Guadalupe Mountains NP, TX

Day 24, Tuesday

Today we drove from Big Bend to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, also in Texas, but near Carlsbad, NM.



The three groups traveled separately, but arrived at Guadalupe Mountains within a two hour period. The winds for tonight are forecast at 85 miles per hour. I did not disconnect the trailer from the pickup truck and we couldn't put the slide out in the wind. The weather was considerably cooler. We all wound up eating dinner in the trailer. A bit snug because of the unopened slide, but adequate and fun besides. This park like Big Bend provided no hookups. We are still depending up propane and the trailer battery.

Day 25, Wednesday



Today we all hiked up the Devil's Den trail.


It was an interesting hike up the canyon that passes by the campground. It was a good walk. Jim & Becky volunteered to buy some ice for everyone -- the nearest ice was 35 miles away! They wound up driving to Carlsbad, even further. We all ate dinner together and afterward drove to the Frijola Ranch in order to hike to the Smith Spring to view wildlife.

Day 26, Thursday


On this day, Bruce and I hiked up the Guadalupe Mountain trail and ate lunch at the top. We talked the entire way up.


What a surprise when Jim showed up shortly after our arrival at the top. The three of us hiked back down together. This was a 8.5 mile round trip, about 6.5 hours (including lunch). Valerie, Becky and Dauna drove to Frioli Ranch, and toured the place, talked to rangers and volunteers, and hiked to the pond where Becky painted a picture of Nipple hill. We all ate dinner together one last time.

Big Bend National Park, TX

Day 21, Saturday

On this day we drove to Big Bend National Park in Texas. The scenery was spectacular. When we finally arrived at the campground, we discovered Bruce & Valerie had already arrived (they weren't expected until tomorrow). We grabbed a spot near them. They arrived two days early and had already put in a day of hiking. It was nice having company to visit during dinner (graciously provided by Bruce & Valerie). It was 100 degrees when we arrived. The campground, Rio Grande Village, provided no hookups. We loaded our water tank at the central water supply before setting up camp. We ran our portable generator until 8:00.

Day 22, Sunday

On this day we hiked the Lost Mine Trail, a popular trail in the Chisos Mountains. The trail was about 5 miles round trip, with a 1000 foot altitude gain. The scenery was breathtaking.

We ate lunch where the trail ended. At this elevation, there was a cool breeze -- a welcome relief from the 100 degree temperatures at the Rio Grande Village. Jim & Becky arrived, also early! Now we're all here. A great dinner with all of us together. 100 degrees to sleep in. We did not use the generator today. We needed only a refrigerator, stove and hot water and depended solely upon propane for our needs. Battery power pumped water and provided some lighting.

Day 23, Monday

On this day we all hiked together, from the Chisos Mountains basin, up the Pinacle Trail.

We all hiked to the pass (3.4 miles and 2000 foot gain). Bruce, Jim & Becky hiked up Emory Peak, a real climb (800 feet in one mile) culminating in dizzying cliffs on all sides. The rest of us rested at the pass and visited with hikers passing by. Another group dinner, walks on the trails around the campground and to bed with the temperature once again 100 degrees. Again, we did not use the generator, just propane and the trailer battery.

Davis Mountains State Park, TX

Day 18, Wednesday


On our drive to Davis Mountains State Park, Texas, we stopped at Langtry, TX. After a brief attempt to connect to the internet, we enjoyed the desert garden at the Judge Roy Bean Museum. The scenery was spectacular on the drive from Seminole Canyon to Davis Mountains. After setting up the trailer, we drove to Fort Davis for dinner and a walk around town.




When we returned to the park, we took a drive along the Skyline Drive -- a scenic drive in the park. Great views of the surrounding rocky canyons. No TV in this park (a few RV sites provide cable).


Day 19, Thursday


We had a great walk in the morning. It was cool and overcast. The trail led up among the rocks above the campground and circled back toward the Indian Lodge along the ridge tops. After lunch we walked along a bike trail which ran below the Skyline Drive. We visited the interpretive center where people were watching bird feeders (with microphones piping in the bird sounds) through slanted glass windows. When we returned to the campground we learned that a mountain lion had been sighted on a trail just above the Skyline Drive.


Day 20, Friday


On this day We drove to Fort Davis to do some laundry, and then drove to Alpine to pick up some groceries, fuel and beverages. We also picked up some used VHS movies. We stopped again in Fort Davis on the drive back to the state park to pick up some used paperback books at a thrift store. After a walk around the park, we drove to the nearby McDonald Observatory to attend a night time outdoor star show and telescope viewings.

