coolly comfortable.

We had now ridden every road in the park but one. The road from Panther Junction North to the park entrance. We couldn't see much on the map, but we figured we might as well complete the hat trick of riding the whole park in a day. So North we went.

Sure enough, nothing at all to see but road, sand, scrub brush, and heat waves. We got to the end, and even the visitor's center was closed. So we turned right back around and headed for the lodge.

As we turned off the main road toward the lodge, we began climbing. It was still very hot and uncomfortable, but within 2 miles, the temp dropped quite a bit, and the humidity picked up, further cooling the air. When we rode into the shade of one of the mountains it became very pleasant. That extra couple thousand foot really helps. John tells me that we're at 5,500 foot here at the lodge. We got as low as 1,800, but mostly we were riding around 2,200 in the park.

We had dinner in the restaurant again. It's not bad, about $14 with a soda and tip. That's a steal for a national park.

After dinner, we grabbed laptops and phones, then sat at some picnic benches to watch the sun set, talk to families on skype (if my wife would get home) and listen to a park ranger up by the visitor center give an informative talk about the park. He said this park has had 400,000 visitors total, whereas yellowstone gets a few million a year.

We had some small biting flies around us while the sun was up, but as soon as the sun set, the flies left. Now we're waiting for the mosquitos.

By the Big Bend National Park Sign