The final post for Mission Tejas State Park! A few little morsels between photos but a write-up at the end! Indigo Milk Cap, Lactarius indigo: I was so excited to see this! The state park had shared a photo on social media a few days prior to our hike of this cool mushroom and I had seen someone else share their find in Ohio, so I put it on my bucket list to see one of these. We kept our eyes peeled for them but it was Chris who found them in an early morning hike before Forest and I got out of the tent. We went back later to…

Hidden away on the Olen Matchett Trail near a remote corner at the front of Mission Tejas State Park are a set of old CCC tubs. Constructed when the CCC workers had set up camp to construct the state park, the tubs are a few feet downhill from a spring. Before our dinner the night we stayed at the state park we made one last hike to see what this interestingly labeled point on the state park map meant. At a slope behind the top of a hill we found the set of tubs. The spring was at the top, the clean rinsing tub in the middle, and the bathing…

Salvia azurea Liatris elegans Passiflora lutea Oak mistletoe, Phoradendron leucarpum, I think! American Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana Texas Bull Nettle, Cnidoscolus texanus Black walnut, Juglans nigra Before we arrived at the state park that last weekend in October, Chris had noted that there was some kind of trail run going on in the park. I was a little surprised considering the park isn’t huge, but after looking at the park map and seeing that it was adjacent to a Davy Crockett National Forest tract I knew that there was much more here to be explored. The park was very busy when we checked in and we were unable to get to…

*Photos are from my phone, sorry for the sketchy quality* Planning Thanksgiving campouts can be tricky. Is it going to be too cold? Rainy? Sunny and cold is one thing, rainy and cold is another. A few months ago we sat down and made our camping reservations for the year, which you have to do because reservations at popular state parks fill up months in advance, and Chris pinpointed that he really wanted to go the Davis Mountains State Park in Fort Davis. For those unfamiliar with just how big Texas is, this drive from our house to the state park is akin to driving from Washington DC to Portland,…

October felt a million months long. So long that this trip to Lake Livingston State Park feels like it happened about three months ago and not four weeks ago. We only stayed a night and cut our trip short Sunday morning as I wrote about here that Forest had had a rough night from being sick. And I completely forgot I had already somewhat explained here, in that post I referenced, about tagging monarchs. Seriously, October was long. Because we only camped one night we weren’t able to get a site in the Piney Shores Loop, which has had renovations in the last few years and is where we’ve stayed…

I have a new obsession: iNaturalist. I signed up the spring of 2016 when I had my iPhone 4 but didn’t stick to using it because I didn’t enjoy trying to update sightings via the phone. I deleted the app and then kind of forgot about it until I had a conversation with someone who uses it. So, I took a new look at it but this time used the desktop interface online instead. And I’m in love! Mostly I’m trying to (slowly) backlog some photos and I’m not getting very far but I’m trying. The good thing is you can import from Flickr which is perfect because just about…

Previous posts for this park: +Campsite Scenes +The Slough and Forest Trails | Martin Dies State Park +The Wildlife and Island Trails | Martin Dies State Park The first campout for the season didn’t start off quite on the right foot. Rain was predicted for at least Sunday but we ended up having a little of it on Saturday while we were setting up camp. We drove over early on Saturday morning and were making it a long weekend with Monday off. The last time we were at the park we had stayed at campsite 218 across from Gum Slough. I remember liking that little circle because there was no…

In early September we hit up our spot in Sam Houston National Forest for our annual family photos with Forest. The photo session, as it was last year, went very quickly with many grumpy faces all around. Actually, Chris and I weren’t as grumpy as last year, just Forest. He’s been better about taking photos the last few months so I expected it to be easier this year than last. Nope, not easier. We made it quick and then moved the car a quarter mile back down the road to the intersection of the Lone Star Hiking Trail so we could do a short hike. The hike was indeed short…

Palafoxia callosa Cooperia drummondii Pluchea white mist flower—not sure, one of these three–> Ageratum, Conoclinium, Eupatorium I couldn’t find a white version in my Texas wildflowers book(s). Senna lindheimeriana While Chris fishes along the Pedernales, I usually take time to poke around the fringes of the rocks to see what plants or invertebrate wildlife may be lurking about to photograph. Sometimes Forest is with me playing in the rocks or whatnot, but as he’s gotten older he’s been able to follow directions and stay around with Chris while Chris fishes. We were out one morning along the river and as I was poking about looking at the early fall wildflowers…

Pedernales Falls State Park is one of those state parks you wish was in your backyard. A park that you could easily pop into on a weekday after work or for a good weekend adventure. In some ways, mostly in its size, definitely not in its habitat, it reminds me a bit of Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Florida. Large enough to be able to roam freely in the ‘backcountry’ on a wide array of trails but also with river access. River access here is a bit different than at JD, mostly in that no one is paddling along like they do on the Loxahatchee River. It’s mostly a fishing…