Such a pretty stream

Having caught up with a lot of the work in my garden and not ready to start the next major project of adding a bog to the big pond, I decided that it was time for me to hit the trails again.

I have pretty much explored just about all of the trails at Pedernales Falls State Park and the likelihood of me getting my sunglasses back was receding into the “not very likely” category, I decided it was time for a change of venue. I didn’t want to drive too far and opted to go back to Reimer’s Ranch off Hamilton Pool Road as I figured with Spring already here, there should be a lot of greenery and maybe a few flowers worth taking pictures of. When I arrived at the Park, the Ranger asked me the usual questions, “Have you been here before” and “Do you know where you are going”. The usual stuff. Then she asked me, “I take it that you are old enough to qualify for a free pass” and was very surprised when I told her I was 80 years old. I smiled as I drove away feeling good about myself.

I opted to park in the Mountain Bike Parking Lot because I wanted to take the Multi Use Trail that would take me to the very South end of the Park. There is a really pretty stream in this end of the Park that may be called Pogue Stream but I am not sure about that. The stream for the most part is crystal clear and slow moving and makes for really pretty pictures.

There were also a lot of flowers of many different varieties in bloom and the first part of the hike was spent on taking as many pictures as I could of these pretty wonders..

Moving along the trail, I came to the junction at Johnny’s Homestead which is actually nothing more than a pile of rubble. Obviously at some point, the house burned and there is nothing left to see of it. The Parks people have been busy adding new signposts and I spotted one that pointed towards Hogge Trails (1 Mile) which had not been there before. I thought about it for a bit and then said to myself, “What the hell…”, and strode off onto this new trail. This trail is not marked on any of the maps and I stopped on the way out later that day to enquire about it. Apparently, it is a new trail that was worked on this past summer and the maps have not yet been updated to show this.

Although it was a multi use trail, it was a bit rough in places with a definite uphill climb and for me represented the hardest walk of the day. There were some wonderful views of the surrounding Hill Country. I finally made it to a point where the trails branched into an Inner Loop of about 1 1/2 miles and an Outer Loop of about 2 miles. I decided that I would save these trails for a later day and headed back towards Johnny’s Homestead to take the trail leading back to the Mountain Bike Parking Lot where I arrived about 30 minutes later.

Some of the Junipers (Cedars) are pretty big and must be very old. As you can see from the pictures, there is plenty to enjoy. If you click on any picture, it will enlarge it and then you can click on each picture to move them along. Use the “Escape” button to get back.

There had been a lot of cars and mountain bikes in the lot when I first pulled in but most had gone when I arrived back except for one other car. The couple pulled in on their bikes a couple of minutes later and I heard the guy tell his friend they had covered 4 1/2 miles with an average speed of 20 mph. I called over and said that my pedometer showed 16,000 steps and 7 1/2 miles but they had me beat on the speed thing… Just good natured bantering among lovers of the the great outdoors no matter what form it may take.

I made my way home listening to a story by Stephen King stopping for a latte along the way. Tired but happy.