I awoke to a strong northwest wind this morning and got an early start into the hills. I was on my way by 7:30am and watched the sun come up over a distant hill. I camped under a very large and very old live oak in the Hill Country State Nature Area just below Tarpley.
Low hills roll off into the distance, some of them rising a couple of hundred of feet in the air. Junipers, small twisted live oaks, the familiar Mickey Mouse ears cactus (prickly pear) and a long, thin leafed, bushy cactus (Spanish dagger?) dotted the landscape while other areas were kinda barren.
10+ horse trailers came in last night and went down the road to something called a Tetra meeting. They must be staying the weekend because no one came back out.
Despite a well defined map, I had no idea where I was going today. Just up into the hills after a week of doing nothing but drive around because of the weather. I took a waypoint on the GPS before leaving the truck and from that point on, just wandered along whatever trail I felt like, relying on the GPS to get me back.
I found myself up on a ridge passing through a thick stand of Junipers. Breaking out into the open I was presented with bright sunlight shining on nearby hills, ridges and prairies. I climbed to the top of a couple of steep hills. The wind was blowing 25+ knots with gusts much higher than that, enough to push me around a little. It reminded me of sitting on some of the exposed summits in the New Hampshire White Mountains.
The ground seemed to be mostly a beige clay and limestone or sandstone. A lot of erosion has taken place. I can just imagine some of the flash floods that come roaring down some of those little canyons.
I was on my way back in by noon. That's when I started meeting a lot of people on horseback. When I got back to my camping spot, it was full of trucks and horse trailers. Everyone was quite pleasant despite the wind which was still blowing hard.
No critters and only a few little birds.
12/17/00:
This morning the temperature had dipped down into the 20's. A bright, clear sky and little wind offset that somewhat as I headed back up into the Hill Country. I thought I wanted to climb the highest hill (1800 feet elevation, only a couple hundred feet of actual climbing). After wandering around for a while I headed up what was probably a washout,
A deer scampered away as I got to the top. Here I found a flat mesa covered with pitted limestone, small stubby conifers and lots of Mickey Mouse ears cactus (prickly pear). I wandered around the top for 20 minutes or so looking for a way back down. Eventually I stumbled onto a rusted barbed wire fence. Right would take me to a road, left pretty much the way I came.
I turned left for a while and then changed my mind and headed right. I spent the next 20 minutes slipping and sliding and stumbling down the slope, frequently plowing into and through thickets. I ran into some thorn trees and thought I was going to be stabbed to death. It's a good thing it was cold and I was bundled up or I would have come out of that with a lot of bad scratches. As it was, I made it down, none the worse for wear. The wind picked up quite a bit but that was OK since it was warming up too.