Dusk on Quitman Pass . Some of the best and most exciting fun I’ve had driving the last few months happened last night just before sundown. . As often happens, it was completely unplanned. I’d been driving back country border roads along the Rio Grande between Mexico and Texas. I mean roads right alongside the river through ranches and open range, with low spots where the river comes right up to and across the road with flood gauge markers. . Talked to a Border Patrol officer for a good while as we stood and looked over my Texas Gazetteer laid out on the hood of his truck. . We discussed different route options and which would be safe, and fun, to explore with a heavy 2wd van and trailer. Sounded like it is all doable, though some of the arroyos along the river may be soft, he said. . It was getting on late afternoon and I opted to go up and over the Quitman Mountains instead of further down the river. I’ll save that for longer hours of daylight when I can explore more, see what I’m doing, and have more time before dark to extricate myself should I get mired. . So up Quitman Pass Road I went, nineteen miles of gravel and caliche with the occasional straight stretch but mostly turns and small climbs. Most of it single lane and all of it just my kind of travel, though a part of the world where I’ve always felt I belonged. . It’s ancient. It’s open. It’s undeveloped in ways to which most of the rest of the country has succumbed. No stop lights. No chain food. No box box stores. Not even any phone or electric lines up here. . This is a shot I took at a small junction of two dirt roads. It’s actually a road sign, but looks like a cross in the desert dusk. . . #texas #westtexas #desertcross #nobodydied #notthatiknowof #mountainpass #graveltravel #dirtroad #southofi10 #borderlands #adventure #overland #overlandtravel #expedition #iphoneography #desertsunset #solotravel #optoutside #igerstexas #ontheroad #letsgetlost #myoutdoorlife #travelwriter #travelblog #exploremore #exploreamerica #liveauthentic #laissezfaire #nowall #thedesertiscalling (at Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtJiOI6hCiO/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=lif2edmtji1y