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.