Big Bend State Park

Big Bend Ranch State Park

October 29-November 1, 2020

Route: From home about an hour north of Austin…hwy 29 to Mason, 377 to Junction (deer carnage alley), I10 to Ft Stockton down to Presidio on 67.

Goal? Solo trip on MY schedule; Hear what real silence is again; Here myself think again; get away from any and all "systems", and people. I really wanted to think about survival only - sounds so trivial and "mall crawling" kind of comment. Hike, eat, sleep, repeat, hike, eat, sleep, repeat. I had everything I needed and nothing I didn't need to do just that. If that makes sense. Also found 2 days in one spot seems to be enough before I'm ready to move. Same it was way back when we called it camping instead of overlanding. Secondary goal -this was a scouting trip to get ready to bring my son out with me next time. He’ll be 11 in January…and already planning a March 2021 trip. Staying in this park but will end for a few days in national park – Emory peak hike. I did it back in early 90s. It’s his turn now.

Observations: First time back in that part of the world since my buddy graduated Sul Ross in the early 90s. Danced the weekend away back then at a little honkey tonk with Brooks and Dunn – Under the Neon Moon playing while a little cowgirl made my heart patter. Good times and memories! Wow Alpine has changed. Artsy/fartsy kind of feel now.

Bottom line: Had a great time but it was cut 1.5 days short due to interior district getting shut down due to trigger happy suits in Austin with the ever present “shut it down” mentality. Rangers and/or staff has covid. October 31 I was on my way to Tascate at 11am when I saw I had a signal so checked my VM. Park reservation staff stated my Saturday night reservation has been cancelled and refund has been issued due to "ranger staffing covid issues". I was pissed. Got someone to pick up phone at Saucedo ranger station. Their comment..."those with existing reservations can stay, everyone else must leave or you'll be trespassing." BUT I DO HAVE A PHARKING RESERVATION...said very calmly and cordially. "Sorry but your reservation ended with 2nd night at Fresno vista". I've already sent an email to TPWD and will also send one in snail mail. Those on property that have a reservation should be exempt from leaving. There are resources in the park if there is an emergency for those that got to stay. Interior district has been "closed due to covid" quite a few times this year. Why hasn't the river district? Puzzles me. I'd be glad to teach them about hygiene. Seems the river district has this figured out as they have not been closed as much or if at all.

Truck stuff:
Bought truck in June 2020. Started building truck how I wanted and started preparing for this trip. Thanks to all of you, my wallet is lighter, bought shiat I didn't need, but now have exactly what I want and plan on exploring far and wide as time and money allows.
Truck has right at 7k miles now. All stock except bigger tires…and will stay that way unless I add leaf springs to rear. Reported seat belt indicator issue in 3rd gen forum – washboard roads jarred something loose. Other than that, the truck performed great and reminded me in some ways of my old gen 1 (MT AC and 4x4). Not sure how besides just getting tossed around on washboard roads and smiling while doing so. Mileage ranged from 13.7 (strong headwind) up to about 16. And she was loaded down…almost squatting so I have rear leaf springs on my mind.

Gear/tech stuff:
Entire bed loaded down - from recovery gear, cooking gear, 5 gallons gas, around 18 gallons of water (a bit too much?) and every single nook and cranny was stuffed with firewood.

Tent: desert armor warrior. Love this thing. Only thing I plan on adding is the inner liner for cold weather camping.

Waterport: way too expensive for what it is BUT it provided me with a way to shower. Set that black thing in the sun to warm up and i had a "warm" shower Thursday evening and Friday evening. Love this thing. That 3+ gallons gave me 1.5 showers.

JP50 Iceco fridge performed flawlessly; Extremely happy with this purchase. Set at 32, eco mode and it hardly uses any energy. I hate the DC plug but one Tacomaworld fella suggested an ARB plug as replacement.

Jackery 500; It's all I need and then some. Go to bed at 100% and wake up to 87-89% remaining. This battery will be perfect for the way I want to travel. It only powers the fridge.

Renogy 100w suitcase: matches perfectly to jackery and kept me at 100% during the day.

MrBuddy heater: yep let me say it outload here. I hate cold. Only use to warm up tent for about 5 minutes in the morning. Fired right up on Friday morning with temps in mid 30s. Saturday morning it was in low 40s and the mofo would not fire. Crawled out of tent, dropped the damn heater, picked it up and set it down for a few minutes while I got water boiling for coffee. Fires right up about 10 minutes later. Oh yep but i'm warm now. POS!

The trip. Sleet/snow/ice to sunny and cool…the latter can be described as paradise, seriously. It was perfect weather.

