Today would be a big ride day. Only 34 miles but with close to 5,000 feet of climbing. Almost all uphill from the shores of the Rio Grande up to our campground in Chisos Basin, the floor of a collapsed  volcano.

Right across the river from us was Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico, that visitors to the park could visit. All one needed was a valid US passport to get back in the US of A. My friend Denise had ridden this ACA Big Bend trip last year and had  waxed poetically about what a great time her biking group had when the were poled across the Rio Grande in a jon boat, loaded on donkeys for the mile ride into town and had a delicious authentic Mexican meal. I was looking forward to repeating that!!!!

Unfortunately we were told there is only one US Border Patrol officer for this area and he is off on Mondays and Tuesdays so the crossing wa closed. Today was Tuesday!!!!

This was the Park service building for jumping off to Mexico. On this morning, four of our gang decided to cross and do a little shopping, before heading up the mountain climb. The water was shallow enough they just rolled their bikes across and rode them into the village!!! The rest of us chose to get on the road and try to beat the heat of the day. Most of the the climbing was in the last 6 miles of our day . . .

Oh . . . you could see the Chisos Mountains up ahead waiting for us. This was the first day we biked west so had the sun at our back during the morning. Nice riding . . . I really like the desert in the morning. Cooler, the air smells fresher and it’s VERY quiet.

Another type of cactus in this area of the park that had finished flowering . . .

They are getting nearer . . .

. . . plenty of time to look down and see what is crawling around . . .

. . . and to look for TommyG’s words of encouragement written in chalk on the pavement . . .  this one pronouncing beer on the side of the road . . .

. . . unfortunately it was empty . . . by him???!!!

Very nice flowers today . . .

. . . including this unusual flower display. Every desert plant has adapted to conserving it precious water resource.

Finally we made our turn up to the Chisos Basin and our last 6 miles of up, up and away!!!!

I stopped along the way to chat with Nancy and guess who also stopped by . . . my ‘Pakistani friends’, Sue and Jerry, who were heading up to the basin for a nice little picnic. Seemed appropriate for another round of photos taken by each side!!

More words of encouragement from the G. You would think he was a Tour de France coach or something like that!!!

Nice of the Park staff to post the local bears speed limit in the area. As long as you can ride 16 miles an hour or faster  . . . no problem!!!

Climb climb and more climbing . . .

It’s ‘fun’ to watch the feet of elevation ‘roll by’ on the gps screen as one climbs up the mountain. The little blue dot on the left represents my location, so you can see I still had a ways to go!!!

. . . but soon I was at the top and rolling down the other side. There were switchbacks and one REALLY had to keep your speed down which was done by heavy braking. My hands got sore from braking so hard!!! Megan and Russ had told us the road network in the group campground area was sort of tricky and ‘do not go downhill in the campground’ (that would be the wrong way and one would need to climb up again). Megan was nice enough to mark the final turns with chalk, Nobody missed it!!!

Another stone quarry for a campground but the bathrooms were close by, the showers were hot and tonight be would be eating dinner in the Chisos Basin Mountain Inn dining room, on white table clothes. Yippee!!!!

We returned to camp just in time to see the sunset through the ‘window’ as it is known locally. No problem sleeping tonight!!!