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Snoopster and I just returned from a nice short little road trip to the Grand Canyon.
We left Wallis at 5 AM on Saturday and headed to the Elephant Mountain WMA in Alpine Texas for a night of free camping. It was a long boring ride but it had to be done. When I was there in December part of the road was washed out and you had to navigate through a river bed. I was really hoping they had fixed it because I didn’t inform Deb of this and knew that she wouldn’t be thrilled about the off road portion. They hadn’t. She handled it like a trooper though. The highlight of the day was seeing the numerous Scaled Quail and rabbits just hanging out around the campground.
On Sunday we headed for the Franklin Mt state park in El Paso. When we arrived I asked the Ranger (who’s only mode of transportation was a Harley Sportster sitting out front) about checking out the campsite before paying. I told him we had had enough wind and sand at the last campsite and wanted to see if we could find something protected. He hooked us up with a nice site. It even had a wood deck and we were able to park our bikes on the road at our site. We took in short hike and later that evening met our neighbors who were vacationing with their grandkids. The wife warned Deb that the rattlesnakes like the women’s bathroom but luckily they were busy elsewhere. He was a cowboy cook and since I shared my Bourbon with him he gave me a pound of his famous hand cut home cured raw bacon. I had plans to cook it until I figured out I didn’t bring a pot big enough. In to the cooler it went.
We packed up Monday and were headed for Springville via the Coronado Trail (The Devil’s Highway). It was a road that eluded us 10+ years ago on our 4 bikers and a monkey trip due to Squeaky’s fear of heights. Tourmiester had given Deb a map east of the trail and had recommended a section of road just south of the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. We worked it into the route and were glad we did. The trail was nice except for the vehicles going wide into our lane, the cow in the road and fresh oil. I knew after riding 400+ miles of twisties it would be late and we would be tired. We had already planned on a hotel and a shower. When I turned on my phone in the hotel I had missed calls and text about the flooding in my area. This would worry me the whole rest of the trip.
Since we slept in and had breakfast we didn't get to the Ten X campground until after lunch. We got the last campsite they had. It was $10 a night with bathrooms and potable water but no showers. It is just a few miles from the Grand Canyon. Entrance to the Grand Canyon is $25 a motorcycle. We set up camp, left Deb’s bike and rode 2 up to the park so we didn’t have to pay twice. We locked up our gear and were following the signs to the first overlook when we ran into a few Elk. The size and beauty of the Canyon can’t be captured in photos. When we got back to camp Deb let me know that we really needed to do something with the bacon she had been carrying around. We went and made friends with our neighbors and gave it to them.
We slept in and had plans to do a short hike in the canyon and go check out the tower at the East entrance. As I was brewing the coffee our neighbor came over and gave us half the cooked bacon for breakfast. An hour later his wife came over and brought us fresh baked cookies! They really enjoyed the bacon. They also told me about a Forest road they were going to take to the East Entrance. I liked the idea. The first 15 miles of off roading 2 up wasn’t bad. The next 10-15 miles of off roading was washboard and I thought the bike was going to vibrate apart. We spent the rest of the day at the canyon and did a short hike on the Grandview Trail. I reminded Deb that the further we went down; the longer it would take to get back to the top. We passed a couple of hikers who were ascending back up & so far it had taken them 2 hours. Shortly after that, we decided to turn back around. When we got back to camp we saw a couple of motorcycles and decided to stop by and say hi. They were a couple of Aussies that had shipped their beamers over for a North and South America open ended tour. We stayed up drinking and telling stories.
We woke up and knew we needed to start heading back. The house flooding again was in the back of my mind and radar showed that Texas was getting pounded. It was supposed to get worse as the week went on. Deb and I discussed it and decided that we would slab it back. This would give us some room to adjust as needed. We ran into the Aussies on the way out and visited with them until 10 so we got another late start. We stopped to top off our tanks and struck up a conversation with a 67 year old Brit fueling up next to us. He was on a Harley with his wife on the back. He was sporting a bandana and a brand new Fonzy type leather jacket. He told me he finally saved enough money to fly across the pond and fulfill his dream of riding a Harley down Route 66 with his babe on the back. It reinforced what I’ve always known. Deb and I are lucky to be able to do the things we’ve done. We made it to Tucumcari, NM before calling it a night at a hotel on Route 66. We got a 5 Am start the next morning and would spend the rest of the day riding through fog and rain. We split up in Cameron, TX and went our separate ways. Neither of us ran into road closures and both our homes were high and dry except for the saturated ground. All in all it was a great trip.
