Category: Diary
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Day 396 – Soooo hot!
I got out of my tent this morning to the adobe ruin that my tent was within to the rising sun that marks the start of my day when spending the night outdoors. It really is the best alarm clock. I know the heat of the day is coming, but I want to spend some more time in…
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Day 395 – Study Butte & Terlingua
The Study Butte-Terlingua area is ripe with history and I just brushed the very edge of it while in town for two nights. The place is a mix of history, music, big personalities, liberal drinking, heat and dust. I get the impression that people like to follow their own path and most seem to be fine with…
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Day 394 – Ride out of Chisos Basin
The ride out of Chisos Basin to Study Butte/Terlingua was a lot easier than I expected. I was able to pedal the whole way up and only had to stop 3 times. The ride down was exhilarating, but I had to be careful of my brakes and stopped a few times to let them cool…
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Day 393 – More on Chisos Basin
I could have stayed in Chisos Basin for a lot longer than 5 days, but tomorrow I will be leaving for Terlingua so I wanted to get in a bit more about what I saw. The campground is $14 a night and there are no hook-ups for RVs as well no showers, but the bathrooms…
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Day 392 – Hiking up Emory Peak for the sunrise
I got up at 2:30 am and hiked up Emory Peak @ 7,825 feet, the highest in Chisos Basin. I dozed on top of a granite spire, while waiting for the sun to come up. It was a lovely crisp chance to bask in moon lit solitude. My iPhone timelapse didn’t do the event justice,…
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Day 390 – Epic climb into Chisos Basin
Today I got up at 4 am to start for the 23 mile/1300′ elev. gain ride to Panther Junction and then another 6 mile/2000′ and segment into Chisos Basin and the campground. To put it mildly – it was a challenge. Camp host Ted gave me a round of applause as I passed him on the way to…
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Day 389 – Riding to Big Bend and meeting folks along the way
I spent last night in a motel room at the same place I was camping. It felt so nice to be in a comfortable bed with AC. Even though I’ve been camping a lot I often find it hard to get a good night’s sleep. After getting almost out of town something didn’t feel right…
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Day 387 – Marathon, TX
Today I held court in the courtyard with a bucket of ice, lots of water and my laptop to catch up on the blog. Check out the pictures, the owners have done a spectacular job making a garden oasis in a dessert. Later I took a look around town and stopped in at the Gage Hotel…
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Day 386 – Sanderson, TX to Marathon, TX
For whatever reason I had a hard time sleeping the night before last and walked out of my motel room with a beer in hand and a clouded mind. I don’t remember what dreams I was having, but they resulted in me being anxious and heavy minded. I found a picnic table in the parking…
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Day 384 – 3 PM deadline
After the storm passed last night I set-up my tent to block the rain and was treated to the roar of semi trucks on wet pavement for the rest of the night. Being so close to the road it sound like they were in the tent with me, but I can’t complain too much since…