Seminole Canyon State Park, TX

Day 16, Monday

We had a shorter drive today. We were happy to have straight roads again. This evening we are at Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas. It is right on the US - Mexico border near Del Rio. I was a bit apprehensive about our destination -- I figured it would be treeless and hot. I envisioned a desert. Fortunately it was overcast from a cold front so the lack of shade wasn't unbearable. We were both overwhelmed by the vegetation. There was hardly a plant that we recognized. The "desert" was in full bloom everywhere we looked. Ninety percent of the vegetation had thorns, but every plant was new and fascinating. We walked all the paved roads in the park in the late afternoon. No TV reception here, other than two Mexican stations. Just after dark the winds started blowing. The trailer rocked and bounced and shook all night long.

Day 17, Tuesday

It was overcast and chilly when we started our walk this morning. We planned to hike all of the trails -- about six level miles. The park is focused on 4000 year old rock art painted at spots on the walls of the canyon. Indian history at this site goes back 12,000 years -- when mastodons and camel roamed the area. The trail we walked first led to the junction of Seminole Canyon with the Rio Grande river.

The Pecos river joined the Rio Grande just a few miles up river. At this spot, all the canyons are flooded up the steep canyon walls by a dam down stream. The canyon walls plunge up to 160 feet, with the waters below being up to 100 feet deep. No rock diving here ! Across the Rio Grande is Mexico. Between us are two 160' "fences" with a 100 foot deep moat! The sun came out around lunchtime and it got real warm. The second trail led to that point of the Seminole canyon where the waters did not flood the canyon bottom. That afternoon, we drove to the town of Langtry, about 20 miles away. We were looking for a Visitor Information Center which was supposed to provide Wi-Fi service. Langtry has a population of about 30. Most of the buildings are abandoned and falling down. The only reputable building we found was the Judge Roy Bean museum which closed just when we arrived. I checked for a Wi-Fi network and found one, but was afraid to connect to it. Nothing at the museum entrance mentioned Wi-Fi or a network name. This near ghost town did not instill confidence. When we got back to the trailer, a review of the information available revealed that the Judge Roy Bean museum contained the Visitor Information Center. That night, the winds blew again. We retracted the trailer slide, afraid the winds would damage it.

Lost Maples State Park, TX

Day 12, Thursday

Our drive on this day was to be about 240 miles. We decided to stop at Pedernales Falls State Park for lunch and an opportunity to stretch our legs. This stop added about 30 minutes of driving, but was well worth the stop. The falls were pretty dramatic. The overlook trail came out near the bottom of the falls. Up river was fall after fall. The falls were really solid slabs of sloped rock that the water rushed down, between clear green pools of water.

We tried to walk upstream since the falls upstream disappeared to the left in a curve in the river. But the rocks were not smooth and were broken up with section dropping ten feet to the next. So, we scrambled over the rocks at the very end of the series of "falls". This are was essentially one large rock with a large crack through which the river rushed. A backwash pool was discovered, full of fish, many over a foot long.

A portion of the route to Lost Maples was poorly chosen. We have never been on such steep, twisty turny roads. Nevertheless, the truck managed to pull the trailer through this vehicular obstacle course. We arrived pretty late at this park and didn't do much other than walk a part of the main trail as the sun went down. This park is south of Kerrville, TX. The park is about half full. No TV reception.

Day 13, Friday

The park trails form two large loops. On this day we walked the East Trail. The day started out wet and overcast, but we gambled that the weather would improve and started hiking around 10:00. Our truck was the only vehicle at the trail head parking lot. To someone from Georgia (below the Piedmont), rocks are fascinating. This park has fascinating rocks -- though by the time we left, we pretty much had our fill of rocks. The East Trail was mostly a road. It followed one creek up to a primitive walk-in campground called the Ponds. There was a beautiful pond there, the biggest deepest pool in the park. From there the road climbed for over a mile until we were at the top of the ridge, with long views of the pond below.

The road continued to the other end of the ridge and then the trail turned into a rock scramble down the other side to another creek (mostly dry). At the bottom, the road resumed and we walked back to the parking lot. We returned to the campground, showered and headed for the nearest town and laundromat. While washing our laundry we were talked to by a local. Among other things, we learned that donkeys kill dogs and coyotes. We had wondered why we often saw a couple of donkeys with herds of sheep or goats. By the time we'd returned to the campground, it was full. The wind was strong all night as a cold front moved into the area.

