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Folks,

I was unable to attend this outting last year but am planning to do so this time. Andy and I have talked about doing a trip to Big Bend National Park in far southwest Texas sometime at the end of the school year (late May / early June).

I'm thinking generally in terms of the following:

Day one - late afternoon arrival of the group assembled for dinner to meet and greet, talk logisitics, provisions, top off tanks, and talk about the next day's plans etc etc.

Day two - Do trails on some combination of BBNP, Big Bend Ranch State Park and also private property. Assemble the group that evening for dinner to rehash the day's adventure, lessons learned, plans for the next day etc. etc.

Day three - a second full day of trail exploration in the above venues. If folks need to cut out early, we plan the trail riding accordingly so they can do so.

Day four - everyone heads home!

We'll stay in a suitable venue in either Study Butte or Terlingua. I'm happy to make reservations for the entire group but I certainly don't want to get stuck with a bunch of empty rooms!

As this is a hughe region of the state, I've asked the local outfitter (river trips, atv & Jeep tours etc) who is a long time friend to provide us with a guide who will know the region intimately and will enable us to gain access to some of the private lands that we otherwise wouldn't have access it. This person will also be able to tell us about the history of the region, any other interesting details that wouldn't be captured in a guide book etc.

Without really going nuts, I'll probably ask a graphic designer friend to design us some cool t-shirts to mark the occasion too.

If you have questions about this trip, post them here so they can be answered for everyone. If you're serious about attending, PM me and we can talk in greater detail.

If you are not familar with this region, it's what everyone (everyone in Vermont perhaps) expects Texas to look like with mountains, cactus and amazing desert terrain. I've been going out there for decades and keep going back for more.

Let me hear from you.

Our target weekend is June 5th folks. There will be 2 full days of off-roading with a day for travel on either end.

I'm going to book a block of rooms in the Study Butte area for the group. A local outfitter is mapping out a number of different routes for the group to consider for each day. Some of which are on private property so it should be interesting. This is a spectacular region and there could be many years of off-roading possibilities for us to consider. Here's a link to the NPS website: http://www.nps.gov/bibe/

If you think you might join us, please let me know.

David

Let's try the weekend of the 13 if its okay with everyone,the 5th is Quattro's graduation.

I stand corrected! The big bend trip will happen on that weekend.
As mentioned previously, I'm going to reserve a block of rooms.

The game plan is for everyone to arrive on day one (Thursday?) and then two days of off roading in the BBNP, BB Ranch State Park, the Black Gap region and perhaps some private property. We're engaging local resources to provide us with a bubch of options to consider to make the trip as interesting and entertaining for everyone attending.

A show of hands would be appreciated in the coming weeks.

Thanks!

For the folks who are considering joining us the weekend of June 11 to 14, we are wondering if folks want to focus strictly on off roading for two full days or is there interest in the attending family members doing a rafting trip with an outfitter there or perhaps doing some hiking. We could even direct folks up to Fort Davis or Marfa to visit the Fort Davis Observatory or the arts scene there respectively.

It's going to be HOT that time of year in the Big Bend region but if there's interest in providing some non-driving activities, let's hear from folks.

Thanks!