Journal

TRAVEL REPORTAGE RIDING MOTORCYCLES IN BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK

IT'S AN ANNUAL THING

Mountain view from inside Big Bend National Park.

Almost every year I take a motorcycle trip with my dad and younger brother to someplace we've never been before. We usually trailer the bikes to a base camp and then set out from there for a couple of days. Several years ago, this trip took us to a remote corner of Texas near the Mexico border.

Landscape along the road.

Photo opp.

DESERT CONDITIONS

My brother was out of the country so it ended up being a trip for two. The landscape was all desert and extra dry. Normally, that wouldn't be so bad, but when you're dressed in black leather from head to toe it can make for some scorching conditions. The scenery was incredible and the place where we stayed was right outside of the famous Texas ghost town of Terlingua. There were vultures and rattlesnakes and a double-wide full of spiders: pretty epic as trips go.

In motion.

The bike and our double wide.

Empty road through the park.

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK

One of the most amazing parts of the tour was the fact that the park was virtually empty. Over a handful of days, we only saw one or two cars driving through. We parked in the middle of the road for pictures and were able to u-turn almost anywhere.

Empty roads let you try photos like this.

Though it's not at the top of my list as far as repeat trips go, it was worth seeing once.