Camping in Texas in February

I am posting this for future reference and for anyone planning a camping trip in possibly very cold weather and especially if the people are novice campers.

1. I would like each person who attends to "bring a skill to teach" to the camp-out and I would like a commitment asap. I know this sounds demanding, but we are not just camping, we are having a fellowship and workshop. Your skill can be how to prepare a simple food item, or how to make a homemade tent peg - I don't really care. However, you have the option of providing the necessary items for all or posting a list of things we need to bring. Search the Internet or youtube.com for ideas.

2. My selected skill is going to be teaching everyone how to use a GPS device. Please bring one if you have one, or purchase one immediately. The Garmin eTrex H GPS is an excellent choice and is $86 shipped on Amazon.com. I plan to teach Geocaching also to everyone who is interested. The park has many caches alongside the trails and this is a lot of fun to boot. Make sure to bring your manuals if you bring a GPS unit and you are unfamiliar with its operation.

3. Next item is transportation. Who is riding with whom and when do you plan on arriving? Two vehicles only are allowed at the campsite with additional parking not too far away. You can drop your gear at the campsite - we won't know which one we get until we arrive.

4. Each person is responsible for whatever food and personal items you need. It's the best way and proven course of action. Do not get too elaborate or it may be come difficult - due to weather conditions.

5. Footwear: Boots and no ankle socks. Ankle socks may be cool in town, but they are flat cold when camping and your ankles will get scratched to high-heaven while geocaching. Cotton socks are cold, so buy hiking socks and if you can afford wool, then get about 3 pair. Bring extra socks anyway and a second pair of shoes for around the camp area, so you can dry your hiking boots if they get wet. There is a water crossing or two on the trails. A small towel in your kit will help if you have to wade barefoot then put your boots back on. It happens.

6. Hot showers and warm toilets: The park has first class showers and restrooms. Bring flip-flops or water shoes for the showers and all necessary toiletries in Baggies.

7. Fees for the park per person: $3 per day, per person 13 and older, staying overnight- unless you have a park pass, which I do. It's $60 per year and well worth it.

8. Fishing: Fishing is limited to a small area, but you do not have to have a license to fish in a Texas State Park. The park will even loan you a pole, etc.

9. Activities: All group activities are optional, but encouraged. I personally plan to hike the 4 mile trail and the 7.5 mile wolf Mountain trail on separate days. All are welcome to come along and the 4-mile trail is a casual walk, but the 7.5 mile trail is a no joke no fooling around hike.

10. Cameras, IPOD's, chargers and batteries: Bring plenty of everything, but my personal experience concerning IPOD's, et al, is they alienate a person from the group. I have 2 and I'm not bringing either one on the trail. I have a camp radio that has an IPOD connection, which is perfect for sitting around the campfire for all to enjoy. Austin radio, which is excellent will also be available. Electricity is available at the campsite, as is potable water.

11. Firewood: One of us has committed to bringing a lot of wood, but we need back-up in the event that they have to opt out at the last second. The more wood, the better.

12. Containers: Rubbermaid makes excellent locking containers. You can get one of these at Target for about $35 and it will keep the raccoons out of your stuff. Rubbermaid 1172 Action Packer Storage Box, 24-Gallon

13. Raccoons:  Raccoons WILL get into your stuff if you do not secure it. Count on it.

14. Tents and sleeping bags. You must prepare for very cold weather. 20 degrees F. or possibly colder. Hopefully we will have moderate weather. Since we are sleeping in a State Park, we have the luxury of taking extra blankets, so bring some. Bring a pull over knit hat for your head while sleeping, or you will freeze to death regardless of how good your sleeping bag is. Trust me on this.

Pedernales Falls State Park is Awesome - Part 2!

It’s day two of our camping trip to Pedernales Falls State Park (PFSP) and we’ve decided to tackle the 4-Mile Loop Trail and since my brother, TJ Bustem has a temperamental back, I will hike the Wolf Mountain Trail solo on Saturday, which from our campsite is a little over 10 miles.

The first obstacle we encountered was a shallow river crossing called the Trammel Crossing. TJ removed his low-quarter hiking boots and socks and waded across, but I was able to ford the river without getting my socks wet. He remarked that it was not even close to being as cold as a river he forded in Montana.

We began catching close-up views of deer and Thursday night we spied a 9-point buck was within 50 feet of our camp. After a mild ascent of this trail, we began seeing extensive evidence of feral hogs, but no hogs. The weather was beautiful, sunny and pleasingly cool, but without wind. It was picture perfect and we were taking pictures aplenty.

It was also fairly easy and we wandered over the trail taking photographs and our time. Up on top, we tried to get a cell phone signal and we stopped by an ancient family graveyard. It was so old the stones were in disarray and their marking were faint. We also came across quite a few cairns. Cairns were used by Native Americans and Mountain men to leave messages and point directions. A cairn is described as a mound of stones piled up as a memorial or to mark a boundary or path.

The hike took a total of about 4 hours and that included many diversions, photographs and observations of this and that and since we were not on a schedule, the time was well spent.

The temperature rose into the 60’s and was quite comfortable. We cooked on our stove, drank more coffee and toured the park using their map, which is free at the welcome center and finished the day back at the Falls. This area is very rough and flood prone when it rains up north and since it is basically like God made it, kind of unsafe to those who are not agile or inattentive. There are no signs warning you to watch out or you could fall and break your bones and I liked this immensely. Go down around the rocks and you pay attention – it’s that simple. We met a number of good folks and a couple from Fort Worth/Dallas.

Back at camp, we lit off our campfire and settled in around the flames to watch the stars. Wow, there are a lot of stars visible when you are away from city lights. We saw a number of satellites too. Hitting the sack about 11:30, I was not near as wary as I was the first night and since we had already had a visit from our raccoon marauder while at the campfire, I figured the night would be uneventful. It was not to be.

Somewhere around 2 am, the raccoon was back and I got up and threw rocks at it. They are extremely adept at accessing your equipment. Yesterday morning, the little rascal had eaten about 15 Hershey mini-candy bars from my brothers container. It had reached through the carrying hole and one by one had pulled the candy out, removed the aluminum foil wrapper and left a small scattered pile of debris. Evidentially chocolate is not hazardous to raccoons.

When we awoke Saturday morning, we discovered our furry friend had opened my ice chest and removed about 3 pounds of fish fillets, ate his fill and even left a small amount on the trail leading away from the camp area. I imagine this happened about the time I got up to chase it off. The sound we heard was evidentially the noise a coon makes when it is very happy. It sounds like a bubbling warble with a few clicks thrown in for good measure. TJ Bustem wasn’t a happy camper, as he had warned me and wanted to put the cooler in his truck for the night.

In Part 3 I hike the Wolf Mountain Trail – Stay tuned.