Hiking
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Monkey Rock | Lost Maples State Natural Area
A couple of weekends ago we went to Lost Maples State Natural Area which is located in Vanderpool, Texas, a town west-northwest of San Antonio and south of I-10. Along the east loop, not far from campsite A, we found a sign delineating something called Monkey Rock. A middle aged couple were coming from the opposite direction headed towards the rock too, and I asked them if they had been before, to which they replied they hadn’t and were just as curious as us. The sign didn’t specify distance or anything else so I had no idea if we were in for a hike up the bluffs or what. Instead…
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Trail Happiness
A little unfocused…. there, that’s better. Last weekend: hiking, husband, friends, wind, wine, Goldfish cracker, shooting stars, monkey rock, fall colors, overcast, afternoon sun, throngs of people in the middle of nowhere, wildflowers in Fall, spring water, lost in thoughts. Soon I’ll be wrapping up our hike in Washington state, showing you the beautiful sights of Lost Maples State Natural Area and a few other things around here. But for now, I am mellowing out here at home, doing things around here and looking forward to a weekend with family. How are you? (Don’t forget to drop by Sprout Dispatch this week and see what is going on!
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Up Top | Enchantment Lakes & Wenatchee NF
Climbing up Aasgard Pass was slow going, taking us about three hours to get up to the top. For the first third of the trail cairns marked the path somewhat clearly. I was leading, and somewhere near the middle of the climb I started having difficulties following the trail as the path became more scree-like instead of boulders. It didn’t help that there were smaller cairns that sometimes lead in different directions. A couple of times we slid a bit, causing us to halt in our steps and steady ourselves. Around the two-thirds-of-the-way mark I heard sounds but couldn’t see anyone. I looked up and to the left and found…
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Colchuck Lake | Enchantment Lakes & Wenatchee National Forest
At the junction of the Stuart Lake trail and the trail that leads to Colchuck Lake we stopped on a rock to take a break. The walk from the Mountaineer Creek had left the shade of the forest and began winding its way up the side of the mountain. Overall not difficult but the heat was rising. Despite the northwest having a reputation for being rainy and cloudy, we came during a week or sunshine and temperatures upwards of 100* in the valleys and 80s and 90s in the mountains. We sat eating a snack, fending off a sneaky chipmunk and then meeting several groups of hikers, including two women…
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Eagle Rock Loop 3 | Ouachita National Forest
Did you miss Day 1 & Day 2? After leaving the campsite by the river the next morning we had about 9 miles left to return to the trailhead we started at two days before. It was overcast and looked like potential rain but at least it kept the heat down. There were going to be a couple of river fords that day as bounced back and forth across the river. The river in this section was already narrowing but was still flowing faster than the creeks we’d passed the days prior. At this crossing we meandered up and down looking for a possible rock-hop to avoid taking our boots…
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Eagle Rock Loop Day 2 | Ouachita National Forest
Read Day 1 if you haven’t already…. We woke up the next morning around 6 a.m. Dawn had already broke and the sky was getting light. Some of the other hikers had begun to rouse before 6, knowing it would take them longer to get ready and drink their coffee that morning. We were hoping to make maybe 12 miles that day in order to ease our mileage for the third and final day so we wouldn’t be leaving the forest so late for our four to five hour drive back to DFW. The ups and downs of the previous day were mostly over; the topo map showed mostly level…
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Eagle Rock Loop Day 1 | Ouachita National Forest
Finally, some backpacking time! A week ago Chris and I went with my dad, brother and some of their friends from my brother’s old Boy Scout troop to the Eagle Rock Loop in Ouachita National Forest. I was very happy to be getting some hiking in—on mountains especially. I was hoping that part of it would be reminiscent of the Appalachian Trail and I was pleasantly rewarded with birds, vegetation and smells that we saw on our hike of the A.T. We split the drive up, leaving Houston for Dallas at noon one day, then jumping in the car that my dad, brother and another hiker were in to finish…
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The Weekend In A Series of Haikus
I. We followed the trail Up and over many peaks With sweet, humid views. II. Water crossed our path Hop, skip, jump, across the streams Splish, splash, don’t fall in! III. The woods smell divine Wafting heady aromas Can I soak it in? IV. Dusk falls, night begins The woods come alive with sound Who cooks for you all? V. Hiker stench sets in Sweat drips, bugs bite, stomach growls One more hill to go. VI. Back at the trail-head Feet ache, hiker hobble, tired Ready for some food. Been awhile since I’ve written a haiku—ok, probably since high school which was 14 years ago—so I hope I got the…
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Magic in the Woods
Finally sharing the rest of the photos I took when I went to the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory a few weekends ago with Keely and her boyfriend. These photos are from the grounds of the GCBO and the Wilderness Park across the bayou from GCBO. Nature is my medicine. ~Sara Moss-Wolfe
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Rainy Weekend at Huntsville State Park
Early in the year Chris had scheduled out several camping trips throughout the spring. I had warned that he could potentially be in the field all spring—things hadn’t started up yet and he not received word about work. Even so, he made reservations to many state parks in anticipation of spring wildflower season. So far we’ve had to cancel most of them, but we rescheduled this trip to Huntsville State Park to a weekend sooner then planned since he was going to be off that weekend. Unfortunately a cool front with rain came through causing us to postpone leaving to the campground until early afternoon, when the rains had passed.…