Day 36: To Presidio

April 1, 2012

Low of 45F overnight. The temperature was in the 60's and sunny when I left Marfa at 9:30.

On the south edge of Marfa I passed a huge regional headquarters for the Border Patrol. Them again...

The first few miles is mostly downhill. Then the road climbs gradually up to 5500 feet elevation. Junipers appear above 5000 feet, but not much grass. The mountain views are very nice. The biggest mountains are the Chinati mountains to my right.

Cibolo Creek ranch is an exclusive guest ranch with the best water sources in the region.

US 67 on the edge of the Chinati mountains.

I took a couple short stops in culverts under the road-the only places with shade.

I took a long stop at Shafter. In the 1890's Shafter was a thriving silver mining town with thousands of residents. Shafter is often called a ghost town, but a dozen or more houses are occupied along Cibolo creek. The mine closed many decades ago but it will open again very soon. The new mine will probably employ only a few people.

Shafter ghost town. Once a thriving silver mining town with thousands of people.

The 1890's Catholic church was interesting. It has a large building complex and a nice enclosed courtyard with irrigated grass. I looked around inside the church. All of the literature in the church was in Spanish.

Catholic church in Shafter. The priest walked in just as I took the picture.

Leaving Shafter the road climbs 400 feet very steeply, but afterwards it's mostly downhill to Presidio. The last couple miles to Presidio has distant views of the much larger town of Ojinaga which is across the Rio Grande river in Mexico. Like most border areas, the Mexican town is much larger than the U.S. town.

Distant view of the city of Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico. The Rio Grande isn't visible.

Presidio is one of the oldest towns in North America, founded in 1685 by Spanish settlers. The population now is only about 3000, so it hasn't grown much over the centuries.

Presidio is the most third-world looking town I've seen in the United States. Most streets are unpaved. Few people spoke English.

I went to the border crossing, but couldn't see much. I couldn't see the river and I couldn't see much of the town on the Mexican side.

Border crossing to Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico.

This is an international border. The sign should say *Welcome to the United States of America.*

I arrived at 4 PM and got a room at the Big Bend motel. $50 cash only. The owner had just opened the swimming pool for the season and he invited all his friends over. The room was hot when I arrived and the tiny air conditioner cooled the room very slowly.

Today I had a net descent of 1900 feet and the brisk westerly crosswind helped keep me cool. The highway has moderate traffic, no trucks because it's Sunday. The 4-foot shoulder is rough chipseal that is kind of slow, but the net descent made it a fairly easy day.

It's noticeably hotter in Presidio, 90F. Very dry, of course. Presidio is often the hottest place in the U.S. According to local folklore, residents share predictions about what time of the morning the temperature will hit 100F. I wouldn't want to be here during summer.

Distance: 66 mi. (106 km)

Climbing: 1783 ft. (540 m)

Average Speed: 11.8 mph (18.9 km/h)

Today's ride: 66 miles (106 km)
Total: 1,919 miles (3,088 km)

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