Archive for the ‘Camping’ Category
Next week, Catherine and I will be visiting her parents for a week of adventuring in the northern Rockies for what will be an awesome time. There are many plans ahead of us and I will keep everyone up to date on our adventures. We are both really excited and can’t wait to see the family. Stay tuned for developing events. 
Catherine and I went camping this weekend at Bastrop State Park on the Lost Pines Hiking Trail consisting of a 4 mile hike in and out. I am really impressed with this park and I think it’s becoming one of my favorites. It was really challenging, one of the first real hike ins.
We found ourselves at the turnaround when setting up camp; needless to say we both were exhausted. The location was nestled on top of a creek embankment, overlooking the creek bed and lost pines. Once set up and full from our “astronaut” food, we both entertained each other with a puppet show.
The next morning we hiked the upper trail to see if we could find some Houston Horn Toads and coming up short we packed up and headed back home. Next time we will visit the upper trail, hoping to find a closer campsite (Pictures will be added as soon as I transfer them to my external HDD)
Over the weekend, Catherine and I visited three different state parks, a first for the both of us; we are so hardcore. Last weekend we went on a camping adventure to one of the top 100 state parks in America, Guadalupe State Park. All in all it was a great trip, with its interesting camping patrons (lighter fluid and BBQ pits). This trip proved that we could handle any adversity that came our way and we were hardcore, building a fire from sticks and stone
This weekend, we visited McKinney Falls, Lockhart, and Bastrop State Parks. I just received my new Yakima bike racks for my truck bed, and we both tested them out. McKinney Falls is a great ride with the perfect amount of uphill and downhill sections. Onion Creek was too high to cross so we only rode the upper section of the falls.
We visited Lockhart State Park after we enjoyed some Black’s Barbecue. This visited was short considering it was mainly a golf course, but the barbecue was amazing.
And finally, Bastrop State Park, a new love that sparked our next camping trip. Catherine and I loved every minute of each trail we hiked on. The Lost Pines seemed as though we were no longer in Texas, but felt familiar to the Rocky Mountains National Park, minus the mountains It was a great hike and we plan on backpacking next weekend on the Lost Pines Trail.
I will leave with a few pics from our trips:
Catherine and I did some camping over the weekend at Pedernales State Park in Johnson City, TX. We both were very excited to get out their and “rough it” out with nature to test our “Marine skills”. When we arrived there, we were met with open arms by the park rangers, although it seemed like to the both of us park rangers favor primitive campers over “park n’ tent” campers by the way they greeted the gentleman waiting before us in line for registration.
So as we unpack the official Texas State Parks truck, 2010 Toyota Tundra, we came across a very friendly fellow and his two friends who seemed to be visited by “the spirits of the forest.” It was rather strange, and we both looked at each and said “Odd!”
We started our “2 mile” hike, stopping along the way to take photos and strategizing ways to cross low lying creeks. When we found the primitive camping site, we found the perfect spot, although we luckily came across it. We pitch our tent, set up our sleeping bags, and started the mini stove; it was time to eat
After setting up our campsite, we got cozy, ate our Easy Mac ‘N Cheese, and enjoyed a game of Scrabble right before our wolf scare. We calmed each other down by reading each other by reading potential state parks we’d like to visit later on this year. *Note to self: DO NOT bring beef jerky when camping.
We survived the night and woke up at the break of dawn, patrolling the perimeter for potential threats of wolves (must have been a Marine in a past life). We went on a quick morning hike of Wolf Mountain, oddly enough we did not find any wolves. Again we stopped along the way to take pictures of goofy signs and picturesque views. Our camping adventures came to a close after having no issues packing up our campsite, thank God, with a visit to the Pedernales Falls.
We had the best time of our lives and there is more to come for the both of us
