Recap thread for a good trip to Big Bend Ranch State Park. This was originally planned as a two-rig trip but someone got screwed by work (condolences @Silverback ) . We went Mon thru Fri to give us time to get home and cleanup before getting back into the work week (and I have a trip to prep for).
Monday - left the house at 6a and headed out on I-20 towards Pecos; then south thru Fort Davis to Presidio. The 4Runner did pretty good on MPG overall so I was happy with the initial start on the trip. The Ranger Station at Sauceda was open a few times while we were there; but we still had to check in at Ft Leaton station by Presidio. It did make the trip a bit easier since we did not have to rush into the center of the park.
We camped at the Los Ojitos by the center of the park the entire trip. It is easier to get around the park from here and still away from people. Great location if you want to explore the park by vehicle. On Monday we just drove Llano Loop and then set went to the campsite to start relaxing.
Tuesday - The weather changed to about 20 degrees cooler than forecasted on Sunday when we were packing up; so we had to make a few adjustments. We decided to run a trail out to the county road 4 and then into town for tarps & gloves. We took the main road west to the Botella Trail towards the northwest corner & county road 4. At the split we went lef to the take the west trail. Overall it was a great trail that you could tell did not get a lot of traffic. The town of Presidio has grown enough to have a Dollar General, Auto Zone, new large gas station at the edge of town, and bigger Publix grocery store. So it was easy to run into town to get tarps and gloves. Back to the park we went to the east trail of the Botella Trail.
The east trail started out pretty chilled but had a few spots that the loose rock let the 4Runner slide around a bit more than expected. I did manage to get a flat tire from a puncture. The Milwaukee M18 1/2" impact made the tire swap pretty quick. The rest of the trail had a few touchy spots and one bowl area that I managed to get a slider stuck on. I had to take a different line to get through it. The two Botella trails are great and worth the time to run them. I do have to warn you that there is 4G reception on the higher elevations of these trails. Back at the camp the tarps were put up and gave us enough wind break to make cooking and eating a meal decent again.
Monday - left the house at 6a and headed out on I-20 towards Pecos; then south thru Fort Davis to Presidio. The 4Runner did pretty good on MPG overall so I was happy with the initial start on the trip. The Ranger Station at Sauceda was open a few times while we were there; but we still had to check in at Ft Leaton station by Presidio. It did make the trip a bit easier since we did not have to rush into the center of the park.
We camped at the Los Ojitos by the center of the park the entire trip. It is easier to get around the park from here and still away from people. Great location if you want to explore the park by vehicle. On Monday we just drove Llano Loop and then set went to the campsite to start relaxing.
Tuesday - The weather changed to about 20 degrees cooler than forecasted on Sunday when we were packing up; so we had to make a few adjustments. We decided to run a trail out to the county road 4 and then into town for tarps & gloves. We took the main road west to the Botella Trail towards the northwest corner & county road 4. At the split we went lef to the take the west trail. Overall it was a great trail that you could tell did not get a lot of traffic. The town of Presidio has grown enough to have a Dollar General, Auto Zone, new large gas station at the edge of town, and bigger Publix grocery store. So it was easy to run into town to get tarps and gloves. Back to the park we went to the east trail of the Botella Trail.
The east trail started out pretty chilled but had a few spots that the loose rock let the 4Runner slide around a bit more than expected. I did manage to get a flat tire from a puncture. The Milwaukee M18 1/2" impact made the tire swap pretty quick. The rest of the trail had a few touchy spots and one bowl area that I managed to get a slider stuck on. I had to take a different line to get through it. The two Botella trails are great and worth the time to run them. I do have to warn you that there is 4G reception on the higher elevations of these trails. Back at the camp the tarps were put up and gave us enough wind break to make cooking and eating a meal decent again.
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