Photo dump from my october camp
I recently had my first camping trip of the season: two nights roughing it in the Texas Hill Country. I visited Lost Maples State Natural Area and Garner State Park, some of the most popular administrated areas in the state of Texas. And while I was lost in the rocky topography, I took many pictures.
We stayed at a quiet HipCamp roughly equidistant between our two destinations. I wrote about the camp cat that made this place extra special. The grounds were excellent, well-maintained, and safe. Decent amenities. And, as promised, beautifully dark skies.
As we sat around the campfire drinking that first night, a cold front rolled in. We saw some smatterings of stars, but the cloud cover was significant.
I have a handful of my favorite shots from the trip below.
Lost Maples State Natural Area is a favorite place to visit for Texans. It is less developed than nearby Garner State Park, but still has nice camping facilities and well maintained trails. It is also much more quiet than Garner. I was there with my friend, and this was our first destination.
I invite you to join me on the East Trail. I absolutely adore the trail system here in Lost Maples, which is modular and flexible, with numerous sights and a variety of biomes. There are restrooms along the trail as well, near some of the primitive camping sites. The first time I hiked here, I did the entire east and west trail over the course of 5 or 6 hours. This time, since my friends and I were planning to go to Garner the next day, we decided to only do the East Trail. The first landmark is Monkey Rock, as seen above.
The day remained cloud covered throughout the morning, and the air was frigid from the cold front just a handful of hours earlier. My favorite way to start a hike. In this image, you can see some of the leaves turning. Lost Maples is one of the few places in Texas that actually gets fall foliage, making it extremely difficult to get a campsite in the park. Hence why we were in a HipCamp.
The hallmark of the East Trail is undoubtedly this right here. We've been in the lowlands so far and, while the ground has been hard and rocky, it's been relatively flat. This steep climb is riddled with trails that are nearly straight vertical ascent for several feet of elevation. Guadalupe Peak may be a much rougher overall, but you at least had some parts of the trail between those hard parts that were flat. Not so here.
There seemed to be no end in sight. I finally got to a stretch that was a little more flat, but continued to wind upward as far as I could see. I let my friends go ahead while I stopped to catch my breath and drink some water. I took in the sight as the wind blew on my face. I was starting to see the tops of the other hills. I turned and advanced up the trail, walking stick in hand.
We were a little early for the fall foliage, unfortunately, but we saw some leaf changing. But the trails were also full of these beautiful wild flowers.
Lots of flowers!
The trail finally levels out as we reach the plateau, one of many 'scenic spots'. I have a picture of nearly this exact same spot from my Winter Solstice trip back in 2019. That time was in December, and it was much more brown. I stop here, and just take it all in. The blue sky, the clear view, the brown Sabinal River, the space to breathe - it's good for the soul.
The trail becomes rugged again as we go down in elevation, the trail winding down into the trees as it smooths. The shaded lowlands are a welcome reprieve and contains one of the best places to eat in the park.
On the map, I am looking back toward point 4: the Pond Day-Use Area. There's cozy spot surrounded by trees by the pond. The park keeps it stocked with fish, but there's also picnic tables here. I hung out here for half an hour when I hiked here in 2019, reading a little after wolfing down some sandwiches. That was originally the plan today, too, but the food was accidentally left at the trailhead and all we had were some of the trail bars I was carrying. Combine the hunger with our trip to Garner the next day, we decided to cut it at the East Trail rather than do the whole park.
We destroyed six sandwiches between us. My favorite picture from my 2019 trip here is probably this one from the end of the West Trail (I did the all the trails last time), as the sun was beginning to set. We went back to camp, and took it easy the rest of the evening.
I did want to share this one picture from the HipCamp. This small trail was near the back of the property to the 'sunset' view. However, my favorite time to come here was actually the morning. The trees give you plenty of cool shade, while the morning suns paints the distant hills and valley below gold.
Garner State Park is less than 30 minutes away, but feels completely different. It's one of the most visited state parks in Texas, and much more heavily developed. It's also quite an old park, having been a camping spot and community center since the 1920s. It was eventually developed by my favorite New Deal program, the Civilian Conservation Corps. The people at the visitor center were extremely friendly and knowledgeable.
We took the Frio Canyon Trail, which is fairly flat. We wanted an easier hike, but this trail didn't disappoint on the view. It was mostly grassland, which you know is my favorite. There were also plenty of opportunities to spy the great hills above us.
The trees were also low here and there was little shade to be found. Today was much less cloudy and considerably warmer than the previous day. I don't typically burn, but I might have without my sunscreen.
The reason why I picked this trail is because there's a small (official) detour that brings you right to the banks of the Frio River. Cold water rushes by, as the hills loom overhead and small fish swim in the clear waters. This was my favorite shot from this hike, maybe from the entire trip. That or the one I currently have on my Photo page.
The trail dropped us off near our cars. Hungry and not quite ready to end our trip yet, we drove to the Pavilion. Garner State Park, as I said earlier, was a community center and the center of that community was the pavilion. The pavilion has been hosting dances since before there was a Garner State Park. Since the 1920s there have been summer dances here. Outside of the pavilion is the large gift shop, a candy store, an ice cream shop, and a restaurant called the Garner Grill.
It's not roughing it, but it's also not trying to be. I find Garner a little bit too crowded during its peak seasons, but it is heartening to see the community that forms around it.
We ate lunch from Garner Grill at a quiet picnic table a short walk from the main activity center. I had a pretty good bacon grilled cheese with raspberry jam, while my friends had burgers.
I had a long drive home ahead of me. Yet, for the first time in a while, I didn't feel hurried to leave. I wanted to linger a little longer, go out into the bush again.
I was eager. I was hungry for adventure in a way I haven't been in a long time.
And it's nice to know some of my old appetite still remains.