mcrider
0
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2006
- Messages
- 890
- Reaction score
- 3
- Location
- Westfield, Texas
- First Name
- Chris
- Last Name
- Hardy
WOW! Best ride report of the 2014. 3,000 feet, one ****-of-a stream.
This ride looks incredible. Too rough for a big bike R1200GS?
Thanks for the info. I've done Casa Piedra road and Pinto Canyon but never Ore.
You ever taken Candeleria rd to Lobo?
Richard,
Does the route require you to go past the "tourist area" where you have to have a vehicle permit? We tagged along with RG earlier this year and at that time the checkpoint was just beyond Peguis Canyon. I would assume that your route to the Mexico side of Santa Elena turns back east well before that.
...You need your passport to get back into the USA.
In summary you will need a copy of your vehicle registration and your passport to do this ride.
Or passport card or birth certificate and valid drivers license.
_
John,
We didn't do any paperwork for this ride. The route is not as far into the interior as Peguis Canyon. After we crossed into Mexico we stayed in the "tourist area" and didn't pass through any checkpoints. While we were more than 60 miles from the international bridge, we were within 25 miles of the border at all time
The inspector at the international bridge did ask for my vehicle registration and compared the VIN on the registration to the VIN stamped on the bike. JT had the same thing happen to him. Presumably they just want to ensure the registration paper and the bike VIN match but they didn't ask for or compare the registration with my driver's license.
There was an abandoned military checkpoint just outside of Manuel Benavides that if it had been in operation may have required us to show tourist and vehicle permits. JT said it was abandoned last year when he came through here so perhaps it is permanently out of operation? Even so, my experience with military checkpoints in other parts of Mexico has been that if stopped the soldiers only do a cursory check of our bags for contraband - I've yet to have one ask for my passport or check my vehicle permit.
You need your passport to get back into the USA.
In summary you will need a copy of your vehicle registration and your passport to do this ride.
Great write up. So very jealous. This is now on my shortlist of future rides. Meriden, Silverbullet lets talk about this Wednesday night....
I have wanted to get a passport card but to do so you will be without your passport for 4-6 weeks and I don't want an Int'l trip to pop up and have to miss it due to no passport. Next renewal I'll definitely pay the extra fee for one._
I just got back from 9 days in Big Bend Friday night and I finally have time to post. Thank you Richard for the great ride report and thanks to everyone else for the comments. As Richard said, this makes for a great day ride into Mexico and I know I will go back asap. If anyone wants the gps tracks, pm me your email address and I'll send them out as soon as I clean up the missed turns, etc.
JT enjoying the view
The road eventually dead-ended deep in the mountains at a small, rugged house. My Spanish is not good but I managed to ask the man who lived there about getting to Santa Elena. As best as I could tell he said the road ended here and we would have to try another route. Hmmm, now what do we do?
As we backtracked, JT spotted another road veering off to the north and was certain this was the goat track he had seen on Google Earth. So off we went.
After going through two wire gates we encountered a Vaquero making his rounds on his horse, checking on his cattle. As before, I tried to ask him about getting to Santa Elena and he indicated it wasn't possible on this road. But he did indicate there were some great views ahead and gave us permission to ride on. I wished I had taken his picture.
Opening a gate or crossing a fence line and walking into someones back yard without having ask permission first will get you shot around these parts so I would naturally have a pretty bad case of the hebegebees doing what y'all did. What do you know about the area off the improved roads you were in?