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Hike the Lake and Woodland Trails at Inks Lake State Park

 This Hike will Rock Your Socks Off The Lake Trail and Woodland Trail at Inks Lake State Park will deliver a magical show of rocks and rocky landscapes. When I arrived at the trailhead for the Lake Trail at Inks Lake State Park, I wasn't sure what my 4.5 mile hike was going to cover. Would it be slow, meandering gravel trails or steep grades and drop offs. It turned out to be neither. Right out of the parking lot, the trail was wide and well marked and mostly smooth. But after about a half mile things changed and it happened quickly. I stepped out of a shady section and was faced with a wall of rock. The only way I could tell where the trail was, was to look for smoother, worn rock that told the place where most of the footwear had traveled. As I climbed to the top of the huge boulder I spotted a vertical park marker. From there on I followed painted dots on rocks and upright markers to make my way past Stumpy Hollow and on the the Woodland Trail. I meandered through a magical chan...
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Hike the Meridian State Park Bosque and Shinnery Trails

Why you should do the Bosque and Shinnery trails at Meridian State Park To get a full-fledge shady hiking experience in Texas, you can't beat Meridian State Park. I hiked the Bosque Loop and the Shinnery Ridge trails on a Tuesday morning and afternoon. The day started out cloudy but by about noon most of the clouds had burned off. Both trails offer ample shade. The Bosque Loop trail is quite a bit more technically challenging than the Shinnery Ridge trail so I was glad I had tackled it first. What do I mean by technically challenging? Almost immediately there were gentle hills followed later on by some steep, gnarly rock climbs.  Some of the rocky climbs were improved by stone steps built into the grade. Along this trail you will cross three bridges, two roads, see a magnificent stone building and cross an earthen dam.  The Shinnery Ridge Nature Trail (it's official name) is different. Taking it on counterclockwise, you start on a long slow, gradual climb and then level out. F...

What's in Your Backpack?

 Pack Your Day Hike Backpack Just For You There is a lot of discussion about what to put into a backpack for trail hiking. For now, I'm just focusing on packing a backpack for day hikes. My day hikes description is: hikes that take a day or less, and are between 3 and 8 miles.  It's cool if you do 10 to 20 miles a day which will stretch your food and water needs well beyond what I'm writing about today. But, most everything else you might pack will probably be similar to those doing the shorter hikes. And, this is where there is an important distinction to make.  What you pack should be based on YOU. You have unique needs when considering what you'll need to feel secure and comfortable on a day hike. Nobody else can tell you that. We all have different abilities and experience levels and physical histories, so we each have to take those things into account when we pack for a day hike. Age, physical condition, history of injuries, metabolism, medical conditions, mental a...

Let's Talk About Trail Photography

Making Photography Easy on the Hiking Trail Here's what's working for me these days. I went through a lot of experimentation, and a lot of frustration, trying to find the right rigs for hauling my cameras when I'm out on the trail. So here are my solutions. But first, a few words about how I view trail photography and my uses for the photos, and videos, I record. After more than 40 years of practicing photography and videography I arrived at a term to describe the type of visual recorder I am: I'm an archivist. That is to say, I capture photos and videos for the simple joy of making a record of events, times, places and memories. Of course, I also want the archive to have well-composed and acceptably-exposed images.  I use a fraction of the images and videos I capture in venues like this. Others I release on my BeHance profile and on my YouTube channel . Some I share with family and friends (always interested in making new acquaintances). Another very small fraction of...

Hiking Gorman Falls and Springs in One Day

Have you ever been on a hiking trail like this?  Probably not. From the time you step out of your vehicle in the parking area at the trailhead for the Gorman Falls trail, until you return, your feet are walking on a geologic window into the Paleozoic Era. It is all revealed here. The rocks you walk over and stand upon were formed 541- 252 million years ago, right after the very first animals appeared on earth. This type of geology is often well-buried beneath tons of newer landscapes. But here, it was eroded to the surface by the Colorado River . How special is that! And, there are caves below!  A side note for the geographically-challenged: This is NOT in Colorado. This Colorado River is in Texas and is the major water feature in southwestern Texas, along with its tributaries and an underground aquifer system. The trail starts out from an oversized trailhead parking lot with restrooms.  This is the Colorado Bend State Park's busiest trail so you will likely see other peo...

Summiting Guadalupe Peak, the Hard Way

This is the hike that taught me the real meaning of knowing the limits This trail is both exhilarating and challenging. Lots of switchbacks, masses of solid rock under foot, steep drop offs, boulders and never ending waterbars. Unless you love waterbars you will get sick and tired of them on this trail. My hiking partner and I, both 70, set out at 6:30 am and made the summit at 1:45pm. It was all downhill after that, both literally and figuratively.  This Google earth image shows a relief of the mountains with the starting point for the hike, and a blue line representing the portion of the hike that I recorded as a track on my GPS device. It also shows a marker for the Bridge, and one for the summit. Take the hike in video. Early on the trail you will have to navigate around and over waterbars (steps) made of rock. Some waterbars have logs as their risers. The waterbars will seem to be never- ending. The first set of switchbacks will keep you turning corners until you're tired of t...

Hiking the Tree Army Trails at Bastrop State Park

Accessibility gets high marks at Bastrop State Park's Tree Army trails If your once-ambulatory hiking companion ends up having to use a wheelchair then you know how difficult it is to enjoy your shared hobby of hiking in a world that's still designed mostly for walking people. National and state parks tend to cater to the those who can walk. After all, when we think about wilderness settings we seldom see images of people in wheelchairs or mobility scooters rolling through them. So, when we discovered Bastrop State Park in Texas (30.110567 -97.2930493), and its Tree Army Trails that are all solid surfaces with mostly flat elevations, we were ready to explore. Tree Army was a nickname for the Civilian Conservation Corps that did much of the work building the park , and many other public works projects in the 1930s.  A sufficiently-charged power wheelchair or mobility scooter should handle these trails well. If you are powering your own chair, or someone is pushing, you'll ...