Friday, July 29, 2011

 

What are the mathematical odds of this even happening?




By the way, don't worry. Johhny's apparently okay.

Saturday, July 02, 2011

 

"Dry Run 2011" Ride Report With Pics


Those of you who remember this ride report from 2009 will recall that the last time we made a Trail of Tears run, we were having a very wet year in West Texas. 2010 was even wetter; near record-breaking precipitation-wise, as a matter of fact. But in 2011, not so much. Ravaged by drought and wildfires after 300 days without measurable precipitation, all of West Texas (and the American Southwest in general) is suffering terribly.

So, two years after getting soaked on this ride, we returned to see what the dry conditions had wrought upon the land and lakes between Midland and Colorado City, Texas. Following was our route, both coming and going. It's the classic run through the ghost towns Otis Chalk and Hyman along the West Texas Trail of Tears:


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Our first stop was an obligatory break at the Big Spring State Park:





Right now, all the salt lakes in the region are completely dry except for the big one in the distance:



From the park, we headed to Otis Chalk and Hyman, enjoying the closest thing we have to twisty roads in the area. As usual, we stopped at the old church on 2183, and were pleasantly surprised to see that it's still standing:





Once we'd made it into Colorado City, we made a stop at the Sportsman's Club for lunch. It was a bit sad to see that most of the water in Lake Colorado City is gone:





Compare to this picture from two years ago:



A few blocks down from the Sportsman's Club is the lake cabin of my buddy Leslie, who made the ride with Britt and I:





We stopped in to take a look at the condition of his floating dock, which -- as you might imagine -- ain't exactly floating right now:



In fact, nobody's dock is floating:





By that time, the heat was upon us and we decided to head back home. We made a return stop in Big Spring for water and to soak down our shirts:



Total Mileage: 236
Total Trip Time: 6.25 hours