2-10-18

And, Garner is a beautiful park. In spite of no wifi or cell service (still!), we plan to stay at least several days. We arrived early enough for a short hike so we tried out a trail designated as easy to get a feel for the park. The easy trails seemed more like moderate with rocks and roots to climb over and steep hills. We’ll try some moderate trails tomorrow. I’m not sure we will attempt any of the challenging ones!

Easy-peasy, just don’t fall off the edge and into the water as you are scrambling around roots and rocks!

 Some rapids on the Frio river, and yes it was frio!

Denny and a giant tree (sycamore?)

There are many structures in this park also, that were built by the CCC .

The next day we went for a morning hike and combined an easy trail and a moderate trail. It is quite hilly here so even the easy trail was steep in spots. We did get quite high up with some nice views.
 

After lunch and a small nap 😜, we decided to tackle a tougher trail to go see Crystal Cave. Since it was rated as challenging, with the map designating many spots as steep with loose rocks, we made a pact that if either of us wanted to turn back we would. We made it! Unfortunately, all of the crystals had long ago been stripped. However, there was a young woman that went in the cave at the same time as we did whose name was Crystal!
 

Being successful, we decide to tackle another cave. This one was also challenging…but a shorter, steeper hike, getting us quickly to 1800 feet. We are debating whether we want to attempt Old Baldy, one of the most challenging hikes in the park.

 A view of Old Baldy from the campground.

A view of Old Baldy from the cave hike.

The ultimate hike is to the top.
 

Back at the RV, we realized that we had walked just  ¾ of a mile less than 10 miles today, so we went for a short walk to take some pictures of the trees reflecting in the river. It’s always nice to end in even numbers!
 

2-9-18

On the way to San Angelo State Park, we stopped back at Abilene to complete a geocache trail. Since we were walking on a road around a dam, Denny decided to leave his camera behind. Wouldn’t you know it; we finally saw a wild pig. Not just any wild pig, a GIANT wild pig! Her head was the size of a beach ball and she probably was as tall as Denny’s waist.  We were told that pigs generally ignored you unless they had piglets. Then we saw the grass around her rustling with small forms. After uttering a few “holy shits,” we quietly moved away as she watched us. After that, Denny found a nice sized stick to carry with us for the rest of our walk. I wish I would remember that my phone is also a camera; I could have had a picture!

 So, we walked 11 miles, found 14 geocaches (the most in one day ever!) and didn’t find three.  I also learned a valuable lesson, never walk where small mesquite bushes have been mowed. I got several one inch long barbs all the way through my shoes and into my foot.  Ouch!  Denny had to pull them out as I was afraid to move. He had on hiking boots rather than sneakers so didn’t have the same problem!

We arrived at San Angelo State Park at dusk, expecting to stay a few days but found a desert wasteland almost in the city. We could hear traffic all night! So we packed up and moved on to Garner State Park. It had to be better; it is touted as the favorite state park of Texans!
 

2-8-18

It seems that most Texas parks are centered on dammed lakes. Our next, Lake Brownwood State Park, is no exception. It may be the largest at 7000+ acres. We snagged a spot on the lake, which wasn’t too difficult since there is hardly anyone here. I bet it is really busy in the summer, though!

Janet, trying to get cell phone service

Foot bridge on a trail that we walked

Again, many structures were built at this park by the CCC. It’s amazing what they accomplished all over the country in just a few years. There was a lakeside trail with a “grand staircase” down to the water and periodic fireplaces/picnic areas.
 

2-5-2018

Although not a really exciting park, Abilene State Park is pretty and has the largest number of geocaches of any state park we have ever visited. However, no internet or cell service.
We went on many hikes, traversing the whole trail system at least twice, except for the longest trail which was closed for a wild boar hunt. So far, in spite of the large numbers of wild pigs we are told live here, we have only seen three, and all were dead on the side of the road!

The park is fairly flat and crossed by small streams. The CCC built all the structures and bridges.

The old water tower

The bath house by the swimming pool

 The lake is way down due to drought.

Denny at a dining area built by the CCC

On the way to our next destination we came across some cotton bales. Don't they look like big loaves of white bread?

We spent two days at Copper Breaks, a small state park with a couple of trails, some geocaches, a small canyon and a lake that was way down. Still no rain! Wednesday (1/31) was the warmest day yet, high 70s, and the first day for shorts and sleeveless!

Kismet is getting braver on the leash and even crossed the road. It probably helped that there are few other campers and no dogs!

Making sure to look both ways before crossing the road!

We'll be moving on south to Abilene today. Hoping to find a car wash (big enough for the RV), laundromat, PetsMart and grocery store all in close proximity before we head to the state park!