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Godzilla awaits

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Trail Boss

Trail Boss

0
Joined
Jan 1, 2005
Messages
4,491
Reaction score
1,291
Location
Buda, TX
First Name
Rich
Last Name
Gibbens
First came Gorilla Hill. It was the steepest known hill on a public dirt road in Texas. Rocky and scary enough to warrant a name.

Then Big Bend Ranch opened to motorcyclists and we discovered King Kong Hill. Steeper, rockier, and harder than Gorilla Hill. Quite the challenge. Not every rider makes it to the top on just one try. Worthy of the name King Kong Hill.

Not content to leave well enough alone a few ADV riders (Scott, Izz, and Edwin, if memory serves me right) discovered King Kong Hill's Mexican Cousin - Godzilla Hill - in the mountains 25 miles north of Ojinaga, Mexico. The stories they told of Godzilla Hill made my blood run cold. Heck, King Kong Hill was pretty much the limit of my abilities - I was sure I wouldn't be able to make it to the top of Godzilla Hill. The thought of it just sent shivers down my spine.

Godzilla.jpg


But I have to admit the urge was there. I wanted to ride Godzilla for myself. When the opportunity would present itself I didn't know but one day I knew there had to be a showdown. I couldn't back down. I had to know.

In the meantime Godzilla Hill was out there, waiting patiently deep in recesses of those distant Mexican mountains.
 
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[ame="http://youtu.be/bu00RiPjaa4"]http://youtu.be/bu00RiPjaa4[/ame]

Hit play.

I've been training - an hour on a steeply inclined treadmill 3-4 days per week. Weight training twice per week. Stretching nightly. Subway for lunch. Riding on weekends. Even weekly hand grip training for that Kung Fu grip.
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My 40s are gone. I'm not getting any younger. Or faster. I'm not ready but I am as ready now as I'm ever gonna be. If I'm gonna take on Godzilla Hill I shouldn't tarry. I'm mean, it's not like it's going to get easier if I wait. Frankly, the longer I put it off the more embarrassing it's likely to be. Let's just get it out of the way.

So that's what I did. John Thompson...
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...and I headed into Mexico on Christmas Day for a showdown with Godzilla Hill. Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas to us.

Here's our story.
 
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The story is missing, obviously you got back alive as you are posting, but lets see the pics!! Happy new year John & Richard..

Gary
 
It wasn't easy getting there. The Weather Gods were angry and taking their wrath out on west Texas. The further west we drove the colder it got, until finally we were in near white-out conditions.

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Pretty tree, treacherous roads.
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Completely iced over.
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The Weather Gods were just testing us. How badly did we really want this? Would we let bad weather deter us from our quest?

No way. We would not be denied, so the Gods relented. The southern edge of the storm ended at Alpine. As we drove south, the ice and snow receded. Terlingua was dry and above freezing. We celebrated with drinks with Uncle in the Rog Mahal. Cheers.
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Stay thirsty, my Friends.
 
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We have a lot more of that white stuff up here!! And I bet it's colder!! Cant wait for my bikes to arrive and the temp to warm up a bit.. Have to start looking for rides and riders in the Seattle area.. Keep posting the pics..

Gary
 
Trail Boss said:
It wasn't easy getting there. The Weather Gods were angry and taking their wrath out on west Texas. The further west we drove the colder it got, until finally we were in near white-out conditions.

Completely iced over.
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Click to expand...

Heard that!

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Didn't see any broken plastic or red scuffs on the rocks. Was the pic taken before or after yall's deranged attempt??? :flip:
 
Did you ever tell someone that you were going to whoop their butt and have them reply, "you better pack a lunch"? Well along those same lines, if you're gonna take on Godzilla Hill you oughta start with a good breakfast. It is, after all, the most important meal of the day.

Mmmm, eggs with gravy and a side order of sausage. The only thing better is biscuits with sausage gravy.
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As we headed west to Presidio the morning sun put on a dazzling light show. I had to stop for a few pics.
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One need only look at these pics to see why I love Big Bend so much.


