I was feeling in good shape and had the urge to get out on the trails again so I decided that I would take the long walk at McKinney Roughs. I pulled into the Pope Bend Trailhead and went through my usual preparations of changing into my hiking boots, strapping on my camera and water belt and grabbing my hat and sticks, set off along Roadrunner. The trails still showing signs of the recent heavy rains, were fairly level although still a bit muddy in places. The horses were still barred from the trails as LCRA attempted to put everything back together. The trails that ran close to the river were off limits to even us hikers as they were still in poor condition and in some places, still flooded.

Even so, hiking along Roadrunner was just fine and I made good time. It got a little tricky at Roadrunner and Coyote Road as the trail had washed out but there was just enough room to safely squeeze through. The long climb up Coyote Road was the usual long drag and by now, the sun had really heated up and it was not long before I was totally sweat soaked. I made it up to the intersection of Yaupon and Coyote Road and made my way along Yaupon heading back to the Parking Lot which at this point was still almost 3 miles away.

I deliberately slowed my pace which at the best of times, is no longer very fast as I could feel the heat and humidity beginning to sap my energy and I wanted to make sure that I completed the hike without any trouble. I had been taking pictures as I hiked along but there were very few flowers remaining and about the only thing I could see through my viewfinder were the trails in front of me. I snapped several pictures of the different types of trails that I walked on this trip. Nearly all of the trails, especially those open to horse traffic are nice and wide and were pretty good walking. I met one other couple as I walked going in the opposite direction but other than that, had the trail to myself.

I finally made it back to the Pope Bend Trailhead more than a little tired. The summer heat really took it out of me and if nothing else, it told me that I need to start much earlier in the day. Altogether, I covered 8 1/2 miles.

The day ended with my usual trip into the Bastrop Starbucks for my usual Grande Latte although this time, I also went into the Tractor Supply Company to buy fish food. I love that store. Makes me want to live off the land or become a farmer or such…

As with all of these slide shows, if you click on any picture, it will enlarge it to full size and then you can use the side arrows to move along. Use the “Escape” key to get back to normal.