Well here we go. Saturday morning and it was time to ride. XRDave and I made it to the bunkhouse in time for another great breakfast. Unfortunately I ate a little too much. With the bacon, eggs, pancakes and toast it was hard to control the hunger and I wanted to make sure I was able to ride all day without stopping, a lot. Off we went, five or six of us, back to the northwest part of the park to crack the hidden trails on the West Piedra Trail Head. Bringing up the rear in the formation I was eating dust and bouncing along for about 13 miles until it hit me. I had to stop and give up my breakfast. I don’t know if was the pancakes or bacon but it didn’t set well at all with early morning riding. Trying to hurry I drank some water, rinsed my face, and rode on as I knew everyone would be waiting for me at the park entrance. Just as I got to the entrance XRDave had just turned around to see if I was OK. Letting him know quickly I was OK but wasn’t going to make the ride with them, off they rode. Bad things turn out good sometimes as I rode back to camp at a leisurely pace soaking in the day and the sights. Realizing it would be my last day I wanted to absorb as much as I could.
At camp SingleShot was busy tearing down his camp as this was our last day at Big Bend Ranch State Park. I helped him get his things together and load his KLR 650. Man, I have to give him major props as he rode the wheels off that KLR. I was on my WR450F and there was no way I could have ridden parts of the park on my KLR like he did.
After getting his bike loaded I just wasn’t ready to load my bike. I geared back up and headed out to the Solitario, a mountain range viewed from the main road about seven miles from the South Levay campground. Off I went keeping in mind I was riding alone in this unforgiving terrain I took it slow, stopping for pictures along the way. The view of the Solitario was magnificent! My camera skills don’t do it justice. I set for quite awhile soaking in the beauty. After some time I know I needed to go. Along the way back I saw a trail that warned “Danger Rough Road, High Clearance 4x4 Access Only”. Well I just had to try it out. Riding cautiously I made it to the primitive camping area at the end and found the trail to be rather unchallenging. I don’t know if it was my semi-improved skills or just a greater expectation of what the signs warning but felt it a rather comfortable ride with a low fear factor. Not wanting to venture too far alone I made my way back to camp realizing this was the end of the trip. Feeling a little sad I started tearing down my camp and loading up. XRDave was still on the trail with another group but with the help of SingleShot I managed to get everything packed up and the trailer loaded. We figured no sense in waiting in camp for XR so we made our way to the Ranch Office just as XR rode up. With a big smile he was happy we did all the loading as he was wore out and ready to leave. As he showered we loaded his bike and gear, said our Thank You to the Staff and goodbyes and hit the road. With a 1500 mile road trip back we wanted to get started before dark. Returning to the cold and snow wasn’t an option and something we weren’t looking forward to but the time spent in Big Bend Ranch State park will be keep us warm with memories for many days to come.
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