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Pedernales Falls
Jan. 18th, 2009 08:00 pmMy camping adventure didn't exactly go as planned; however, it was a good experience (if you have a sense of humor - and don't mind it when really annoying things happen to you) :-)
I got there a little later than I expected, and the office said the primitive camping area was filling up fast. I paid my fee ($5 entry to park and $10 to camp) and decided to head up Wolf Creek Trail to the camping area and set up camp before all the good spots were taken. It's a 2.5 mile hike to the camping area, so I decided to just hang out in that area - it looked there was plenty to do. I hiked the little trails they had there, but the real fun was exploring the (huge) area below the bluffs.
My theme today was to pay attention to details and slow down. So often when I go on my trips I'm more about listening to my iPod and getting in a workout - I miss all the great stuff. I got some good shots down there below the bluffs.
I got back to camp just before the sun went down, and I had something to eat and climbed into the tent to read and listen to some podcasts. At bedtime I turned out the lights and layed down to sleep........ I was uncomfortable from the very beginning. My sleeping bad was too slippery, I didn't have my favorite pillow, I ended up taking off my shoes and pants because they were bothering me. The tent is very small, so there wasn't room to maneuver. Ugh. Then the later it got the cooler and damper it got - and the tent started to collect condensation - and it started dripping on me. Argh!!!! Sleep was impossible.
Finally at 4am I'd had enough. In the dark I broke camp - packed everything up, and began hiking back to the truck. It wasn't until I was over 1 mile into this that I realized what a dumb idea that was! It was kind of bright at first because of the moon - but when I got to the wooded part of the trail is was DARK. I got scared (well, I'm scared of the dark anyway.....then my imagination ran away with me). I had a little battery operated lantern which kept the trail lit - so there was that. I tried to make myself laugh thinking about The Blair Witch Project movie - and what a nice meal a mountain lion and her cubs could have from me - so at least someone would benefit... hahaha.
I got to the truck, drove over to the falls, and waited for the sun to come up. By the time that happened I was bushed. I walked around a little, but I packed it in and went home soon after.
It was a good time all and all. The park is pretty close to me, so I will be making plans to go back and take in the things I didn't see this time. No more camping in the cold I think - unless I change up my equipment some.
Anyway - here's the pictures. Sorry if they go by faster than the captions can be read. Picassa doesn't let you pre-set the picture speed. If you wanted to bother reading them, you could always hit pause (or watch it from the original page which allows you to set the speed)
I got there a little later than I expected, and the office said the primitive camping area was filling up fast. I paid my fee ($5 entry to park and $10 to camp) and decided to head up Wolf Creek Trail to the camping area and set up camp before all the good spots were taken. It's a 2.5 mile hike to the camping area, so I decided to just hang out in that area - it looked there was plenty to do. I hiked the little trails they had there, but the real fun was exploring the (huge) area below the bluffs.
My theme today was to pay attention to details and slow down. So often when I go on my trips I'm more about listening to my iPod and getting in a workout - I miss all the great stuff. I got some good shots down there below the bluffs.
I got back to camp just before the sun went down, and I had something to eat and climbed into the tent to read and listen to some podcasts. At bedtime I turned out the lights and layed down to sleep........ I was uncomfortable from the very beginning. My sleeping bad was too slippery, I didn't have my favorite pillow, I ended up taking off my shoes and pants because they were bothering me. The tent is very small, so there wasn't room to maneuver. Ugh. Then the later it got the cooler and damper it got - and the tent started to collect condensation - and it started dripping on me. Argh!!!! Sleep was impossible.
Finally at 4am I'd had enough. In the dark I broke camp - packed everything up, and began hiking back to the truck. It wasn't until I was over 1 mile into this that I realized what a dumb idea that was! It was kind of bright at first because of the moon - but when I got to the wooded part of the trail is was DARK. I got scared (well, I'm scared of the dark anyway.....then my imagination ran away with me). I had a little battery operated lantern which kept the trail lit - so there was that. I tried to make myself laugh thinking about The Blair Witch Project movie - and what a nice meal a mountain lion and her cubs could have from me - so at least someone would benefit... hahaha.
I got to the truck, drove over to the falls, and waited for the sun to come up. By the time that happened I was bushed. I walked around a little, but I packed it in and went home soon after.
It was a good time all and all. The park is pretty close to me, so I will be making plans to go back and take in the things I didn't see this time. No more camping in the cold I think - unless I change up my equipment some.
Anyway - here's the pictures. Sorry if they go by faster than the captions can be read. Picassa doesn't let you pre-set the picture speed. If you wanted to bother reading them, you could always hit pause (or watch it from the original page which allows you to set the speed)
