After months of almost no outdoor activity, I finally got a long weekend of hiking in the Hill Country of Texas. For those who don’t know, the Hill Country is in south-central Texas west of Austin and San Antonio. It’s rough but beautiful country which looks dry but has many natural springs and spring fed rivers running through deep cuts and canyons. I think you either love it or hate it. I love it.
We spent our long weekend at the Lost Maples State Natural Area which is near Vanderpool. Vanderpool is basically a crossroads with a Post Office and a Catholic Church and that’s it.
Our cabin was about a mile from the park entrance and my friends, The Professors (Chris & Steve) were staying in their RV they call Ted about 3 miles away. The general social hub was our cabin which my friend and hiking buddy Ann shared.
This time of year, the weather is variable, and it certainly was on this trip. Friday was warm, 85/30 and partly cloudy. The clouds did burn off later in the day and the Texas sun did make its presence known.
The park is not huge, relatively, and has two primary trails, the West Trail and the East Trail with a smaller West Loop Trail and the East-West Trail which connects the trails. A short trail, the Maple Trail is the very scenic trail with a grove of Maple trees which are beautiful during the Fall. We started our day Friday on the Maple trail which parallels part of the East Trail before merging with it. A small stream and the Maple grove separates the two.
The beginning of the hike was relatively level as you walk along the very rocky path, limestone rocks and boulders are tread on, over and around. A fall would be painful, and your feet feel each step, even in good boots.
This part of the hike rewarded us with getting to see Monkey Rock. This is a totally naturally occurring formation created by the limestone being eroded by both wind and water…it really does look like a monkey.
From there, we began a steep uphill climb, more like a scramble and over a relatively short distance, we climbed about 500 feet/150 m up the rocky face to the plateau. We discovered or, accepted that we were not in the condition that we once were. I was happy though that I did well and that my right knee gave me no problems.
From this high plateau, we could take in the incredible views in all directions with almost nothing man-made to interrupt the scene. This is what the Native Americans saw and what the Spaniards feared as they crossed this part of Texas looking for El Dorado.
The descent was more treacherous than the ascent and the trail that we saw from the top which looked easy, was not. The trail ended at a clear pool created by several springs making their way to the Sabinal River. The East-West trail took us to our car marking the end to an adventurous 4.5-hour hike. We were tired, a bit sore, hungry and I was looking for the best beer I’d ever had in the world, today.
As I mentioned before, the weather in Texas is quite variable this time of year and later in the evening, as we prepared fajitas and margaritas as cold front that was supposed to stall further north moved through the area bringing some mist, gusting winds and much cooler weather. The morning was going to be quite cool, about 49/10.
As promised, the weather was cool with low clouds and some light winds. A breakfrast of Gallo Pinot would be just what was called for. Gallo Pinto is a hearty rice and black bean staple from Costa Rica, its good. Becky and her friend Joy joined us and after breakfast, we left for the park.
To begin this hike, we would retrace part of our hike the day before up the East-West trail where we would branch off on to the West Trail. We’d walk gently up hill following a dry creek bed through a canopy of Oak, Big Tooth Maple, Bald Cypress and Sycamore trees.
As always, there was a steep climb up to the plateau and a short walk across the mesa and then a sharp decent into the Mystic Canyon, it is appropriately named. Deep down, in the quiet, you could hear the gentle gurgle of a hidden spring fed creek as it ran down the canyon. The limestone was carved by eons of water rushing past illustrating how dangerous it would be to be caught in a downpour and flash flood.
As we made our way gently downhill, through the trees and under-story, we came across a beautiful spring and pool with crystal clear, cool water. In this part of Texas, water meant life for all creatures and I’m sure this area was visited by all type of creatures including humans.
We relaxed and enjoyed the simple beauty and enjoyed the soothing sound of water running over the rocks and falling lyrically into the pool.
We could see through the trees that the sun was beginning to burn through the clouds, and it threw gentle shadows on the leaves of the forest floor. Light flickering here and there and darting from place to place. Lending more credence to the name, Mystic Canyon.
We began our walk out of this canyon with streams and fern lined grottos following the well-worn path to the spring pool where we once again found the East-West Trail and on to the parking area.
We sat and talked for a while, Becky and Joy left to explore the area and we left to clean up, have some lunch and figure out how to spend the rest of what had become a beautiful day.
Some may find it strange that Texas is the number 2 producer of grapes for wine after California and this are is full of vineyards and wineries. The area is very rocky and like parts of southwest France except it gets much hotter and the harvest occurs in July.
Near our cabin, the Lost Maples Winery called to us. Outdoors, in a shaded and physically distanced setting, we purchased a couple bottles of wine and wiled away the afternoon enjoying the autumn day, the sunshine and company, it was time well spent.
I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Lost Maples, and I hope to return there soon, maybe with Leighton and Renee who stayed home and were working as volunteers at a voting place.
I needed this escape physically, mentally and emotionally. 2020 with CV-19 and the election here in the U.S. has taken its toll. A year lost to CV-19, separation and fear add up to a lot of stress.
But, with that said, I want to leave you with 10 seconds of calm…