Road Conditions and Maintenance Schedule ...

We will try to keep you up with movements of the road equipment as best we can, but PLEASE, PLEASE always give us a call and check road conditions if you are planning to visit remote areas.

May 23, 2006:

Work in the Solitario took the expected two-plus months. We left the area through the Terlingua Creek, North County road exit and began work in the far reaches of the Gates -- only to have our one rain storm of the year destroy the Black Rock crossing, the area east of Herman's Peak road and Salt Grass Draw. We are once again finisihing up these crucial crossings and will be heading elsewhere with Grader #1.

Grader #2 has worked the North Corazones area -- east to west, repaired most of the very neglected roads off Ament Lake road and south and west of the Lodge, repaired the roads southwest of Suicide Hill and the West Cedar Springs road that loops between Jack Eden Mesa and Nine Point Mesa. The next step will be to start at the north end of Big Bend Valley and work south, hoping for the right sort of rain so that we do not powder the roads too badly.

Lack of rain is also delaying the Cedar Springs diversion dams and the Gate 4 project. Those projects require water to pack the roads. And although we now have a water truck we have not yet located a source close to the sites ... but we're working on it!

February 9, 2006:

Doug Fagg will begin work at Terlingua Ranch on March 1, 2006. Many of you may remember Doug from his work on TR roads in the late 80s and early 90s. Since then he has been working the roads in Big Bend National Park and has received many certifications on road building and heavy equipment use. Doug is currently putting together a good, experience crew. His first order of business will be a complete inspection of all TR roads, a determination of particular trouble spots and the creation of a plan for beginning long term repairs.

In the meantime, thanks to an increased budget made possible by the amendment to Section I of the TR Maintenance Association agreement, we have hired two experienced motor grader operators and an experienced backhoe/loader operator who will continue the routine maintenance of TR roads. All three of these new operators have 10-20 years experience working roads in this area.

Since December we have worked the area south of 170, the Ghost Town, the southern part of the Solitario (Tanque Tierra road and south) Bee Mountain and Gates 1 through 8. One operator is now north of Tanque Tierra and working every road. Plans are to work the Solitario thoroughly all the way up to, and including, Top of the World. We expect this project to take at least two months to complete.

The second operator is currently concentrating on the area west of White Mill and south of the county road. He will then move into the North Corazones area north of the county road and on into Big Bend Valley.

November 28, 2005:

It saddens us to announce that Roy Bahlow, who has been the mainstay of our road maintenance crew for the last five years, has had to leave POATRI due to severe health issues. We are hopeful that Roy will be able to successfully deal with these issues and return to Terlingua Ranch at some point in the future.

Doug Fagg, who will be retiring as road supervisor at Big Bend National Park after the first of the year, will be joining POATRI as our new Road Maintenance Supervisor. Doug will be putting together an expanded crew for POATRI and will begin interviewing for operators in December. Anyone interested in working for Terlingua Ranch in this capacity should contact the us at opsmgr@terlinguaranch.com for an application.

Many of you will remember when Doug worked for POATRI in the early 90s and will be as delighted as we are that he will once again be in charge of the road maintenance here at Terlingua Ranch.

July 29, 2005:

The Board of Directors authorized the purchase of a second 140H motorgrader to further improve our equipment for road maintenance. We will be trading in the old 12F and 140G graders and expect delivery on the new grader the first week in August.

Plans have been received from the Natural Resources Conservation Services of the USDA for road repairs on the main Cedar Springs Road, the Gate 9 entrance to Ament Lake Road, one of the main roads in the Ghost Town, as well as a number of consistent bad spots in Gates 4 and 5. We will begin work on the Cedar Springs road project in August. Estimates are being solicited on the other work and will get into production as soon as contracts can be finalized.

May 9, 2005:

We took delivery on a new (used) 1999 140H motor grader to replace the old 12F which is well past its cost efficient usefulness. The 140G is currently being appraised by CAT mechanics as to repairs needed to extend its life for one or two more years.

The Board of Directors, at the April, 2005 meeting, passed additonal Road Access and Maintenance policies. The Policies and Procedures manual has been updated, and the newly added policies can be viewed on Board Announcements.

We are currently working the Agua Fria and Big Bend Valley tracts that lie west of Hwy. 118. We will soon begin a major repair on the main Cedar Springs road which will include new diversion dams in an effort to save the road.

January 5, 2005

The F12 has completed all of the roads in Big Bend Valley and the western part of the North Corazones. It is now in the yard for a badly needed brake job. JoJo did the last few miles of road with virtually no front brakes. Brave fellow. Once the machine is safe again he will be heading to the Agua Fria.

