I wanted to walk and as I had just been to McKinney Roughs, decided to go to Reimers Ranch, again…Being a Sunday, I expected that there would be a lot of people out and about taking advantage of the beautiful weather and maybe there were earlier but not while I was there. I should correct that by saying that I parked in the very last parking lot known as River View Parking No2 and although busy, the lot was not full by any means. The other lots did look busy as I drove by. This is also one of the lots where the Mountain Climbers park to pursue their dangerous and very difficult hobby. Rather them than me. I included a few pictures of some of them in action as I had the opportunity to watch them for a while.
The entrance to the lower trails at RiverView Parking No 2 is by no means easy and it requires negotiating a set of stone stairs made out of the natural rocks laid in a pretty haphazard fashion. A young fellow was just completing the climb up and was blowing hard as he reached the top and we exchanged pleasantries. I normally do the walk I had planned, in reverse and end up coming up these stairs, not going down and I found it to be a challenge requiring a lot of effort and concentration. No handrails to help but I made good use of my walking sticks. The pictures do not show all of the steps as they go on for at least another 20 yards or so downhill.
Even with all of these rocks, Nature still has a way to make things beautiful.
Having safely made my way down to the Lower Trail which I have hiked many times before, usually going in the reverse direction from today, I started along towards the end of the Park. Going the other way, I had a whole different view of things and was able to take a lot of pictures, looking from the other side, so to speak. A couple of years ago, the Park Staff worked on the Lower Trail and completed it to the end of the park making it a nice trail to walk. I finally came out at the end and before turning up onto the Multi Use Trail which would take me back to the Parking Lot, I sat on one of the benches in the shade and admired the view. It was quiet and peaceful just to sit and become one with Nature.
Then I noticed a beer can and a potato chip wrapper and was brought back to the reality of the world and modern day people, some of whom have no concern for the beauty of Nature and can’t even be bothered to carry out their trash. I picked it up and stowed it away for later disposal and started the walk back the first part of which was up a short and sharp upward climb. This part of the Multi Use trail is wide enough for the Park vehicles to use so the trail was in good shape.
It was a beautiful day with the temperatures in the low nineties which is bearable even when walking. Lots of sunscreen and a good hat and in my case, walking sticks and I was all set. I tend to perspire a lot under normal conditions and when I go hiking, I am usually soaked in the first few minutes of the walk. I took over seventy pictures nearly all of them of the trails which in some cases, were getting pretty grown over with weeds and vegetation. This has been an extraordinary year for growth of every variety and the wild flowers have been extra beautiful some of which were still in bloom. Reimers is a wonderful Park in which to walk and if it has any faults it is the lack of shade along the trails. It is a Multi Use Park with Horses, Mountain Bikers, Rock Climbers, Birders and regular hikers. It even has its own swimming area in the Pedernales River which is well used in the Summer months. A great place to enjoy Nature at her best.
Written 6/20/2019
Those are really nice pictures. I didn’t know that you could do rockclimbing there, but I question the smarts of someone who would do it in a bathing suit.
Bj
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On two separate occasions, I witnessed two young ladies in bikinis along with a group of men, come in from that climbing area. Whether they had actually been climbing in the skimpy things, I cannot say but there sure was a lot of exposed skin….
Based on all of your posts, Reimer’s Ranch looks like a very beautiful place. However, the low 90’s are plenty hot enough for me!
Hot enough for me too when I am out hiking. I don’t hike when it reaches 100 degrees which it will shortly. Reimers is a beautiful place.
I get so frustrated that people can’t throw away their own trash. I picked up some trash the other day and moved it out of our way and was going to throw it away when we were done (I was in the middle of teaching a class) – then I forgot! Argh!
They throw it away but in the wrong places. Some people just have no pride or know how to respect Nature. I would be willing to bet that it never even occurred to them to carry it back out. To me, this is one of the symptoms of what is wrong with people of this modern generation.
I was in the gas station yesterday and a guy lit up a cigarette and I ask, “Why are you smoking a cigarette in a gas station?” He replied that the fuel he was dealing with was not explosive. Not know how to reason with that answer I said, “But it is illegal.” And his reply was, “A lot of people do illegal things why shouldn’t I?” I was appalled and I said, “Because it starts with you, Bro. Isn’t that how it is?” I was so sadden by the exchange and it solidified the way I think people think.