Well, I made it back safely from yesterday's ride, but it was a torture test at times (for the Dunlop knobbies, I mean), and I'll NEVER do route NM-506 again, lol. Talk about some ROCKY stretches of trail! In fact, rocks came into play early on with my planned recon of the Willie White Trail/Wills Canyon Loop, that turned out to be HELLER ROCKY so I turned back after 1/3 mile, lol. No point in tearing up these expensive Dunlop tires, and some ATV/UTV riders who came down the trail shortly afterward showed me the damage to one vehicle's tire---it had multiple plugs in the sidewall, and they were nursing it back to the trailhead. So I didn't feel too badly about calling off my recon of that particular trail loop, some of these trails in New Mexico are really rough and are better left to 4-wheeled vehicles, and even THOSE can take a beating, lol. Meh, 4 wheels move the body, but 2 wheels move the SOUL, lol...
On the plus side, my overall recon was highly successful, and I found a really cool trail (county road, relatively smooth dirt) which leads to a small stream, waterfall, etc., as you will see in the pics. No wonder that road is so popular in spring & summer... though I'm not sure whether the stream and waterfall run all year. Meh, they were running yesterday, and there was also ice in both, lol. Weather wasn't too bad, but it was cold on high, and the wind picked up a bit so I was glad to move downward in elevation and get out of that chilly breeze. It wasn't bad when I was stopped, having a cold beer or a snack (or both), but riding was a different story, lol. Again, I was thankful to have that excellent riding suit, and the "neck gaiter" I wore also came in handy! My usual riding gloves were a bit thin for the alpine weather, but I don't expect to ride in weather that cool again... if we get some warmer weather, no problem.
Once I dropped in elevation, the ride became much more pleasant, and I worked my way southward and slightly eastward to Pinon, where I picked up NM-506, a mixed bag when it comes to trail riding: some stretches are paved, some are dirt, some have nasty rocks! But once I was committed, that was it... and down toward the basin floor, the road crossed the NE corner of Fort Bliss, and one is supposed to have permission from the Army to be there, lol. Moi, I just gassed on it, since the road leveled out and became a wide tank trail... at times, I was flyin' down that trail at 75 m.p.h., but the occasional ruts, rocks & "gravel drifts" were enough to slow me down, lol. Those "gravel drifts" are nasty if you run up on one along it's longitudinal axis, the bike can get squirrelly on ya and your heart momentarily stops, lol. Luckily, I powered through and FINALLY made it out to US-54...
The trail dumped me onto the highway right where the BP or Border Patrol checkpoint is located, so I turned northward and made my way to the main staging area at Red Sands OHV Area to have a well-deserved cold beer! There I met some really cool folks, a group of family men (mostly Alamo locals) who were setting up camp for the weekend... these guys (and gals) had primo 5th wheel RVs, all kinds of offroad toys, and plenty of kids having fun in the outdoors (instead of sitting on a couch or messing with a Big Tech device). I sat in a camp chair and talked to one guy who owns a plumbing outfit in Alamo, he was pretty funny, and I told him all about my day's ride (so far). In fact, I'll be riding back down there to see them all again, as they are camping till Sunday. I'll probably go on Saturday, since there's a chance of rain and/or snow in the forecast for later today and tomorrow.
The good news is that Red Sands is minutes from my home, and these local folks know of some hard-packed riding areas more suitable for my bike... deep sand is the nemesis of the KLR 650, the bike does NOT perform well in sand due to its size & weight, aye? Even with sand paddle tires it would have a hard time, a smaller & lighter 400-450cc thumper would be a much better choice, lol. Anyway, I gave those folks my number, since I'm trying to meet like-minded people who are into riding and the outdoors... then I rode a short distance to meet another rider, a former Arty (Artillery) NCO in the Aarrrrghmy, so we hit it off and had a fun time recounting service-related stories. He had a nice 850 quad with burly tires on it, and he told me about his ride after I told him about mine. Funny thing, EVERYBODY I met agreed that NM-506 was a rough & rocky trail, lol... so I joined that "elite club" by pushing through and making the ride, lol.
Anyway, lemme get started here with the pics, I'll try to throw in references to roads & trails, but my overall recon went like this: US-82 from the top end of Alamo to Cloudcroft, Hwy. 130 (county or state, dunno which) south to Hwy. 6563, continuing south to Upper Rio Penasco Road, an abortive attempt at the Willie White Trail/Wills Canyon Loop, onward on Rio Penasco Road to hook up with Hwy. 130 again, a short eastward jaunt to pick up Hwy. 24, a nice cruise to Pinon to pick up NM-506, and homeward on US-54 with a recreational stop at Red Sands. All told, I put about 150-155 miles on my tripmeter, I forgot to check the final reading when I got home, as it was already dark and cold and I wanted to get the bike into its shed pronto, lol. After unloading everything, putting the bike away, eating, and taking a shower, I was heller beat tired, so I didn't post the pics as I originally intended, 10-4? But here they are, hope y'all enjoy the ride, it sure was fun despite the abortive attempt to ride those trails I mentioned... and I learned a lot too! So no worries!
Let's get started, here is a view from a turnout on Hwy. 6563, I've posted similar shots from this spot before, but here's what the view looked like yesterday. Look out in the distance and you'll see White Sands on the Tularosa Basin floor!
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Next we have shots taken along Upper Rio Penasco Road, a very beautiful trail that turns from pavement to relatively smooth graded dirt, I'll be riding this trail again in the future, no doubt about it! The stream and waterfall offer many good picnic locations, though it was a bit chilly in the breeze yesterday... note the ice in stream and waterfall!
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Looks like a little glare in at least one pic, I probably need to clean the camera lens, lol. Back in a moment with better pics of the falls... that's running water flowing down the center, ice to either side, and the falls are impressive even if they're only 25' or 30' high.
