Enchanted Rock Walk and Wildflowers - Sun., Mar. 27, 2016

It was a gloomy, misty morning when we left the 5th wheel at 7:00 am for a 1-1/2 hour drive to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area just north of Fredericksburg, TX. The chatter in the car was, "Should we go, or is it going to be raining? If it's raining, they'll close down the rock." We decided even if Enchanted Rock was closed we could still do the Loop Trail around it

You may wonder why we were up so early on a Sunday morning. The reason is that Enchanted Rock State Natural Area opens at 8am. If you don't get there early enough, and it's a busy day, you won't get a parking spot. The parking will be closed until more spots are available. This sometimes requires waiting on the side of the highway for people to leave the park. Also, at 9:30am there was going to be a naturalist leading a hike to the top of the rock explaining geology and other interesting facts about the park.

As we drove north, we could see a huge black cloud ahead of us. What would our morning look like? We drove right under that black cloud and out the other side to find cloudy skies, a light mist and a breeze.

Once at the park, we checked in, got our window tag for parking, and I checked in for, and got the directions to, the 12K Volksmarch (7.4 miles) year-round event. (Note: There are also 5k, 7k and 10k walks available.) Enchanted Rock is a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome. (That means rock slabs slough off from time to time.) It is one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States.

Once parked, we put on coats because the wind was cold; then headed up the trail. [Another note: The Ranger who checked us in said if there was rain they would close the rock. If they closed the rock we were to descend immediately and do it carefully because the rock would get very slippery. I asked the Ranger if the naturalist-guided hike was still on. She said at that point she didn't know.]

At 9:00am, with all the available information and the sky threatening rain, we decided to boogie on up and not wait to see if there would be a tour. When I say "up," I mean UP. Enchanted Rock is amazing and the hike up gives a very good workout.

The starting point: a gazebo

This is called the "Summit Trail" for a reason.

A nice passerby offered to take our photo together.

The lower part of the trail

Views on the way up

Unless you're in tip-top fitness, it's necessary to rest a number of times on the way up. But the views and sense of accomplishment are oh-so worth it!

Bob found a cool spot to rest for a couple of minutes.

This rock is steep.

Bob powering on up the rock.
You can see I'm behind (hufffing and puffing).

Looking down to where our car is parked.

As we made our way up and up, the wind increased and was quite cold. By the time we made it to the top, we had a full-on gale to deal with. The wind chill was most likely in the 40s. Brr!

The view from the top of Enchanted Rock of the surrounding Texas Hill Country is great. Well worth the effort.

Still going up.

At the top

View from the top. (Hold on to your hats!)

After spending 20 bone-chilling minutes checking out the beautiful vistas before us, we carefully made our way down the rock. Thankfully, no rain fell.

Once down, we followed the directions for the Volksmarch which took us along the base of the jumbled rocks toward the campground. Our ultimate objective is to walk the Loop Trail all the way around Enchanted Rock. The last time Susan M. and I had done this walk was April 2014 and the route has changed for the better. If you'd like more info about Enchanted Rock geology and history, refer to my two previous blogs: Texas (State Parks), and A Loopy Look at Texas Wildflowers.

After some discussion, I convinced Bob which trail we were supposed to be taking: the Interpretive Trail "at base of jumbled rocks." This led us through the campground and out onto a paved road: the start of the Loop Trail.

Interpretive Trail at base of the big rocks.

Wildflowers along the trail

A veritable rock garden

Evidence of rock exfoliation from the dome

Heart-shape cacti.

First big patch of bluebonnets

From this point, we connected with the Loop Trail that will take us around Enchanted Rock.
The photos in today's blog let you see the splendor of this hike.

Looks like an upside-down elephant

Enchanted Rock from the Loop Trail

Below are rain lilies. The only time you ever see them are after it rains. Feel blessed to see them today.

Rain lilies

Me "rockin'" out

Claret cup cacti in bloom

Antelope horn flower

Onward to the Scenic Overlook. The view is wonderful.

A new addition to the walk since last time.

Moss Lake with Enchanted Rock in the background

Indian Paintbrush in bloom now too.

Eastern Towhee in the tree

More awesome views from the trail

Side view of Enchanted Rock

Bob and I have been doing a cleanse for our health which means no bread or flour products, no dairy products, no citrus, no bananas, limited protein and drinking two smoothies a day along with one meal. We also need to learn how to regulate our snacking. Today was an example of what not to do when you're going to be doing strenuous exercise and you haven't eaten enough. Thank goodness we had the foresight to bring along some pecans on the walk. 

We are four days into our cleanse when we decide to hike to the top of Enchanted Rock and do the Loop Trail. All we had to eat before we left was our breakfast shake consisting of mostly fruit and a piece of cucumber, along with protein powder. When we started up the rock, I was very grumpy and hungry. My body didn't want to cooperate, so I took my time going up. By the time we had walked about 1-1/2 miles after coming down off the rock, I had to have something to eat. We plopped ourselves down on, what else?, a rock. We munched on pecans and drank water. Ten minutes later while we were hiking, we felt better. 

We repeated the pecan snacking as we worked our way along the trail. I think that's what got us through the 7.4 miles!

A window in the rock

Enlarge to see the person so you can appreciate how big
the rocks are!

Taking another rest to enjoy the beauty around us.

What Bob was looking at from his perch

Some stream crossings required

Seeing more bluebonnets

 And then...

A bluebonnet bonanza

This is what peak bluebonnet season looks like

A lush carpet of Lupinus texensis (Texas bluebonnets)

Trail through a blue sea of lupine

Popular hike to the top. (See the people?)

