a great start with more riding!

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007

I need to track back a bit, well just a day, and write just a few words about these forgotten pictures that were left in my camera. On the way back from the Basin, perched on the left, I had always noticed this rock from the first time up there. I finally stopped to take a shot at it… it always reminded me of a woman carrying a child, a little girl, on her back, with her face turned toward the road, looking… That is the rock on the far right side… I noticed that enlarging the picture or cropping the rock will loose the effect… how strange… I hope I am not the only one that sees her! After the ride, in the evening, we have generally been, in lack of a wood fire lately, sitting around Dave’s double propane heaters!… and I could not help last night notice his… his Tony Lama tennis boot shoes… or are they boot tennis shoes… designed for the one that wants to wear boots and be comfortable at the same time… specially when walking down the restaurant every night for… the nightly dessert… my favorite so far has been the Cherry Cobbler with Butter Pecan Ice Cream… And that also will stop as of today!!! We had planned to ride the Terlingua Ranch Road on to Marathon Road to 385 southbound, the other Park entrance… David cannot stay off the dirt… he is like a kid with his new TerraFlex rear tire… just do not ride to close to him! Why go up the black top when we could try to ride South County/North County road to the main road and avoid some wear and tear on the knobbies… makes sense… right? When I arrived here 3 weeks ago, another group had ridden it, my memory of their report was that they had a real hard time finding their way out, specially once on North County road… An easy road to start with, your regular off road, leading first to a fork… and our leader is pointing out, actually in the picture, the right way. But of course we take the wrong way… Not too long after the road basically has vanished, no tire tracks and the vegetation has taken over what was once a road… This river crossing stumbled me. The pictures never does justice… you know that, right? It is not the descent that stopped me, but the uphill situated in the picture behind Mike and David… I just did not have the proper clearance to make it. Mike and I parked on top of the hill and the Master of course proceeded, easy for him, and went on for some scouting down further, if this was the only obstacle we would have winched the rig up and gone on. But the report was not good, the road basically totally vanished… And we turned around, still happy having ridden half way up…

I enjoyed Marathon Road… for you two wheelers… lots of sand… the scenery is not as spectacular as the other side of the Park, but the ride was fun, a bit bumpy… for the first time Spirit unloaded his breakfast all over the car!!! Maybe a bumpy ride in the am was not the right prescription for him, poor guy! We meet up back on the black top, it has become colder again, Mike is doing his Ninja impersonation, within minutes Spirit is resting… David must have had his usual Energizer batteries for breakfast as he is ready to go… The take off on Ore Road down to Rio Grande… I take the black top back to eventually the camp… I had now a different view of the Mountains… from about 15 +/- miles away… do you see that spark in the picture?… that is a reflection of a building window from Panther Junction!!! This was my last ride in the Park… for now anyhow, till I come back… it is packing time now… and getting ready for a week or so in Fort Davis, Marfa… I hear they have a great Pizza in Marfa… what is it with food! I have joined, as I have joined the Big Bend Forum with much success and kindness from their members, the Desert Message Center which includes Anza Borrego… and I feel after some messages arriving last night… like a kid on his way to the Toy store! It is not just Anza Borrego, which will be my home base, but also Joshua Tree National Park, Salton Sea, Imperial Sand Dunes Rec Area, Cleveland National Forest, Santa Rosa Mountains and much much more to see and explore and write about… Anza Borrego alone has over 500 miles of non paved roads… Will switch the rig to knobbies in Tucson… take the swaybar off for more clearance… I hope that you are ready for a lot of reading and picture seeing these coming weeks!!! Till then… you be well… Ara & an abused Spirit!… a true… Adventurer!… right? Might have to register him on the Forums? What do you think?…

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