Last Day in Big Bend- The Old Ore Road

[iCe]

After a few false starts on previous trips I finally decided to drive the entire length of the Old Ore Road last Sunday (7/25/10). If I remember right I turned into the OOR at around 10:00am. I figured that it couldn't be worse than the River Road and I would be headed out of the park by 2:00 pm at the worst. I forgot to account for curiosity factor and I was way wrong about how bad the road would be. it was 5:00 PM when I got to Dagger Flat Auto Loop and nearly 2:00AM when I got home.

Qualifier- My pickup is a 2008 2500HD Duramax crew cab 4WD. It's heavy and while it has 4WD it's not my version of the ideal off road vehicle. It made the trip with no problems but the weight and size made some spots a little dicey. So, comments about roughness, etc are based on the vehicle. I think a Jeep with some nice fat tires to cushion the ride a little would have been better (but mine's broken and not reliable enough to drive to BiBe)

Rather than post every single image that I took I'll post a few and include links to the respective folder on my photo site

OOR

Ernst Tinaja Trail

The road was very rough starting out but after a mile or so it "smoothed out" relative to what was behind me. It never really got "smooth". My first stop along the route was this guys final resting place. I'm sure there is a story behind this but I don't know what it is. I donated an "offering", took some photos, and went on my way



Next stop along the way was at a location that someone PM'd me about sometime in the last year or so. I'll leave it at "someone" unless he wants to chime in. The location was an old homestead ruin about 1,000' off of the main road. As I was walking in I had to cross a dry creek bed. I literally walked up on a pair of Javelina that were bedded down. Javelina snorted and went one way. I said a bad word and went the other Then, as I walked toward where they had been bedded down one of them came back and there was momentary chaos again



Here's a few from the ruins







Next stop- Ernst Tinaja. I pulled into the site to have a look. Someone was already there but while I was looking through "Hiking Big Bend on my Kindle they left. I wasn't sure how much of a hike it was and I was, after all, headed home, so I wasn't sure if I had time to do the hike. I took the time. It ended up being the single most expensive few seconds of my trip to the park this time.

Trailhead


Fossil?


Looking back toward the trailhead


This is where I left a Cokin P holder and a Singh Ray warming circular polarizer. $210-ish new. I was skirting around the far edge with two camera bodies, a Powershot G11, and a little Sony video camera. As I was working my way around the ledge the P holder hung on some of the rock and "boink / splash" there it went. I didn't know how deep it was and I was pretty sure the slime on the side would make it hard to get out so I decided to leave it where it was.




The next leg of the journey up Ernst Canyon


Looking back down the trail


My favorite shot from the hike


The trail ended here for me. I couldn't leave all of my camera gear and there was no way I could get over or under this wall...


After my little hike and drowning of one of my favorite filters I continued down the OOR. Many times I thought to myself "seriously... you call this a road?". I didn't shoot a lot of images and I kind of regret that now.

This pour off is pretty cool looking. I need to get back there some day.


A little before I stopped here (N29 21.760' W103 2.471') I met two gals bouncing down the road in a white pickup. Park Service I think. They weren't wasting any time. I actually backed up to find a place to pull off and let them by. As I made my way down the pig trail that they had come up it ended in a creek bed I think they must have turned around there and come back judging from their vehicle tracks. The road continued to the left and it wasn't immediately apparent that it did so, so I passed right on by. I went down the creek bed about 50 yards, turned around, went back to where I pulled off for them, fired the GPS up, and decided from it that I had missed my turn. Sure enough there it was. At the point that I took this image I stopped for water and food and a little break from the drive.


At what I thought was a point close to the end of the OOR (it wasn't) my GPS showed a road coming in from my right. Except there was nothing but things that poke you as far as I could tell. I looked in the rear view mirror and sure enough there was what looked like the remnants of a road. I stopped and backed into the spot thinking that where the road ends there must be something cool.

I parked here. When I checked the thermometer it was 103°. It was 105° when I got back. Water is good. Cactus isn't.


You can't really tell from this image but what I found at the end of a 1 mile jaunt was a V shaped berm. Kind of a funnel looking arrangement. I guessed that it was for rounding up cattle. It was over grown and there was no evidence of human habitation.


This is a road?


From the other direction


The white streak is some kind of crystalline mineral. I don't think it was quartz. It was pretty soft.


I have come to some conclusions about the OOR. Some I derived before driving it. Some came after I exited the OOR.

(1) I never saw an old 'ore, a middle aged 'ore, nor did I see a young 'ore. There are no 'ore's on the OOR
(2) I was able to see and photograph an old 'ore house but it had been a long time since any 'ore's or 'ore customers had been there.
(3) Apparently the 'ore's that used to ply their trade on the OOR were pretty good. It seems that at least one man died on the OOR
(4) Apparently the 'ores bathed at Ernst Tinaja. It's the only water around so I think that's a safe conclusion.
(5) I don't care how good or cheap they were, there is no way I would drive that road again just to see an old 'ore. Maybe to take some more photographs but no 'ore is worth that trip

The end (25 mph )

[andyz]

Love the series. I was there a month ago and have a few similar shots. But I'm ready to go back.

[iCe]

I know what you mean Andy. I was ready to go back by time I got to the Border Patrol Check Station outside of Marathon

[TXhummer2]

Wow, just Wow!

[lhdvies]

Great series Michael, You're killing me here. Hopefully , in about 2-3 weeks I'll get my "fix".

[Patti Edens]

Ditto what has been said. Now I wanna go to BB. I always wanna go, but now I really wanna go. You covered a lot of ground in your short stay. Thanks for the photos and the story. I'm intrigued by the cabin. If it was popular before, it will be impossible to get now.

[iCe]

Originally Posted by Patti Edens

Ditto what has been said. Now I wanna go to BB. I always wanna go, but now I really wanna go. You covered a lot of ground in your short stay. Thanks for the photos and the story. I'm intrigued by the cabin. If it was popular before, it will be impossible to get now.

Actually... SC100 isn't on their "list". You have to ask for it. It costs more than the others so you have to "want" to stay there. It's not a secret. Lord knows I've tried to get it many times and it wasn't available. Late July, August, and September are your best bet. Weekdays increases your chances of getting it two. They rent it one day at a time but if you tell them you'll be there for 3 days they'll rent it a max of 3 days. That's the most that I've stayed there. It's hard to leave that place!

I've been there a few times so I'm starting to know my way around a little. I have barely touched the Basin area. All of my exploring so far has been in the desert. That said, I have barely scratched the surface of BiBe.