Day 14, Saturday

On this day we hiked the West Trail. The weather was almost cold with a strong wind, but the clouds were gone and the sun was out. The hike and scenery was much the same as the previous day, except at the trailhead, there were about 30 vehicles instead of just our truck. Today the Ponds (and the other backcountry walk-in campsites) filled up with tents. That afternoon we relaxed at the trailer while I modified a pair of new shoes so that they would not cripple me the first time I used them.

Day 15, Sunday

This day we woke up to find frost all over everything. The wind is finally gone, the sky is deep blue and cloud free. We did a light cleaning of the trailer. BY afternoon, the crowds had cleared out. We rewalked part of the east trail. We had tentatively planned on hiking in Garner State Park, but ran out of time enjoying the trails of Lost Maples.

Meridian State Park, TX

Day 9, Monday

Today we drove to Meridian State Park, outside of Meridian, Texas. The drive was approximately 265 miles and took five and a half hours. There was a lot of construction on the two lane roads, making them one lane. That slowed us down some. After checking in, we walked all of the roads on the south side of Lake Meridian. We were excited about what we found. There were hills and large rock shelves, and the lake was full! There are trails all over this side of the lake, a trail around the lake, and a loop trail on the north side of the lake. Additionally, there was only one other camper at this park! We had the whole park to ourselves. The eight RV sites are very close together, but we are at one end of the RV area and the other camper is at the other end. The park is located amoung some ridges above a flat plain. The ridges are very dry and rocky and are wooded with mostly juniper, but with some Texas Oak and an elm variety.


Day 10, Tuesday


Today we walked all the trails in the park, nearly ten miles of trail. Fascinating rock shelves all over the park.

One exceptional rock shelf hung about 50 feet above the lake. Some of the trails were not clearly marked and there were more trails than the park map indicated. Still, we enjoyed our day. Sunshine finally filled the sky around noon. This was the type of park we were hoping to stumble across. The other RV camper left today, but a tenter arrived. The tenting area is separate from the RV area -- there are about eight tent sites. What a great day. We also drove to town to refill one of our propane bottles and refuel the pickup truck.

Day 11, Wednesday

Since we had already hiked every trail in Meridian State Park and walked every road, we decided to visit another state park about 25 miles away (there were three parks less than 30 miles away!). We decided on Dinosaur Valley State Park.


This park turned out to be even better than Meridian State Park, with even more trails to hike. The trails involved steeper trails, more rock shelves and fantastic views. cloudless, deep blue skies all day.



After viewing dinosaur tracks in the limestone bed of the river, we hiked approximately six miles of trails, eating lunch beside a small stream flowing into the river. We even stopped for a swim in the river that flowed through the park. There were easily another two days of hiking available at this park -- we hated to leave. There was only one tent at this park (46 sites). The sites were well shaded and spread out a little.

Magnolia Ridge, TX

Day 6, Friday

Today we drove 305 miles in six hours, to the Magnolia Ridge Campground, a Corp of Engineer campground on the Town Bluff Lake, near Jasper, Texas. This area was hit hard by hurricane Rita. The camp sites have been largely cleared, but the surrounding woods are full of fallen trees and bulldozed debris. And, the lake has been drained! In order to make repairs to the dam and deal with an infestation of hydrilla, the lake has been drained for two years. The campground is aptly named since the surrounding woods are dominated by huge magnolia trees. This is a small campground with only 40 campsites. The campsites are well spread out, separated by about 100 feet. The trailer sites have concrete pads. A separate concrete pad and cover is provided for the picnic tables. Even if the lake was full, it would not be visible from most of the campsites. A cypress swamp separates the campground from the lake. The lake would only be visible from the two boat ramps.


Day 7, Saturday


Today it got real cold. We bundled up and made our own path through the woods (the nature trail no longer exists) and walked around the entire campground on the roads. The park must have been real nice prior to the hurricane and draining of the lake. When the snow and hail started, we retired to the camper for the day.


Day 8, Sunday

We drove to Jasper for some groceries and diesel fuel. On the way back, we stopped at Martin Dies State Park, a nearby state park, to see how they had recovered from the hurricane. At the main campground, they had already cleared their nature trails -- about 3 miles of walking. This park is on the same drained lake. A secondary campground was also visited, to walk more nature trails. After a picnic lunch we looked for the trail head. Though we scrambled through the hurricane debris for a ways, we eventually gave up and headed back to the truck. We first stopped at a fishing dock and watched a half dozen nutria and a few alligators on the exposed bank below the dock. We drove to another spot in the park and managed to find our way to the nature trail. Most of it was clear enough to enjoy. We walked another three miles. Since it was Sunday, we discovered there were only three campers in our campground when we returned that afternoon.