Lost Maples State Park 2008

In mid November my daughter, Perry, and I went to Lost Maples State Park to see the fall color from the Big Tooth Maples that grow in the area. Texas is not as fortunate as other parts of the country that have spectacular fall displays from the turning leaves. For some reason the Big Tooth Maple tree can be found in the area of the Texas Hill Country near Leakey, Texas. The leaves are usually at their peak color in mid November. The peak color doesn't last long and in spite of calling the park to track the color, Perry and I missed the peak by several days. A cold front came through right before we could get to the park and blew a lot of the leaves off the trees. The hike through the park was still beautiful and the weather was perfect.

The main hiking trail is a 5 mile loop. The first half of the trail is very steep and we take several breaks before we make the top. Rock steps have been put in place to make the climb easier. For those folks who don't like to climb, The loop can be done in reverse and the trail going up is not as steep.

The park has many nice tent camping sites as well as camper hook-ups available.

Big Bend: Around The Base Camp

This post will end the Big Bend adventure. We actually do camp when we go to Big Bend but we use campers. Several own campers and this year 3 of us rented a large camper. The rental camper was very nice and comfortable once we figured out a few things like : operating the shower, the difference between heater and air conditioner, and how to operate the cruise control. We found out that the rental camper begins to vibrate above 80 MPH and has a huge appetite for gasoline.

We usually eat most meals except breakfast in camp. The camp ground has a restaurant that serves a good breakfast. Lunch is fix your own sandwiches. The camp cook (Big Walt) cooks the meals at night. After 3 years I haven't been fired yet ( no one else wants the job). The menus are very simple : Dinner out on Thursday, gourmet hamburgers on Friday, steak on Saturday, and brisket on Sunday. Dessert is usually cake and cookies baked by the wives on Friday, Dutch Oven blackberry cobbler on Saturday, and Dutch Oven peach cobbler on Sunday. For side dishes

we have baked beans, salad, and one night a German potato salad that is always consummed in a hurry. Harry helped with some of the cooking this year and it was great having someone who knew something about cooking along. Harry has a catering business in Boerne.



That's it for Big Bend until next year.