Since the Arizona trip fell through, I had a week off that I had to do something with. I had planned a trip to New Mexico to visit a friend, but said friend had to cancel for that week when he found out his folks were coming from New York to visit. Not having enough time remaining to reschedule my vacation to NM, I opted to do something more local, and of a shorter duration. The plan was to make a big leisurely loop, taking lots of time for stops and photos, poking around old barns, etc… and this time I’d do it all solo. It’s been a long time since I went out to enjoy my solitude; something I did nearly every weekend that I was in Arizona, and I miss it.

One of these days I’ll post the more artistic photos (still to be processed) in my ‘deviantArt’ gallery.

The ‘Roads of Texas’ atlas was used almost exclusively for this ride, so if you have it, follow along…

Day1 - Sunday,
Leander to Junction, 210 miles

Got up early this morning, but not quite as early as I wanted to. While doing last minute packing, noticed it was a bit chilly, 55 degrees to be exact…I hope it isn’t this chilly tonight, I didn’t pack for this! Pretty much forgot breakfast, and hit the road a little after 7. My plan was to skip to the stuff I haven’t seen, and ride 29 to Llano. I’d fuel up there.

While filling my 5 gallon tank I observed a young man, I’d say 19 or 20, walking down the sidewalk…He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and some worn, gray cargo pants that were too long, and very tattered at the cuff. He wasn’t wearing shoes, only socks. He crossed the street and continued East down 29...

I topped off the tank and reset the odometer. I headed down town to 152, then headed west for Castell. When I reached CR102 I turned North. This was a paved road, although barely…The first river crossing was a mess! The “paved” crossing consisted of broken, shifted and patched concrete, like a concrete MX track. I feel for anyone who tries to drive a passenger car across this thing…When I reached 104 I took a left and headed west again. This was a fun little bladed earth road, badly eroded by recent rains. I stopped at an old building, probably a school house, to take some pictures. After about ½ hour of hanging out, I loaded up and straddled the bike. I reached for the key already in the ignition - and already on… a sinking feeling came over me as my thumb went for the go button…The starter groaned…then clicked. I knew the time would someday come when I’d have to push-start a loaded-down bike on a soft dirt road…I just hoped it would be when I had a partner! This part of the road I was on was at a slight incline, so I backed it up the hill, and swung my leg over…only to send the bike down on it’s right side. I stepped over and lifted it upright. No damage to the right box, so I turned my attention back to starting it. I got it rolling but couldn’t get much speed on the soft road. I hopped on and dumped the clutch - the motor spat and sputtered, then the back tire slid to a halt. I got off and started to walk the bike. After walking about a mile, a fellow pulled up beside me, “need a ride?” he asked, “no,” I replied, “dead battery, just need to find a hill to bump-start it.” He said “okay”, and didn’t offer a push, so I didn’t press it. I pushed on, and finally came to a creek crossing with a nice hill leading down to it. As I approached, I noticed an old school bus hiding in the bushes off to my right. I decided to take a rest and get a few shots of the bus.
 

An old building, perhaps a schoolhouse, on CR104 near Castell.

An old bus hiding in the trees on CR104 near Castell.

The decline into the creek was a fairly steep one, as was the climb out…I had to make this count! I suited up and shoved off. Once over the cattle guard at the break of the hill, I picked up speed…dumped the clutch…we have ignition! The motor had other ideas though, and struggled to stay running. About ¾ of the way up the steep incline, it made one last cough, then died. I mustered the strength to push it to the top, turned around, and made haste down the other direction. It started again, then died just as I made it up and over the cattle guard. I turned it around again for a 3rd try, this time giving a little choke, once it started again I whacked the throttle, which resulted in a wheelie up the incline…a wheelie on a dirt bike fully loaded with camping gear is a bit unnerving, to say the least! Once at the top I kept the RPM’s up for a little while until it would run on it’s own, backed off the choke, and after my multi-hour “break”, was on my way.

Once through Castell, I made my way south on CR105, another dirt road, where I encounter an enormous bull standing right in the middle of the road, just looking at me. He wasn’t about to move…I slowly approached and made my way by, about 2’ from him. He didn’t budge.

