Thirteen Townies and three guests ventured out for camping at Colorado Bend State Park just west of Lampasas, one of the most primitive of our state parks with no hookups. It was no big deal, hey our tenters always boondock! What a beautiful weekend – Texas winter weather – chill at night, warm sunshine, only a smattering of rain drops, big sky full of stars followed by a big bright moon.
Some of us arrived Thursday to a very quiet camp. Five TOWNIES took advantage of the early start and hiked to Gorman Falls on Friday. It’s beautiful as always, even with dry conditions throughout the area. Prescribed burns were evident. The falls were green and lush and we could see huge fish in the crystal clear bluegreen river.
More campers trickled in and by Friday evening gathered for the pot luck meal. Never a shortage of food with Townies. The burn ban – no campfires due to continuing lack of rainfall – didn’t stop the nightly gathering under the “hobbit hole” around the propane “bonfire.” Most called it a night early and were up and ready to go caving Saturday morning.
The Discovery Cave Tour took our group of nine up the road and on a short hike to a hole in the ground. Our guide from Nichols Outdoor Adventures was knowledgeable and fun. Once over the initial “We’re climbing down there?” hesitations, several of our more nimble members, took to their knees (bellies!) and crawled further back in. What a neat experience.
Same day, was that just yesterday? After a lunch break, nine of us headed out to hike Spicewood Canyon meeting up with Spicewood Springs trail for a nice loop, about 4 miles. The Canyon trail was up, not too challenging, just up. But what goes up, must come down. The Spicewood Springs trail to bring us back was a bit more challenging (understatement), requiring us to slide down a cliff on our butts, and navigate water crossings back and forth across the stream with slick rocks and more up and slides down. Gravity took it’s toll, but we still won out and made it back with everyone intact. Consensus: Spicewood Springs Trail earns its difficult rating!
Sunday morning dawned with warmth and sunshine, enough that four TOWNIES and a guest launched their kayaks for paddling on that beautiful river. Three of us took our sweet time packing up and made a stop at Storm’s Burgers on the way back home. The entire weekend was an adventure and we have 2 new members! I call that a success. Thank you soooo much to all the wonderful amazing Townies who help with everything and make hosting an outing easy. xocheryl