McGuire Tract @ Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge

A few weekends ago Chris and I ventured out to the McGuire Tract of the Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge. It was a hot and humid day by the time we arrived so there wasn’t a lot out on the trail. We had to drive through some back roads to even reach this tract and I wondered how often it was even used. Luckily the ‘trail’, a wide grassy road of sorts, was mowed so we didn’t have to deal with itchy grasses. I’d love to explore more of this area and paddle around on the Trinity too…some day! Next time we’ll attempt it in a non-heat and buggy season.

I was really excited to see this tree, a water locust. I’d seen small seedling/shrub sized plants but this was my first actual tree. I’ve since seen a couple of others.

The creeks were rather low and we spooked an alligator that had been sunning in the water. It sped out of the water and into a hole under the bluff faster than I’ve ever seen an alligator move.

Found a clematis in flower….

and a seed pod forming.

Some poison ivy, good ol’ Toxrad! (That’s Toxicodendron radicans….) Some Camrad in there too, Campsis radicans, aka: trumpet creeper.

At the end of the trail, well at the base of one of the loops, we found a short bridge across a creek and a picnic table to rest for a bit.

A few blackberries were ready to eat.

I poked down this creek for a minute to see what might be around. Not much.

Pretty quiet hike but it was nice to stretch the legs a bit and get out. Maybe we’ll get out on the river sometime in the future.