White prickly poppy

Enchanted Rock hikers

With that, we finished our hike. Back at the car, I had sliced yellow peppers, chunks of cucumber and a hard-boiled egg. Bob had brought a half apple, some avocado, and half a banana. We ate a "feast" (to us) as we drove to look at more wildflowers. See separate blog for that. We decided to be good and wait until we got home to have our full lunch, not go out to eat for Easter.

To be continued...if you're not into wildflowers, you can skip the next blog (but you'll miss some awesome shots of wildflower fields along roadsides).

 

A Loopy Look at Texas Wildflowers - Sunday, March 29, 2015

Sunday morning we slept in after our partying of the night before. Bob took me out to breakfast at IHOP. Very good food and service at our favorite IHOP location in San Antonio.

We then headed off on our Sunday wildflower driving adventure. After getting stuck in a major traffic jam heading out of San Antonio, we then had clear sailing (sorry about the mixed metaphor) to Fredericksburg. As we were stopped on the Interstate 10, I was able to get a great photo of a field of bluebonnets in the median.

Bluebonnets growing in the I-10 freeway median

First stop on our journey was Wildseed Farms, a family-owned business that grows wildflower seeds and works with landscape designers and highway departments to fulfill their demands for seeds. We've been to Wildseed Farms when all the wildflower gardens were in bloom. However, on Sunday, only the bluebonnets were in full bloom. Red poppies were just starting to bloom. Most of the display gardens were empty. it may be another week or two before they're at their best.

Wildseed Farms bluebonnet field

Wildseed Farms

Wildseed Farms Texas bluebonnets field

After spending about 20 minutes at Wildseed Farms, we headed north on Hwy. 16 to Willow Loop Road. it's supposed to have spectacular displays of wildflowers in the spring. Two years ago, I went there with my mom and sister. We were too late for the prime display. This year, we were too early. Oh well, we'll have to try again in a couple of weeks.

The fence of old boots

People have put their old boots along this fence

Bluebonnets amongst the pink granite

Texas prickly poppies in the wind

Flowering yucca

Bluebonnets and cacti

Texas prickly poppies in the bluebonnets

A dry wash creek bed

After we drove the 13-mile Willow Wildflower Loop, we went north on Hwy. 16 to Ranch Road 965 and headed southwest to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.

History of Enchanted Rock

It was our first time to drive this road. What an awesome view of Enchanted Rock's pink granite dome from this road! If you enlarge the photo below, you can see people hiking on the rock.

Enchanted Rock from Ranch Road 965

Ranch Road 965 and bluebonnets

Pink granite

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area

We did not stop at Enchanted Rock this trip. It was too warm, and we weren't wearing the appropriate footwear to climb the rock. It's awesome just to look at.

From Enchanted Rock we went back through Fredericksburg and decided to drive Old San Antonio Road to the Old Tunnel State Park. Be sure NOT to take your RV on Old San Antonio Road! It is very narrow and curvy, with steep drops to creek crossings. Whee! But not in your RV.

From May through October, the Old Tunnel State Park is known for millions of bats that emerge from the old railroad tunnel each night. At this time of year, though, it's deserted.

History of the local railroad

Bat viewing info

Info about activities when bats are in residence

Seating to view the bats (in season)

We will have to come back in better hiking shoes to do the 1/2 mile steep trail on loose rock. After we finished reading signs and poking around at the top of the hill, we continued south on Old San Antonio Road. I was driving and saw a sign for James Kiehl River Bend Park. Since we were in the area, we headed onto the side road to check it out.

The park is dedicated to James Kiehl, a U.S. Army hero, who died in 2003 while defending the Army's 507th Maintenance Company during an ambush in Iraq.

The park has very interesting signs about the area's local history, flora and fauna. Bob said the sign about Texas leafcutter ants is the most interesting informational sign he has ever read.

Did you know leafcutter forager ants carry more than six times their body weight while moving quickly over significant distances? According to the sign, "A proportionate task for an average adult human would be to carry 660 pounds while running a marathon at a four-minute-mile pace."

Local farmers report the leafcutter colony at James Kiehl River Bend Park has existed there for over 150 years. Leafcutter ants are beneficial, they are not pests.

Texas leafcutting ants excavate underground nests that may cover more than half an acre and be twenty feet deep. They contain numerous chambers interconnected by tunnels. Colonies can survive for many years and contain over five million inhabitants! That is mind boggling.

History of the area included prehistoric Americans, American Indians, Spanish explorers, cowboys, military troops, and then European settlers. To the east, near the settlement of Sisterdale, was the ancient and well-traveled Pinta Trail. Another trail ran through an early 1850s shingle camp known as Brownsboro. The Brownsboro settlement included the building of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad.

In 1874, the San Antonio and Fredericksburg Narrow Gauge Railway Company was chartered to construct a line from San Antonio to Fredericksburg. There is even more history outlined at this little gem of a park.

We also learned some interesting tidbits about armadillos. When faced with crossing a body of water, because their heavy armor-like shell causes them to sink, they walk across the bottom, underwater. However, when up against a wider body of water, armadillos swallow enough air to inflate their stomach to twice its normal size. This increased buoyancy allows them to swim across.

In addition to the signs, people were down in the creek playing in the water. A father and his young daughter were headed down to fish.

Old railroad bridge over the Guadalupe River

Old railroad bridge

From James Kiehl River Bend Park we headed to Comfort, Texas where we joined up with the I-10 freeway heading east. For dinner, Bob took me to the Dog & Pony Grill in Boerne, Texas where we enjoyed a relaxing dinner. Then we headed home.

What a great day.