Big Bend National Park and now in the Black Gap WMA

Sunday, January 14

Left at 7:00 a.m. since I didn't want to spend another cold cold night in the BLM campsite near Carlsbad caverns. I had woken to 21° outside and 32° inside the RV!

Red sky at dawn, should have been warned...

I drove down to Big Bend National Park and although I arrived before 3:00 P.M., following the rule of threes, I would not get into a campsite till almost 5:00 PM!

All of the delay was my fault, I thought it would be like a typical national park where you go and find the spot then register for it. But no, you have to find available spots using recreation.gov since it's all reservations for the sites that can accommodate RVs.

I wasted a lot of time trying to find a site on my own, then once I realize I had to use the recreation.gov app no matter what, the lack of cell signal didn't help. Luckily there was Wi-Fi at the visitor center at Panther Junction and I was able to book a campsite at the Rio Grande Village campground.

As I was positioning the RV on the rather small site, I managed to damage the awning on the right side of the RV. The sucker is totaled, and I was feeling a bit bummed about it, but when I checked in with Martha she reminded me that it's an 18-year-old piece of plastic.

There is no signal at the campsite, but nearby is a park store/has station with Wi-Fi; which although slow allowed me to check in with Martha. I also activated the inreach personal locator beacon with its texting via satellites capability so I can be reached by my family.

On the plus side the low tonight is just going to be 38° vice the projected 16° back at the Carlsbad Caverns BLM site.

Monday, January 15

By mid-morning it was warm enough to go riding on Yagi. I explored the immediate surroundings of the campground to find myself right at the edge of the Rio Grande.

Throughout my riding today alongside this river, I would find myself within a stone's throw at times from Mexico.

No border wall of course since this portion of the border with Mexico is managed by the National Park service and that image wouldn't fit the posters with it?

I rode over too the Boquillas Crossing and a bit further, the Boquillas overlook.

What I had assumed to be some kind of rock art or memorial rock collections upon arrival turned out to be clay offerings and knick knacks from the Mexican town of Boquillas from across the border.  Interesting marketing model, honest customers are expected to place money into a locked metal container anchored in the ground.

The Rio Grande aka the border between the USA and Mexico

Back in the day, a tramway ran across the border:

The border crossing point was closed today, probably for MLK day.

Returning to the National Park Highway, I continued in the direction of Panther Junction and took this picture of the bluffs overlooking the campground.

Riding to the nearby Rio Grande, which you access via a short walk up a small hill. No pic as you can barely see the river.

Back on the highway, you shortly come to the turnoff for the Historic Hot Springs. Apparently a gentleman by the name of Langford built the infrastructure to accommodate and attract people to the "healing powers" of the 105° waters

A short quarter mile walk from the parking lot and I found a small square rundown structure's foundation, full of people, enjoying the hot water. I did not join and returned to the motorcycle.

Here's some pics of signs explaining the remaining buildings from back in the day.

Turning back south after the above, I rode a couple miles of rough rocky road called the Old Ore Road. The scenery, was desert and sage bushes, the road being the main source of "entertainment".

I would turn around at the backcountry campsite named Camp de Leon and returned to the trailhead entrance.

It was mid-afternoon by this point so I returned to the campground to check in with the family and lounge for a bit in the warm afternoon sun.

I would return to the trailhead area for the Old Ore Road during the Golden Hour for pics:

Tuesday, January 15

I was woken just before midnight by very strong winds blown through the campground. The VRRV was rocking in the frequent strong gusts so I brought the slide out in. This worked as usual to lessen the rocking caused by the wind.

I woke around 7:30 to 27° outside and 37° inside the RV. I hurriedly turned the catalytic propane heater on and things warmed up nicely soon after.

After breakfast, and since today was going to be an inside day due to forecasted high of only 43°; I decided to forego the $16 I'd paid to stay till Thursday and left Big Bend aka Big Yawn. Yes, I'm a jaded observer.

I drove over to the park entrance and from there turned onto FM2657 or Farm Road 2657 heading to the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area or WMA.

After some confusion due to lack of cell signal and planning, I found the WMA Headquarters where one can register and buy the Texas Limited Usage permit for use in WMAs. The nice thing was that there was Internet access to allow you to buy said permit only for $12 and that it's good till 31AUG24.

Without this access to the Internet, I faced long drives to find a human as there was no one around the buildings and a sign at the registration shack said payments weren't taken there anyways.

Armed with the permit, I also registered myself with the WMA using paperwork forms provided.

The road was rocky and bumpy that I took the the campsite I selected solely on the fact it seemed closest. It worked out to almost 2.5 miles of rough road from the HQ to the campsite but Uma did great.

The camp sites are very well dispersed, I don't the closest one is closer than a mile and across the highway. No signal of course, so I had to ride back to the HQ to use the wifi signal to post this.

Supposed to be getting warmer tomorrow and next couple of days, I sure hope so.