The weather was so nice and sun warm enough that I had the urge to go out on the trails again. I knew exactly what I wanted to hike when I drove back to Reimers Ranch which is only about 10 miles from my house.

I chose to hike the trails at the far end of the Park in an area known as Turkey Loop  and then hit the trail towards Johnny’s Homestead. I parked in the furthermost parking area and as is my normal procedure, changed into my hiking boots, strapped on my camera, grabbed my walking stick and making sure that I had my water bottle and a fruit snack in case I got low on energy and was on my way.

I love to get out there and walk when the sun is shining. It feels so alive and gives me the opportunity to get close to Nature. I like hiking alone as it gives me time to stop and take pictures and and I can go at my own pace.Hiking with my friends is fun as well but I always feel that I am slowing them down not only because of the picture taking but also because I just do not walk very fast. Short legs, a small stride and old age all contribute to this fact. Mind you, I can walk forever as physical ability is not the problem.

I took the Turkey Loop and walked to the very end of the trail which is actually the end of the Park property. The trail ends where another stream connects to the Pedernales making a natural barrier.

After taking several pictures, I headed back along the trail in the direction of Johnny’s Homestead as it is marked on the map. Incidentally, Johnny’s Homestead burned down and there is nothing to see except the electricity pole and blackened area where the house once stood.

Along the way, there is a turnoff that leads to two separate overlooks. One is called the Kelly Prehn Trail and I can’t remember the name of the other one. Both are very similar as they both show the stream below and the large Cypress trees growing out of the water.

Someone had gone to the trouble of stacking  rocks on top of each other in the form of markers but as they were all located just fifty or so feet apart,they didn’t seem to have any bearing on anything important.

Heading back to the trail, I took what I thought was the main trail that should have brought me back to the Mountain Bike Parking area but somehow,  I got hopelessly turned around and had to backtrack for a while and find a different route. In truth, I think the trail I was on was a Bike trail and not the one I was looking for. I wandered around for a bit and finally arrived back at Johnny’s Homestead. At that point, I decided to backtrack along the way I had come and headed back to Turkey Loop where I managed to get turned around yet again. I finally figured it out but only after walking an additional couple of miles to get back to my car.

If I have any complaints about hiking these trails is the fact that the ones on the main property which are mostly a combination of Hike, Bike and Horse trails are not very well marked. Most of them just say “Multi Use Trail” with an arrow pointing in the direction. it would be nice if they had names like McKinney Park does or even a better system of signs.

I still have one more trail to cover at Reimers Ranch and that is the one that follows the road starting way up by the Maintenance Facility and ending by the furthermost parking area. I can use the main gravel trail to its start and then cross over the road  and find the multi use trail on the East side of the road and walk it back to my car. Look for my blog on that in the next few days.

The pictures are very similar to the other ones of this park and can be viewed below. Remember, if you click on the first picture, they become full size and you can use the side arrows to advance. Hit Escape to get back to the blog.