KLR 650 - 650 Miles in Two Days - West Texas

My first trip on my 2001 KLR650 started at my fathers house in Midland and went through the most beautiful parts of Texas. We left Midland around 4:00pm on Friday without any planned destination. I knew I wanted to go South to Big Bend country but I was not sure how far we could get in the cold Spring evening.

Ready to Leave

KLR's first trip

We rode from Midland toward Ft. Stockton down HWY 385. In Crane we turned West on 329, then South on 1053 to Imperial. Although Imperial offers great shrimp, we did not stop for dinner. In Ft. Stockton we filled up and took I-10 West to HWY 67 South. We made it to Alpine around 8:30pm and stopped to get a room, just to find out that most rooms in the city are taken for some unknown event. We finally got a room at the Highland Hotel. It's not a great place but the bed and shower worked just fine. We ate at Longhorn Steakhouse, then went to bed.

Dinner

Highland Hotel

Hotel View

Ready for day two

Filling up

We got up around 7:30am and went to breakfast. Then, a quick fill-up and off to Marfa. From Alpine the scenery starts getting great. Sorry, no pictures of that. In Marfa, the downtown area is being fixed up and the Hotel Paisano and the Courthouse are beautiful examples.

KLR in Marfa

Hotel Paisano

Courthouse

Heading South from Marfa on Hwy 67 the weather is warm and some of the cold weather gear comes off. We enter the Cuesta Del Burro mountains and stop in the ghost town of Shafter for a few pictures.

Driver Seat	Hwy 67	Hwy 67	Hwy 67	Hwy 67
Hwy 67	Hwy 67	Shafter Ghost town	Shafter Ghost town	Shafter Ghost town

Now, every story I read about people traveling on KLRs always includes a picture of the bike at the border crossing. So, when we got to Presidio we went straight for the border. After a quick fill-up. we started on the best part of the trip. Hwy 170 has been described as the prettiest drive in Texas and one of the best in the USA. Everyone should take this drive, during the Spring of Fall. This winding road is great on a motorcycle, but it's hard to take pictures while your riding. The Rio Grande river banks are really green and the river is running this Spring, thanks to all the rain in the area. We stopped a few times to look around and admire the river. By this time, the weather allowed us to change to our warm weather riding gear.

Mexico Border	Rio Grande	Hwy 170	Hwy 170	Hwy 170
From Hwy 170	Rio Grande	Rio Grande	Scenic Stop	Bikes
Rio Grande

Then we stopped to hike Closed Canyon. I have read about this easy hike several times in magazines and hiking books. It is a very rewarding hike for little effort. We hike in about a mile before we came to a rope that we were not equipped to repel down. We also met several friendly couples, as we always do when hiking in Big Bend. Closed Canyon is a slot canyon and should not be hiked during rainy weather due to flash flooding.

Closed Canyon Trailhead	Canyon Entrance	Matt	Bluebonnets	Closed Canyon
Closed Canyon	Closed Canyon

And, of course we stopped on the Big Hill on Hwy 170 for pictures. Too bad there were so many other people there. I snapped two quick pictures and hit the road to Lajitas.

Big Hill Hwy 170

Rio Grande

Not much to say about Lajitas. Once we loved it, now the Smith Corporation changed it and we just drop by to see what's new. There's just not much for me there anymore. They do however have cell phone coverage, which I also hate. but it gave me an opportunity to call my brother in Houston and brag about being in Big Bend country while he is in Houston putting up with life.

Downtown Lajitas

Lajitas Hill

Hwy 118 from Lajitas to Terlingua & Study Butte is under construction. They are making it a 4 lane Hwy. Once again, no pictures. This would be the only dirt that the KLR saw on this trip. We stopped in Study Butte and ate and filled up, again. Then we went to Big Bend. We are just passing through but it still cost us $5.00 for each bike. We stopped to get pictures at the entrance, then again at Panther Junction. The park roads are lined with bluebonnets, as you can see in several pictures.

Big Bend Entrance	Self Portrait	KLR in Big Bend	Bluebonnets	Panther Junction
Father & Son	Bluebonnets	Rear View	Bluebonnets

We made it to Marathon, then went East on Hwy 90 to Sanderson, were we just missed a Harley Davidson parade, thank God. From Sanderson we went to Dryden and hit Hwy 349 were we almost hit several deer. Hwy 349 from Dryden to Sheffield is a beautiful ride. Guess what, no pictures! Rolling hills, canyons and plenty of wildlife. Did I mention I almost hit some deer. We stopped in Irran to fill-up, then headed up Hwy 349 to Midland. It was dark. There were deer. I missed one deer by about 5ft. I do not like riding out there at night.