January 27th-31st, 2010 pt.1

I love early starts.  Makes me feel satisfied getting the most out of the day.  It helps not having to break camp.  Saves us at least an extra hour.  Last night’s sleep wasn’t the greatest either.  Kept waking up thinking some creep might pop out of the woodwork and try to mess with us.  I did see a deer walk by in front of me in the dead of night.  Don’t know why I didn’t attempt to take a picture.  I guess I was too in tune with the moment; taking a picture would’ve ruined it.  Today we are aiming to make it to Big Bend National Park before nightfall.  Heard good things about it; let’s see if it’s true. 

Ready to ride Spidey?  You will tell me when your Spidey Sense kicks in right?

You better not fly off!

Make sure you show'em a little leg!  That'll make'em stop.  I'll jump'em when they're not looking!

We've never been to the South West and watching the terrain change as we were riding was a real eye opener.

Trees become brushes...

...grass becomes sand...

...and the mountains lie ahead of us...waiting.

We rode all day today.  At times it felt laborious, but the spectacular views kept us wanting more.

We're losing daylight fast.  I hope we can find our way through the night and find a decent place to camp.

By the time we reached the park boundary, the sun was completely down, and nobody was at the entrance station.  We saw a few vehicles off in the distance coming towards us.  Only their headlights can be seen.  It was weird because vehicles seemed as if they were a few minutes away from us, but they were actually really far.  Depth perception doesn’t exist here at night.  The land is so vast; the road goes on for miles and miles.  We tried flashing our headlights and waving our hands to flag them down, but they all kept driving by us as if they had seen a ghost.  We pick up a map at Permission Gap visitor center; there’s always a stack lying around outside for latecomers like us.  We decide to ride out to the park headquarters near Panther Junction to see if it’s still open; not a single soul.  We notice an RV pull up into the parking lot; a retired couple who’s sharing the same dilemma as we were.  Do we camp in the parking lot and risk getting a ticket?  Or do we venture onwards in the night in pursuit of a suitable spot?  We chose the latter and decided to head towards Chisos Basin.  The ride into the basin was eerie.  Lots of steep curves and large shadows, which I assume were mountains, dwarfed us.  This is what it’s all about baby!  This is adventure!  Head straight into the unknown with the hairs on the back of your neck erect.  Amanda and I have this thing where we keep asking ourselves where we are.  I can’t believe we’re doing this!  This is great!  Eventually we arrive at the campground and find an open site.  $14 a night!  Hopefully the park ranger won’t be around in the morning to collect.  Can’t wait to see what this place looks like in the morning. 

651 km

A shift in terrain.

Night slowly creeps up on us. 

The land opens up.