Date: 2009-03-03
To: Enchanted Rock -- Day 1
Miles today: 0.0

First, I would like to thank John for suggesting a trip to Enchanted Rock before taking off to Springer Mountain. I decided to do one more shakedown hike and to try to get in some elevation change which can be a bit challenging in south Texas. I've done numerous trips to Lost Maples State Park and wanted a change of scenery. So, John suggested Enchanted Rock State Park and here I am. I arrived here at 11 this morning and when I checked in the ranger asked me if I wanted to camp at Buzzard Roost or Moss Lake. I said Buzzard the first night and Moss Lake the second night. She said if I wanted to change campsites then I'd need to come back to the ranger's station tomorrow and have it changed. Don't you just love rules? Not really that big of a deal as the park isn't really all that big and I have to go to the car camping sites to get water tomorrow and they are, of course, very close to the ranger's station. So, with my fees paid I took off to do some hiking. Now let me tell you, it was a beautiful day for hiking. Sunny, blue Texas skies and the temps were in the 70's with a slight breeze that made it a most excellent day for hiking. I decided to not go straight for the summit of Enchanted Rock, but to do the main loop trail and then do the summit trail. According to the park map, the main loop trail is four miles long with several shorter trails coming off of it and with Enchanted Rock in the middle of it. I head on the trail towards Buzzards Roost campsite to check it out first thing. I followed along Sandy Creek that didn't have even a drop of water in it. (We really need rain.) The campsite is about 1.4 miles from my car and I got here quickly. I check it out and decided to go off trail and climb up and around on Buzzard's Roost Rock. Did some good bouldering and kept an eye out for snakes sunning themselves. I didn't see any snakes, but I did see a cactus already in bloom. That made my day! After climbing around on the buzzard's rock for awhile I made my way back to the main trail, passed Freshman Rock and to the backside of Enchanted Rock. I saw several little lizards sunning themselves on the trail, but they wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get a picture. The trail is a mixture of sand and gravel and makes a lot of noise when I walked on it. No sneaking up on anything out here. I continued around to the Moss Lake campsite and stopped there for a late lunch and to air my feet out. (I liked to air my sweaty stinky feet out while I eat lunch....hopefully this habit of mine won't keep any fellow AT hikers from having lunch with me....they will stink to, so I guess I shouldn't worry.). I didn't see any lake, not that I was expecting to see one. It is a nice campsite and I'm looking forward to spending tomorrow night there. I continued hiking after lunch and decided to take an unnamed trail around the Walnut Springs campsite. It was all burned up. I wander if it was a controlled burn or a careless hiker. With the severe drought we have going on I doubt that it was a controlled burn. Although there are no campfires allowed in any of the primitive sites, I have seen evidence of several campfires in each of the other two primitive sites. In all of my trips to the state parks, I've only seen one ranger that actually visited the primitive sites and that was at Pedernales State Park. He wasn¢t walking though; he was on a horse named Cowboy who ate my friend Sandy's apple. What I'm trying to say is that I don't see anybody enforcing the rules. Oh well, back to hiking. When the trail I was on met back up with the main trail there was a sign that said trail closed to visitors. Oops. Guess they don't expect people to walk from the other end as I don't recall seeing a sign. I was looking forward to the scenic overlook that was just around the bend in the trail, so on I walked. Darn, it was closed too. I decided to take a small break and just leaned against the closed sign. By now, I'm on the west side of Little Rock which I eyed closely as I will be climbing over that tomorrow. The trail then dumps me out at the car camping sites which are quite nice. There were a handful of campers enjoying the beautiful weather. I said hi and made my way to an empty site to take another break and to fill up my water bottles. Now, it is time to walk to the top of Enchanted Rock. According to the map the summit trail climbs 425 ft in .6 miles. There are a couple of signs, but mostly people just walk up anyway they think best. I did see several other people going up and I did get some odd looks with my full backpack. I just said hi and continued up. I did take a breather at what I call camel rock (because it looks like a camel), but made it up okay. I must tell you that it was very windy up there. Every time I've been up there it has been windy, but today it was a warm wind. Very nice. It is amazing that on top of this giant granite boulder that prickly pear cactus, small trees and grass grow. Never ceases to trill me. I was walking with my hiking poles and it was weird to hear them sometimes make a hollow sound as they hit the rock. I went to the far side and found a sunny spot to take a break to enjoy the view. There is something so neat about looking down on the vultures as they fly below me. Besides the wind it is so quiet up there. While I was sitting there eating some golden raisins and dried cherries, guess what I saw? Moss Lake and it has water in it. I couldn't believe it. I will have to check that out when I get there tomorrow night. Finally, I decided to head down and head back to Buzzard's Roost. I ended up doing 10.7 miles today, but only had 1700 ft in total ascent. I hiked from a little after 11 until 5:30 with several breaks to enjoy the day. Since, the weather is so nice I've decided to leave the rain fly off my tent to enjoy the moon and stars tonight. As I sit here typing this, I hear a creature of the night rustling about to the left of me. Hope it is not a skunk, I already smell bad enough. Ha. Until tomorrow