A Lil’ overnighter close to home Late Jan 2021

[The Trout Whisperer]

Decided to hit up a trail near th house. Hiked in bout 1.5 mi to set up camp…gettin’ some grub fixed as it started cloudin up…met another backpacker at camp n we decided to git a fire goin..it was a little chilly (50ish)I’d seen this movie before, but I never tire of it!after bfast, it’s on th trail(9+- mi) to th next camp..th cedar pollen( which this area is horrendou sky noted for) wasn’t too bad.this section heads up th lake on an ole farm road…gettin warm tho..in th humid 70’s…yuckbut with th clear blue sky above it was a nice sauntercrossing over th river where it comes into th lake, th trail climbs up on a limestone bluff above th river.close up of juniper tree ..th culprit that gives us th old cedar pollen.nice viewslosin e elationhi hi, hi Ho, it’s off ta camp I go…across th lake in th open area is where last nite’s camp was.see th tents?got th condo set up…time to rustle up some grub!hadn’t had this before…it was suprisinly good..started gettin pretty cool..40ish n a breeze along with our dangled humidity…chillyNext mornin I donned th ole puffy montbell jacket(37ish)..got warmed up fast…

sidenote…this is th lightweight down puffy I DID NOT take into th backcountry on th Gneiss Creek trip..th one where a wiseman( Mark) told me to NEVER leave th puffy jacket behind as I froze a couple of Sept Yellowstone mornings!back on th trail to th trailheal bout 7 mi.startin to warm up a tad bit.nice, sticky, spinet cacti!limestone riddled trail.limestone free stretch of trail..very rare…almost never seen….thot this was extinct…last shot of th lake a bit before th trailhead. If ya need water..yer outta luck..straight drop down to it!

This is bout 45 min to trailhead..I called my daughters from here and they headed over to pick me up…it was a nice warm up before th Yellowstone trip. It was a 8 mi hike in May that messed up my Achilles tendon ( update on th tendon…it’s now coved by a walkin boot for a few weeks). Hopefully in a couple of months it’ll be as good as new( y’all say a prayer for me!)


Happy Trails to y’all!

 

[Jackson]

Love it. I'm not familiar at all with Texas, so it's awesome to see a report from near where you are!

 

[TheMountainRabbit]

Everything about this trip report is nostalgia-filled for me. My first few years getting into backpacking happened predominantly in Texas. Despite a lack of well-known natural features, Texas has a surprisingly good system of parks/trails. (Still the most well run state park system I've encountered.) Thanks for sharing!