Wilsons Sandbox

Jud a couple stories about that Black Gap road in Big Bend. Me and two friends were on it once in a 4 wheel drive Bronco having to stop and move big rocks out of our way a few times. Brother Gary who is the only guy I ever saw who could smoke more wacky toobacky and remain upright than anybody I ever knew told us he and his brother did that road ten years before (not sober). They were in a 62 Chevy with a Powerglide transmission. The car held 20 gallons of gas before they did the road but only 16 gallons afterward. And they heard strange voices in the middle of the night close to the Mariscal mine so moved the camp downroad a few miles in the middle of the night. I would liked to have a video of that. Brother Gary is no longer with us but a funny character he was. I blew a radiator hose in my Miata 4X4 truck once on that road by myself and barely made it back to the park headquarters. I have done the River Road by myself on my KLR but don't think I would do Black Gap solo as it is pretty remote with not much traffic but I have done Glenn Springs solo down to it on my KLR. The deep gravel in the River Road gives me fits on the KLR. Take plenty tire repair stuff. Thorny cactus and bushes galore not to mention sharp rocks. You can get into deep poo poo quickly out there by yourself and be stranded 40 miles from anything. I have heard smugglers use the park especially around Mariscal Canyon so that might have had something to do with the voices Brother Gary heard. Or could have been ghosts. There are a lot of ghost stories about that country. Criswell Sent from my iPad

On Jun 2, 2012, at 9:41 PM, "Jud" wrote: > Early March is pretty nice in Big Bend, the only time of year I have been there. The last time, we rode Black Gap Road, which has a couple of tricky spots; I think one of our party biffed in there. In any case, when we regrouped out on the highway, a park ranger stopped to ask if we had been in there, and if everybody got out all right. I can see how the ride could turn dangerous pretty quickly in summer heat. > > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "achesley43@..." wrote: > > > > > > > > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Ron Criswell wrote: > > > > > > I have been there numerous times... but not in summer but have not heard it being closed. Hot place in summer, but all of Texas is...and I am a native. > > > > > > Criswell > > > > Many years ago, on my '95 BMW R11GS, I made the mistake of going there in June. It was like, 102 in the shade. A girl at the store told me it was in the 110s last week. I told her I was glad they were having a cool spell this week. After that, That area is a Winter Trip. > > Andy in Louisiana Hot here also. > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]