In Pursuit of Wildness: Big Bend National Park

I’m not sure if Steve McQueen considered the badlands of Texas “nowhere,” but that’s where I’m riding my motorcycle on this epic adventure into the Wild West. In four days and 1,700 miles, I intend to wake up in the middle of Big Bend National Park.

I’m on a 2018 Indian Chieftain Limited for my trip to West Texas. I feel like a kid about to open his first Christmas present. I love Western movies, especially the line by Augustus McCrae in Lonesome Dove: “Ain’t nothing better than riding a fine horse in new territory.”

That’s how I feel as the warm wind hits my face along Route 66 in the Mojave Desert. This motorcycle is smooth, and I set the cruise control for 65 mph while listening to Marty Robbins sing, “Out in the West Texas town of El Paso, I fell in love with a Mexican girl …” GPS, radio, my music, cruise control, retractable windshield, endless gauges—OK, I’m spoiled as I cross the mighty Colorado River into Arizona.

It’s a long first day after 585 miles and I’m looking for my usual camp in the Kaibab National Forest, nine miles south of Ash Fork, AZ, where dispersed camping is permitted. There are no fire restrictions, so I collect firewood to cook my gourmet dinner—Dinty Moore beef stew with a few saltine crackers and a Hostess Cupcake for dessert. Sleep comes easily as the cool night breeze comforts me after crossing the hot desert. I try hard to see the stars, but it is pointless.