Let your horses run - on the road to Presidio
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We parked the truck/trailer in the field next to the 3 Palms Motel, unloaded the bikes, geared up, and headed into Mexico. Time to get serious.
 
It was Christmas morning and the border crossing was empty. John and I were nearly the only vehicles on the road. Both of us triggered the red inspection light coming off the bridge into Mexico - maybe things were so slow they were inspecting every vehicle entering Mexico this morning. Interestingly, we were asked for our vehicle registrations, even though we were not venturing outside the tourist zone. This is the first time I've ever had this happen (usually I don't trigger the red light when I'm on my bike and the 2 times it's happened I've never been asked for my registration).

We both presented our insurance cards so the inspectors could verify the VIN of our vehicles. They let us in but the gal inspecting John's bike told him he needed to have his vehicle registration next time. Then the next day they told him the same thing again. A word to the wise - while they let us in, if you are planning on riding in Mexico at all, even if not going past the tourist zone, bring your vehicle registration with you.

Once in Ojinaga we turned right and headed northwest on a dirt road, paralleling the Rio Grande for about 25 miles, following the tracks we got from Scott/Izz/Edwin. The entire course we rode this day is not shown on Google maps, but here's a look at the first section.



The road paralleling the river is dirt, but it's wide, well-maintained, traveled, and populated. There are houses all along it as it is "the" road everyone who lives here uses it to get back and forth to town. It has lots and lots of curves and a few elevation changes, making it fun to ride. Just gotta watch out for oncoming traffic and unmarked 90 degree turns that if you were to miss you would end up in a ditch or canal. You can ride this road on any adventure bike and have a good time.

At about the 25 mile mark you can see we turned left (west) to begin our journey across the mountains. A quick picture break and we were on our way.

Looking south into Texas. Pinto Canyon is in those mountains.
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Looking south - Godzilla Hill is waiting for us in those distant mountains.
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In 2 days of riding we went through a lot of gates. None were locked. Just be sure to close them behind you so the livestock doesn't get out.
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As we rode west, things started to get more interesting. There were fewer and fewer houses/ranches as we made our way into the foothills and this was clearly reflected in the road - it got rougher and obviously less used or maintained. Just the way we like it. I would say the first section of road, the section paralleling the river, was all class 1. When we turned west, the road quickly became an easy class 2 and then a harder class 2.

Riding west
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The mountains are a lot closer now and I'm thinking, "how the heck do we get over those things?"
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The end of the road - this ranch is where the road on the google map ends. Nobody was home so we went through the gate and continued on our way.
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Immediately past this ranch the road deteriorated to class 3. No one except a few crazy adventure riders go this way. All the sane folks are having cold Tectate beer in Ojinaga.

Godzilla is approaching quickly and I'm getting more nervous by the moment.
 
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One side benefit of riding with The Trail Boss or with Milton is they are both so good with their cameras. :)
I didn't take many pics since I knew how they would look compared to Rich's, but I'll add a few tonight.
John
 
jthompson said:
One side benefit of riding with The Trail Boss or with Milton is they are both so good with their cameras. :)
I didn't take many pics since I knew how they would look compared to Rich's, but I'll add a few tonight.
John
Click to expand...

Aren't you too busy being the GPS Man to take pictures?
 
jthompson said:
One side benefit of riding with The Trail Boss or with Milton is they are both so good with their cameras. :)
I didn't take many pics since I knew how they would look compared to Rich's, but I'll add a few tonight.
John
Click to expand...

You had a camera? Could have fooled me the next few days?
 
Sure look like a lot more fun than a 12 hr. work day, which was my Christmas. :argh:
 
Iceman Jack said:
You had a camera? Could have fooled me the next few days?
Click to expand...

I didn't have time to take the camera out of my pocket, trying to keep up with youse guys....:thpt:
 
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