A few weeks prior to leaving, I was thinking it would be a good idea to try and make some miles by leaving Wednesday, camping somewhere along the way and then head out the next day to the park. Checked South Llano State Park in Junction but they were booked. I decided to get a tent spot at a park in Kerrville. It was going to be sweet! Right next to river, far enough from highway and shouldn't be too many people on a Wednesday evening. Oh shiat moment. A few days before leaving what do we get? The coldest front we've had in a year - sleet/snow out west where I'm headed. I decided to see about cancelling my reservation to Kerrville park only to be told I can move my date but they won't refund my money. That cost me $20 and they'll never see my money again.

Screw that so decided on a hotel October 28. Found one in Sonora - Super 8 motel. Brand new interior/beds and a heater for $70 and you can park right in front of your room. Highly recommend. Headed over to trip advisor this week to leave my review.

October 29 is here...left Sonora around 630a and arrived at Fresno Vista camp site at 1::45p. A 4 runner was there when i arrived. I was like damn do i have to deal with PEOPLE already? Shiat. BUT to my surprise they were only there to take in the view and were on their way a few minutes later. Really nice folks. After they left all i could think was holy moley how friggn beautiful it is out here. I setup camp, unloaded my chair, cracked a cold one open and enjoyed the view. And silence. Lost track of time after sitting there for a while and was a bit too loaded to eat much. Just grinning about where I was. i said the hell with it, ate a sammich, drank some more and went to bed around 9. Slept like a baby that night. It was in the 30s. And note - I'm not really a drinker but do enjoy some good refreshments while on vacation.


October 30...woke up early, made coffee and breakfast. Plane passes by early that morning – I assumed it was border patrol. NOTE: it was the park rangers seeing who was still on property…found this out the next day. Went back to that same spot i left the night before and enjoyed the view and drifted off for about an hour. Life is good and I'm finally RELAXED. Decided to hike up the hill side next to camp and look across the huge valley below and mountains behind. just awesome. Simply awesome. I'm going to have lunch up here. I took a few pics and found a spot on the side of a hill that looked like it was moving. Cool. Wait. Hikers? Mt bikers? No way as the incline is too much. A friggn black bear!! And no I was not drinking. On my way out Saturday, I asked the ranger and she said it was most likely feeding on a bee hive. Pic OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!! Just pixels as I was too far away for my iphone. And yes I went straight to the truck after that and made sure all food was secured! But wow! Really wish my son would have been with me. I explored around camp at lunch back up on the hill and just enjoyed the rest of the day and evening. Amazed at the moon and again - where i am at that moment.

October 31....went to bed warm and woke up cold. A front or something blew in around midnight. Tent just flapping from strong gusts of wind. And it was a strong south wind and in mid 40s. Colder than the night before when it was in the 30s. Moisture I guess made it feel cold. Anyway, made some of the best coffee yet. Chowed down and decided to go explore a bit more. Took a few more pics and started packing so I can head to my next camp spot - Tascate 1. i was PUMPED!! BUT that never happened. See Bottom Line comments above.

October 31 Continued. I was fuming. Really frustrated for really zero reason. I got to escape, albeit much shorter than expected. I had a decision to make though. Find somewhere to camp or head home. Ranger suggested contacting the river district or try the ranch next door – littered with “hipcamp” signs and yuppy look and feel. Decided against both of those as I was leaving the park. After leaving the entrance to the park, as most of you know, there is about 30 miles of gravel road that takes you to 170 to Presidio. There is no fence on the eastern portion and I started thinking….”I could camp right there under that cliff and no one would know.” ALMOST convinced myself. But I don’t need any trouble so decided to put the hammer down and head home to the hill country.

Remember above when I mentioned “deer carnage alley”? Well I entered that area as they sun was starting to set AND the BIG OLE FULL MOON was coming up. WHITE KNUCKLES from Junction all the way to the other side of Llano. I swear I saw bambi and all ages in between every other mile in that corridor - live and dead. Especially bad from London to Mason. Wowee. I’ve hit quite a few deer in my life but did not want to end this trip with one in my grill. I'd honk, honk, honk all while going between 55-60.

Moral of MY story? Shiat guys and gals. Enjoy it wherever you are in this world. Things don’t always go as planned but make the best of it no matter what your situation. BUT TAKE TIME FOR YOU EVERY CHANCE YOU GET!!

EDIT: Forgot to mention another oh shit moment. Constructive criticism/feedback welcome. Single burner stove I've had for 20+ years. Used it at Garner park a few weeks ago with no issues. Friday morning...prepping water to boil...checked and double checked connections, started it up and flames shot out from side. In a split second all I could think to do was throw it far away from truck...it landed and flame went out. Grabbed my extinguisher, ran to it and disconnected gas. And said WTF just happened??? It's in the trash now. Do you folks do the soap test each time on your stoves?..to check for gas leaks? I never have in all my life but will from now on. That could have turned out much, much worse.

 

Sounds like a great trip, albeit prematurely cut short. I live in Austin if you ever want to get together. Maybe we can get together out in BB in March. I love the night skies out there, got a few nice shots last time out.

 

What a great pic!! And yes sir sounds good. I know my young son will enjoy it out west next time too.