|
In December, Troop 221 went to the Texas Hill Country. Click the image to see the whole gallery.
We traveled to Colorado Bend State Park on Friday evening. We setup camp in a great location that the ranger recommended. Across from camp, you could see the high bluffs on the other side of the Colorado River. Behind us, huge oak trees and more rock bluffs. From our camp, we could hear the river as it made its way thru a few small falls.
We woke up Saturday morning and were greeted by White Tail deer on either side of our camp. We had a hot breakfast, packed up and set out for Enchanted Rock about an hour away.
Enchanted Rock was a pretty amazing site. It rises up 425 above the rest of the surrounding area. It is the largest pink granite batholith in the United States; the rock covers 640 acres of the 1,600+ acre park. We hiked up the summit trail. In .6 Miles, you rise 425 feet; it was a nice little "hike". Once we reached the top, the boys spent several hours in the caves and on the boulders. A few of the older boys went into the large cave while the rest of the boys used the lightweight stove to cook a trail meal.
Around mid-afternoon, we left the park and headed back to our camp in Colorado Bend State Park. We stopped just inside the park to take the trail down to see Gorman Falls. At the end of the 1.3 mile trail, was a 60 foot waterfall. The pictures won't do it justice; it was well worth the hike.
We hiked back to the cars and headed to camp; tired and hungry. For dinner, the boys had fajitas and the adults (& the SPL) had chili. After dinner, the boys played football using a lantern and headlamps place along each side of the field.
Colorado Bend is an off-the-beaten-path park that spans over 5,000 acres. As big as the park was, we were the only campers on Friday night. Saturday night, there was another troop in the camp and between us we had the whole place to ourselves.
Saturday was a brisk night; it was 32 degrees when we woke up Sunday morning. Despite the cold, the boys executed their plan and we broke camp early and were on the road at 8:30 am headed for one last stop. We stopped off in Dublin Texas to tour the Dr. Pepper plant and museum. The plant opened in that location in 1891. We had a nice tour and the boys got together and bought a couple cases of Dublin Dr. Pepper to take home. It was an awesome finish for a great weekend of Scouting.
|
