Happy Campers: March 2016

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Hello, is it trees you're looking for?

We (and all our laundry) have returned from our trip to Huntsville State Park. We had not been back to this park since our crazy summer tour around Texas back in July 2012. I have been wanting to go back when the weather was more conducive to not dying of heat stroke. We left on Thursday with the truck and trailer full of our gear and Girl Scout gear. The forecast looked dismal but Shawn made a large tarp tent thingie that required welding steel poles and lots of rope. But it was to protect us from the promised storms awaiting us. Scouts were planning to come Friday, but got pushed back to Saturday and we lost about half to weather concerns. Thursday was cloudy, but we didn't get anything more than a few sprinkles as we unloaded at site 86 in the Coloneh camping area (tent loop). We had a lovely fire that night and slept well. Friday morning, we decided to challenge the kids and do a long hike. We chose the 6.8 mile Chinquapin trail around the lake. The scenery was beautiful! We saw 4 different type of woodpeckers; Piliated, Red Headed, Red Bellied, and Downy. We also heard a Bared Owl and saw a couple alligators in the lake. The kids did well despite being a bit out of practice and eating lunch late. That evening was also dry, but we did have some lightening and thunder as a small cell skirted the town of Huntsville to the north. Saturday the scouts arrived and the boys were left to fish. We took the girls to the Sam Houston Museum and they have them a wonderful tour. We also went to the cemetery to see Houston's grave. Once we arrived back, I took a group back out to the trail to hunt for the geocache. Unlike at Inks Lake, where it was under the lake and had to be moved, we actually found it. That added another 2 miles to our hiking total for the weekend. That evening was chilly since the cold front came through. Sunday morning the girls were treated to an alligator show by one of the park staff. The scouts left around 11:00 and I took the kids plus my extra kid out for one more hike on the Prairie Branch trail. This trail went along the lake and took us back to a spot by Alligator Branch with boardwalks and good wildlife viewing. We didn't see any gators or shore birds as it was very chilly and windy, but we did see a Bald Eagle soaring overhead.
Overall despite a few ticks and not many fish caught, we had a great time relaxing and exploring.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Scouts and Rain

Well, our much anticipated trip to Lake Fairfield was rained out. We had an equally soggy Girl Scout campout in November that we managed to eek out 2 nights of camping. It was not relaxing, as most of the girls had not camped in rain before. We are prepping tomorrow for a trip to Huntsville with thunderstorms in the forecast. It has been a warm winter, the warmest since we have been here with only a few nights of freezing temps and no ice at all. January and February were dry, but it seems March came in more like a lionfish than a lion. But I will take the rain as our tank was getting a little low and we have family coming into town next week.
I did managed to get in a 1 night trip to Colorado Bend State Park with two co-workers/ friends. We enjoyed a fairly warm night and some rain in the morning that cleared up to allow 5 miles of hiking, including a trail that was new to me. We hiked down to Gorman Falls, but then took the Springs trail to follow along the spring fed creek and enjoy some fabulous scenery. I also found a hummingbird nest laying empty on the ground. That was an excellent find! They paved the road since I was there last, but other than that the park looks very much the same. The river was flowing nicely and we saw 3 armadillos nosing around for bugs. I also got a path tag from the headquarters. We participated in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Geocaching Challenge a few years back and collected path tags from each of the parks we geocached at. Except for Colorado Bend, which was out of tags. So Romer is complete with all the tags now.
We have begun training the kids for a big hiking adventure this summer when we head up to Seattle for vacation. There will be great views and lots of elevation change. Patrick also wants to start backpacking with his Boy Scout troop, so lots of hiking is in our future.
I am hoping to have a write up for you of our great (soggy) adventures this weekend.