Today we got up early and drove west to Fredericksburg, in the Texas Hill Country, and then north to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.
Panoramic view of the area from a UT website
I was excited to be returning to hike the rock and eager to introduce Ken to it. My earlier visit was 17 or 18 years ago on a camping trip with Chris, who had been impressed with it on a Boy Scout camping trip a few years before. We arrived just before 11:00 a.m. and found the parking lots nearly empty. On the weekends in season, we'd seen warnings that the line of cars waiting to get in can extend out to the main road, and sometimes the gates are just closed until 5:00 p.m. because there are too many visitors.
We hiked the Summit Trail first, about 1.5 miles round trip with nearly 800 feet of elevation gain. The trail wasn't crowded, but we did see other folks along the route and walking around the top of the rock. The view from the top made the steep ascent well worthwhile! It's a 360 degree panorama of the surrounding countryside. "Enchanted" seems an apropos word to describe the experience, expansive and even exalting.
Along the way you see lots of boulders and rock sheets that have "exfoliated" from the granite batholith. At the top, depressions created by weathering shelter small plant communities that have gained a toehold on the solid rock. The depressions are called vernal pools, but they held no water this season. The park, like McKinney Falls, has a burn ban in effect because of the lack of rain. Sometimes it's excessively windy or hot at the top, but we were lucky to find it warm and just breezy for the most part.
When we returned to the base, we ate our picnic lunch and prepared to take the Loop Hike, a 4.5 mile trail that encircles not just Enchanted Rock, but also its smaller neighbors, Little Rock, Turkey Peak, and Freshman Mountain. For the most part it's a level, easy trail. We saw buzzards circling lazily overhead, especially near the hill called Buzzards Roost. We enjoyed the view of the west side of the Rock and saw some climbers near the top. We passed the three primitive camping areas used by backpackers.
On our next visit, we'll take the Echo Canyon and Turkey Peak trails to get a closer view of the base of the Rock.
After our visit to Enchanted Rock, we drove back to Fredericksburg for a stroll around the old German town and dinner at Kelly's Cafe. We had delicious blue corn chicken enchiladas, a bottle of local chardonnay from Becker Vineyards, and blueberry sorbet for dessert.
It was late when we made it back to McKinney State Park and a welcome bed.
0 comments:
Post a Comment