At the next intersection, I made a right then left on CR109, then eventually another right on CR110. These roads thus far have turned out to provide a beautiful trip through the country, as well as provide some entertaining riding due to their eroded nature. I arrived at another broken-up water crossing, splashed through a few spots, then, before the last, I came to a screeching halt…This was not good. The recent rains had muddied the usually clear water, but I could tell that the concrete bottom was split into 3 tracks, about 24” in width and about 8” apart. Beyond the first few feet the water was too cloudy to see through. Those deep grooves were just waiting to grab a wheel should slime send me in an unwanted trajectory. I opted to cross to the right of the road, through the mud and grass. After a bit of bouncing and mud roosting, I was on my way.
 

The hairy water crossing on CR110/ House Mtn Rd... note the gaps between the slabs... (!)

 

I made a short stop for photos at Loyal Valley, then made my way north on Hwy 87 to find some old buildings I had seen a while back while passing through. After searching for some time, I never found them and finally gave up, and headed south on Hwy 783 to Salt Branch Loop, then west. This was a rough and rocky little road, but entertaining, no less. As I was thumping along, enjoying my ride, I rounded a bend, only to be greeted by a Ford Super Duty towing a 5th wheel! On this road?! Why? How?! I was moving too briskly to use the brakes on these loose rocks, so I had no choice but to surf the deep pile of loose rocks that had built up on the shoulder. Once I was clear I slowed to a crawl to let my heart return to it’s normal state… Later, I turned right again at Salt Branch Rd which turned out to be another rough, but scenic route. I then turned left on CR430 to Hwy 385, then took a right. I wasn’t looking forward to slabbing a few miles on this hwy, but it turned out to be very nice, and visually stimulating.

 

I turned left on CR420, which was signed another name that I forgot (sorry), and enjoyed another great part of the route. The storms had taken their toll on this one as well, in fact I narrowly missed a very deep hole (more like canyon!) in the white rock road at one point. I finally came upon KC470 (Kimble County uses “KC” instead of “CR” or “CO”) and headed west on this forgotten, badly deteriorated road. This “road” quickly became more of a “trail”, then led me to a closed gate. It wasn’t locked, and it wasn’t posted, but there was a sign on it that said “Member Texas Farm Bureau, Arthur & Wanda“… I don’t know who Aurther and Wanda are, and I hope I don’t meet them, because I’ll be danged if I’m turning back! I closed the gate behind me, and the trail got pretty good (or bad, depending on how you look at it)… At this point it was pretty much a jeep trail…After about a mile I came to another gate, with the same sign on the other side. A little while later I came to a cool home-made bump gate; basically 2 gates wide, with a big pole in the middle that they swiveled on. I bumped my way through, then proceeded to play “goat herder” with a herd of goats in the road ahead. At this point I was really kicking myself for not bringing the helmet cam! This was the funniest part of the day! It would have made some hilarious video… I arrived at another gate, this time an old bump gate like the past, but broken, with a regular gate in it’s place. As I passed through a 4x4 drove by on the trail that forked into the one I was on, but they didn’t stop, so neither did I…

 

I dropped into a canyon, and the character of the trail changed, as it followed and crossed a dry creek bed, with big, lush trees and rock cliffs on either side; absolutely beautiful… The trail changed from rock to soil, and the trees provided some appreciated relief from the sun. Again, I wanted to kick myself for not bringing the cam! I came to an old stone house, obviously still occupied, and wondered how great it would be to be able to live here… Of course the vehicles parked here were all 4WD. I finally came to the intersection at Holden Hollow and turned left to climb out of this gem of a trail…
 

Once I reached Hwy 2169 again, a very nice, scenic highway, I headed for Junction. After a dead-end dirt road at a park boundary gate with about 6 locks on it, I backtracked into Junction, turned south on Hwy 377, and approached the park via the proper entrance. I unloaded and pitched the tent. Since it was just after 4 pm, I opted to hike the longer trail to the river for a dip, after my multi-mile hike and a swim, I head for town for some food and a cell signal to call the better half, then back to the camp for a shower and shut-eye…