The 140 and the backhoe and Roy and Ken have completed the Solitario and cleaned up some bad washouts in the Ghost Town and Reed's Plateau. We will be making a quick run through Sierra del Sol and then moving on to Gate 2. Both machines will be working the Gate 2 to Gate 4 loop, as well as the side roads running off the loop. We will then be moving back up the highway, working on some of the gate roads, including Gate 9 and Ament Lake Road on the way to bringing the 140 back to the yard for service.

December 16, 2004

We managed to get the Solitario worked just before Thanksgiving. The backhoe and the 140 spent the last three weeks repairing washouts and roads. Terlingua Creek stopped running finally and we were able to repair the North County road crossing.

We are working Sawmill road down to the Ghost Town, will repair a few washouts and then head back to the gates to complete the loop between Gate 2 and Gate 4.

The 12F has completed Big Bend Valley all the way to the north boundary. It will be coming in to work the west road into Nine Point Wash before it comes in for service. After it is serviced it will be working the roads in Agua Fria.

We rented a backhoe for a month in order to repair a number of washouts in Agua Fria, Ament Lake Road area, Rattlesnake Ridge and the south part of Cedar Springs to facilitate the General Hunt season visitors.

October 15, 2004:

After repairs to the exhaust system and getting new tires, we finally got the 140 down the highway, only to have the slide cylinder stop functioning. A quick trip to Midland to have the cylinder repacked and we're back on the road, hitting the worse spots in the gates on our way to the Solitario. We will be using the backhoe in the Solitario as well to try to repair the wash crossings and other water damage. I never thought I'd pray for "no rain," but ....

The 12F grader will continue northward in Big Bend Valley until we get the northernmost roads, which truly have not been touched in two to three years, worked.

October 7, 2004:

Although the rains slacked a bit in August, they returned with a vengeance in September. As soon as we left Cedar Springs everything washed again. We have been trying to get the 140 down the highway to do spot repair in the gates as we make our way into the Solitario from South County Road. Terlingua Creek ran as high as 13 feet and is still uncrossable. The 12F grader has been working Big Bend Valley, but it is slow going as many of the worst spots simply will not dry out.

It is very important that anyone attempting to travel Terlingua Ranch roads during this period check with local residents and the ranch office concerning conditions.

August 20, 2004:

The rains continue and many of the roads all over the Ranch are difficult to navigate. The 12F motor grader is currently back in Big Bend Valley, north and south of the county road. A couple of bad washouts on Legion Rd. have been temporarily repaired, but we need to work all the cross roads, which is the current project for the 12F.

The 140 motor grader has made a quick pass through Cedar Springs and opened up the major roads. We will be taking the backhoe up there next week to work on cleaning out Cedar Springs and filling in a couple of spots where the road cuts can not be repaired by the grader. The 140 will come out of Cedar Springs at the end of next week.

We will then send one of the graders south. If at all possible, we will use North County Road to get into the north Solitario, which has been neglected for far too long. However, if Terlingua Creek is still running, which it probably will be, we will road down Hwy. 118. If we go that way we will delay long enough to hit ONLY the really bad spots in the gates and ghost town area since those areas were worked thoroughly this spring. We will be moving as fast as we can through those areas in order to get to Saltgrass Draw, Herman's Peak Road, Hen Egg Road and the Blue Ridge.

We all really appreciate everyone's understanding of our situation with all the rain. Most of our resident property owners have been out fixing their own roads, or finding alternate routes, in order to avoid pressuring us. Our non-residents are doing a great job of contacting us ahead of time so that they come down prepared for what they have to deal with at this point in time.

August 1, 2004:

We have just begun to dry out from a tremendous amount of rain the week before the July board meeting. Nine Point Mesa caught seven inches in 12 hours and Nine Point Draw (the ONLY road into Cedar Springs) ran 20 feet high!

The first week in August will be spent repairing serious damage to the primary Cedar Springs road, where two 5 foot trenches were cut all the way across the road. When that damage is repaired the 140 motor grader and Case backhoe will be heading up into Cedar Springs itself to clear washes and move sand build up. The motor grader will then give Cedar Springs a thorough going over before coming out to move on to other areas.

The 12F motor grader will be going back towards Big Bend Valley and southern North Corazones area (Camel Hump) where it was working prior to "the Flood." Then both graders will move west across Highway 118 to work the Agua Fria area.

The north Solitario is scheduled next, but is dependent upon conditions found at Terlingua Creek. We have not been able to get across the creek for three months now due to unusually heavy rains further north. If we have to road the grader to South County Road in order to get into north Solitario, we will, but then it makes more sense to delay enough to hit the worse spots in the gates and ghost town as we work our way up. We'll just have to keep an eye on things.

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