Memorial Weekend Ride- 36 hours, 1,219 miles

[SMKR]

Thought id post the pics of the ride I did this weekend. I saw a thread in the back porch that prompted me to decide to see west texas and eastern new mexico on the 36 hour reset we were given on Saturday. So I left Midland saturday around 3pm and headed to New Mexico. (see route map below)

Route



This is Highway 176 into Eastern New Mexico. Nothing but oilfield stuff and rolling hills. Two things i did see but couldnt take a pic of was the URENCO Uranium Extraction facility which was massive and in the middle of no where, then the WIPP site where they bury nuclear waste deep underground. Both were massive operations, in the middle of no where, with security like Fort Knox. Phone died or Id have taken some pics. I headed up through Eunice NM, then to Artesia, NM then onto Cloudcroft NM.



Here is a pic of Highway 82 just west of Artesia, NM, great scenery.



Here is a pic of Cloudcroft, NM where I spent the night. The village was up around 8600 feet, very cool, in the 60s, pleasant and a great little town ill be re-visiting to spend more time. Here is a pic of the road going into Cloudcroft:



Here is an old trellace from the 1800s loggers took down the canyon.



Looking down the canyon from the trellace at 8,500 feet:




(cont'd below)

[SMKR]

Sunday morning I got up around 3am and took off for El Paso (Guadalupe National Park). Here is a pic at sun up on highway 180. That has to be the most desolate, straightest highway- excellent for high speed runs.



looking west down Hwy 180



looking up at Guadalupe Peak at the Hwy 180-Hwy 54 intersection



another shot from a rest area closer up



looking down from the rest area a mile from the base of Guadalupe Natl Park entrance:



same place, Highway 54 below in the distance



looking up at Guadalupe Peak

[Nash B.]

Nice pics. What were you riding?

[SMKR]

After Guadalupe Natl Park I took off for the McDonald Observatories. I rode down Highway 54 to Van Horn, Texas. Fueled up there and took 20 east to Highway 90 south in Kent, Texas. Below are some pics from the Observatory:

looking north from the observatory:


inside, it was down for maintenance



another



looking west from the Observatory. The Davis Mountains are quite the sight.



looking south-


That is Highway 90 below that heads to Fort Davis, Tx

[SMKR]

exterior of one of the observatories:



cool informative piece:



I took off from there and hit Fort Davis, Tx, then went to Alpine, then cut over to Marfa, Tx. Yale was dead on about the galleries there, very nice, but only had 30 mins to spare- will definitely be going back. Alpine was much bigger than I expected, and that triangle from Fort Davis to Alpine to Marfa was very scenic. Elevation was still around 5000 feet so was very pleasant in the high 70s. That is also an area I want to go back and do some more exploring/sight seeing.

I took off out of Marfa, Tx on Highway 67 to Presidio, Tx. A lot of cool historical markers on 67, and also on this stretch i dropped in elevation and it rose about 15 degrees in heat. I stopped in Presidio and had lunch on the Rio Grande. After lunch I took Highway 170 east. This road runs directly along the Rio Grande River through Big Bend Ranch Park and into Lasitas and onto Terlingua.

Colorado Canyon:




looking back Southwest


north side of colorado canyon

[SMKR]

this route was a recommendation from that earlier thread and was a good one. Very scenic, but also very dangerous. The rock slides were every 5-10 miles. You would come over a hill and see a rock in the middle of road the size of a volleyball and you would have to react quick to miss it.

35 miles into this run on 170 I came across the huts used to film a western back in 1985. It was called the Banditos, or Bandalitos I think. Pretty cool.





another shot of the rio grande

[SMKR]

There is a massive hill you climb, about 3 miles up then back down, elevation change of 2000 feet and a grade of 8%- very cool to ride. On this route between Presidio and Big Bend I probably only saw 3 othe vehicles. If I had more time I would have stopped in the ghost town of Terlingua. The hills there are called Easter Egg hills and have some of the most vibrant colors Ive ever seen. I fueled up in Terlingua and headed into Big Bend National Park.

I took the route that takes you up to Chisos Basin. This was also another recommendation of something to do from that other thread and very glad I did. It is this basin at about 5500 feet, up in a big valley surround by peaks ranging from 6500-7900 feet. Just that 5 mile climb in the park from 2000 to 5000 feet dropped the temp 12 degrees. The basin was beautiful.

looking south from the basin


looking south from the basin to what they called the 'window'


east rim of the basin


from the basin floor looking northwest


from here I took off on Highway 385 to Marathon, Tx then on to Fort Stockton, Tx. These pics below are from the Sierra Madera Astrobleme formation.

center of the formation


northwest view of the formation

[SMKR]

looking north on 385 at the north rim of the formation






shortly after taking these pics i hit rain, and had rain all the way up to Monahans, Tx. I had to hook it back to Midland since I had to be at work at 2am this morning, but must say I really enjoyed this ride. There is a lot of new stuff i had not seen before and a lot I will be returning to check out again.

[SMKR]

Nice pics. What were you riding?

thanks, although all pics were taken with my phone, for some of those shots I wish I had a real good camera, would have made a great background or wallpaper for the computer.

I rode a buddy's R1200GS and must say i really like the BMW. Never spent time like that on one before but they make a great touring bike.

[talisman]

Nice.

[Downs]

Did you stop at this overlook and go up on top of the hill?





I tell ya it's gotta be one of my favorite places down there.

We were actually up doing some geocaching in that spot and found a Geocache with a bottle of Whiskey in it that some guys had put up there years ago. They go down every few years and (or did at least the last time I was there the Whiskey was gone) and stand at the top of the hill and take a shot a piece.

That movie town is called Contrabando. Streets of Laredo was filmed there.

In addition to Uphill All The Way, the Contrabando Movie Set also appeared in:

Rio Diablo (1993)
Gambler V: Playing For Keeps (1994)
Streets of Laredo (1995)
Dead Man's Walk (1996)
Journeyman (2000)

It's also featured in the Brooks & Dunn music video for My Maria, which won Music Video of the Year in 1996. You can watch it here.

[SMKR]

Did you stop at this overlook and go up on top of the hill?





I tell ya it's gotta be one of my favorite places down there.

We were actually up doing some geocaching in that spot and found a Geocache with a bottle of Whiskey in it that some guys had put up there years ago. They go down every few years and (or did at least the last time I was there the Whiskey was gone) and stand at the top of the hill and take a shot a piece.

That movie town is called Contrabando. Streets of Laredo was filmed there.

aw man, no i didn't. Where was that turnout where I could hike up there? Dang, I missed that, will definitely have to do it next time I head back down there. Riding that BMW for a day and half has made me want to get one asap to keep doing these rides.

[SMKR]

Did you stop at this overlook and go up on top of the hill?

by the way, how often do you go on rides like that? Is that your BMW? looks nice.

[Downs]

Try to go out on 1k+ trips every few months.

[gat0r]

that looks like an awesome ride
i have been out that way camping before.

i'd like to get another bike & ride out that way.