More natural beauty in Texas

We put our new Texas State Park Pass to good use yesterday, visiting Pedernales Falls State Park (PFSP), near Johnson City. PFSP is a really big park, with areas devoted to sightseeing, youth outings, RV/tent camping with facilities, wilderness-style camping, picnicing, swimming, and hiking. It is located in the hill country, so there is quite a bit of up and down in its enjoyment.

This was our first view of the falls itself. While dry right now, the falls is subject to flash flooding. There were lots of warning signs - do not panic, just leave everything behind and get out. We had looked at the park web site, but after this view we really appreciated the scale of the falls. It is really wide. The flash flood pictures took on a whole new significance.

Even in this dry August, the river had enough flow to make the falls interesting.

On the walk down to the river we saw plenty of these critters. They would scurry along, then perch on a rock and wiggle their tail tips. The tips (not caught here) had what appeared to be blue stripes. The effect of the wiggling was to draw attention to the tail, maybe as a diversion for predators. I couldn't spot one like it on the net, so it will remain Wiggly Tail lizard to me.

Down at the bottom we found more Cypress trees. I can't get enough of these. They were just beautiful. Something about their tapered shape really appeals. Amidst the dryness of the hills they were unexpected.

Here the better half was enjoying one of our favorite activities, stomping around in rocks near the water. The fact that this is an overall dry place added to the pleasure. It was really interesting how the Cypress roots grew along the ground, searching for reliable water.

There always is something new and different on these hikes. Here we saw blossoms on small trees growing out of the sand at the bottom of the canyon. The bright colors are beautiful.

The falls itself is home to a wide variety of potholes and water "veins."

Here, better half conveys a bit of scale.

The "veins" had areas where the water, as it passed, had hollowed out beneath the surface of the rock.

This one substantial rivulet was delivering lots of water to the pools below.

Huge rocks had been moved by the floods and lodged in cracks.

No matter where we climbed, it seemed, there was always something more to see. Eventually the heat got to us. It drained our energy (and our water bottles) quite a bit. We were forced back to the car to find other parts of the park to investigate.

This was a bit of the swimming area. More rocks, more Cypress, and just a few people. Getting here also included a substantial down component. By this time, the up component required quite a few rest stops along the way.

There was one thing we did not get to see, the "trammel" crossing. Trammel means hindrance, among other things. I am guessing that this may be a place that rock formations squeeze the flow. Maybe in the fall/winter we will go back and cross to the other side, where there are some hiking trails.

We took a back road on the way back to Austin. In the hill country there seems to be a convention that country roads, when crossing a stream, are built fairly low (without a bridge). Culverts divert normal water under the road, but it seems expected that flash floods will go over the road. Most of the dips have warning signs. Many have flood level measurement devices.

As we went back we passed a place where the Pedernales River crossed beneath the road. Here, as we drove across the one lane crossing, we saw one of our old friends from Chincoteague, a blue heron. It patiently stood still while I took a picture out the car window. You can see how close to the water level we were at this point.

Texas seems to abound with these gems. We hope to see more of this one and many more, as well.