We left Wallis at 5 AM on Saturday and headed to the Elephant Mountain WMA in Alpine Texas for a night of free camping. It was a long boring ride but it had to be done. When I was there in December part of the road was washed out and you had to navigate through a river bed. I was really hoping they had fixed it because I didn’t inform Deb of this and knew that she wouldn’t be thrilled about the off road portion. They hadn’t. She handled it like a trooper though. The highlight of the day was seeing the numerous Scaled Quail and rabbits just hanging out around the campground.
On Sunday we headed for the Franklin Mt state park in El Paso. When we arrived I asked the Ranger (who’s only mode of transportation was a Harley Sportster sitting out front) about checking out the campsite before paying. I told him we had had enough wind and sand at the last campsite and wanted to see if we could find something protected. He hooked us up with a nice site. It even had a wood deck and we were able to park our bikes on the road at our site. We took in short hike and later that evening met our neighbors who were vacationing with their grandkids. The wife warned Deb that the rattlesnakes like the women’s bathroom but luckily they were busy elsewhere. He was a cowboy cook and since I shared my Bourbon with him he gave me a pound of his famous hand cut home cured raw bacon. I had plans to cook it until I figured out I didn’t bring a pot big enough. In to the cooler it went.
We packed up Monday and were headed for Springville via the Coronado Trail (The Devil’s Highway). It was a road that eluded us 10+ years ago on our 4 bikers and a monkey trip due to Squeaky’s fear of heights. Tourmiester had given Deb a map east of the trail and had recommended a section of road just south of the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. We worked it into the route and were glad we did. The trail was nice except for the vehicles going wide into our lane, the cow in the road and fresh oil. I knew after riding 400+ miles of twisties it would be late and we would be tired. We had already planned on a hotel and a shower. When I turned on my phone in the hotel I had missed calls and text about the flooding in my area. This would worry me the whole rest of the trip.
Since we slept in and had breakfast we didn't get to the Ten X campground until after lunch. We got the last campsite they had. It was $10 a night with bathrooms and potable water but no showers. It is just a few miles from the Grand Canyon. Entrance to the Grand Canyon is $25 a motorcycle. We set up camp, left Deb’s bike and rode 2 up to the park so we didn’t have to pay twice. We locked up our gear and were following the signs to the first overlook when we ran into a few Elk. The size and beauty of the Canyon can’t be captured in photos. When we got back to camp Deb let me know that we really needed to do something with the bacon she had been carrying around. We went and made friends with our neighbors and gave it to them.
We slept in and had plans to do a short hike in the canyon and go check out the tower at the East entrance. As I was brewing the coffee our neighbor came over and gave us half the cooked bacon for breakfast. An hour later his wife came over and brought us fresh baked cookies! They really enjoyed the bacon. They also told me about a Forest road they were going to take to the East Entrance. I liked the idea. The first 15 miles of off roading 2 up wasn’t bad. The next 10-15 miles of off roading was washboard and I thought the bike was going to vibrate apart. We spent the rest of the day at the canyon and did a short hike on the Grandview Trail. I reminded Deb that the further we went down; the longer it would take to get back to the top. We passed a couple of hikers who were ascending back up & so far it had taken them 2 hours. Shortly after that, we decided to turn back around. When we got back to camp we saw a couple of motorcycles and decided to stop by and say hi. They were a couple of Aussies that had shipped their beamers over for a North and South America open ended tour. We stayed up drinking and telling stories.
We woke up and knew we needed to start heading back. The house flooding again was in the back of my mind and radar showed that Texas was getting pounded. It was supposed to get worse as the week went on. Deb and I discussed it and decided that we would slab it back. This would give us some room to adjust as needed. We ran into the Aussies on the way out and visited with them until 10 so we got another late start. We stopped to top off our tanks and struck up a conversation with a 67 year old Brit fueling up next to us. He was on a Harley with his wife on the back. He was sporting a bandana and a brand new Fonzy type leather jacket. He told me he finally saved enough money to fly across the pond and fulfill his dream of riding a Harley down Route 66 with his babe on the back. It reinforced what I’ve always known. Deb and I are lucky to be able to do the things we’ve done. We made it to Tucumcari, NM before calling it a night at a hotel on Route 66. We got a 5 Am start the next morning and would spend the rest of the day riding through fog and rain. We split up in Cameron, TX and went our separate ways. Neither of us ran into road closures and both our homes were high and dry except for the saturated ground. All in all it was a great trip.
Glad you had fun and the weather worked out well for you 
CRASHING is what I am missing 
When I was out there last October, I lost count of the deer just within the first few miles 
