Leander Dinosaur Tracks (Leander, TX) – March 2022

 I actually first heard about these back in 2008 when there were was a two-line blurb about it in the weekly “Community Impact,” so I went and checked it out then.  I parked at the side of little-used road near a bridge, walked down to the riverbed, and went upriver for about a half-mile or so until I found the tracks.  I took a single picture there, but I met someone who mentioned there was another track (less-defined) visible under the bridge because the water level was low.  I took a picture of that, too.  And other than a brief comment about it during a presentation put on by Austin Planetarium (before it was Texas Museum of Science and Technology), I didn’t think much about it.

 Since I knew I’d be leaving the area sooner or later, I decided to try to find these again.  Since there had been a lot of road construction on 183 north of Parmer (when it becomes “Ronald Reagan Blvd”), I wonder if the tracks even still existed, or had been destroyed by demolition or building of new homes.  The bridge was mostly the same, so I could find the area, even though it had greatly changed in a decade.  A had to check with a local business to find out where I should park, as many places were marked as a tow-away zone.

 Even though there was road construction, I was still able to pick my way down to the riverbed, and headed towards were the tracks were.  Once again as the water levels were low, I shouldn’t have any difficulty finding them (provided they were still there).  I encountered some people walking nearby, who’d come to see the tracks too.

 I took a picture of my foot next to one of the tracks for a sense of size.  There was about a half-dozen prints, spaced out every two of my steps, which ended at a sedimentary rock wall.  I’m sure if one was able to peel those layers back we would’ve found more.  So the prints were about 18 inches long, and sunk about an inch in the rock.  Other than the pace, and it was a three-toed bipedal reptile, that’s really all could be learned from it.  No clue of the species.  I’m sure the local geologists had already checked the surrounding rocks to get a general idea of the time of when these were made.  Dinosaurs existed for about 150 million years, which ended 65 million years ago, so these had been here for a bit.  The erosion of the river exposed these probably a couple hundred years ago, and they’ll probably be worn away in another century (if that long).

 I did look around the bridge area for the other tracks also.  It was an active construction site, and wasn’t able to locate them.  They may have been behind an area marked as a work zone.  Along the riverbed, I did have to note all the houses perched up on the top of the cliff, and the large clunks of rock which had tumbled down during the building process.  How long before that erodes, and these dwelling tumble into the ravine?

 

Buchanan Lake and Black Rock State Park (near Buchanan, TX) – March 2022

 This ended up being not what I expected.  I knew I had limited time, and wanted to get some pictures of Buchanan Lake, and figured a good place to do it would be from a nature area that might have some walking trails.  So that’s why I decided to head towards Black Rock State Park.  No I didn’t research it ahead of time, I just figured out how to get there.

 Black Rock State Park is just a camp ground with some villas and a small community center.  Not at all what I would consider a park.  Still, I paid the $5 to get in so I could take some pictures of the lake.  There was a nice sandy beach, so this would be a relaxing place to go and swim or perhaps a picnic destination.  I didn’t see it as a great camping area.  There was some wind which created some waves, which was nice to see.

 

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area (near Fredericksburg, TX) – March 2022

 When I first arrived in Texas, many people suggested that I go check out Enchanted Rock.  When I asked what it was and where it was, the response was “It’s a single big rock you can walk up, and it’s a few hours to the west.”  Ignoring the fact that I could’ve looked up information online about this, I just simply took it on faith what I was told.  As my time in this state was drawing to a close, and I remembered I’d never checked it out, I made it a point to see if I could visit it before I departed.  Thanks to trusty Google Maps, it wasn’t very far at all.  From Austin, you have to shoot up to Liberty Hill, go west to Llano, and then south to the area.  Alternatively you go out past Johnson City to Fredericksburg and then go north.  The distances were about the same.

 Google Maps showed me that it was, but never mentioned it was an actual park.  Dumb ass me didn’t research it completely.  I’d brought enough energy drink and snacks for a short walk, and I discovered it was a huge place with miles of trails.  And it was about 40 minutes from either Llano or Fredericksburg, so not very convenient to run and get lunch and scoot back.

 I started up the actual monolith which this place was named after, and the easy climb became harder as it got steeper and steeper.  One person who was going up at the same time I did suggested going in a zig-zag pattern to take the stress off your legs.  I didn’t notice much difference, as I know how to lean way forward to keep my center of gravity low.  There were few rocky outcroppings one could sit against and take a breather, and the steepness was taxing.  There was no defined trail, no hand-holds, or anything like that, so if you lost your balance and started to tumble that would be it for you.  I got three-quarters of the way to the top before my “healthy respect for heights” kicked in, and I carefully worked my way back down to more level ground.

 It wasn’t too hot, but it was enough that you had to be wary of your water.  I decided to do the Loop Trail which circled around the entire park area.  This was something with better planning I could’ve spent the whole day here with resupplies of water and food in a cooler tucked away in the vehicle.  As the elevation changes on many of the trails, I stuck with the pretty flat one so I could get the most distance by expending the least-amount of energy.  Along the way I took whatever interesting pictures I could of the formations in the brown barren Texas landscape.

 

Goliad Battlegrounds (Fannin, TX) – March 2022

 “Remember the Alamo” was a well-known phrase for the War for Texas Independence, but a lesser-known was “Remember Goliad.”  That was due to the battle, and subsequent massacre of the Texan forces by the Mexican army.  The actual town of Goliad contains the mission where the Texan prisoners were held, until they were marched a few miles east (to present day Fannin) where the massacre took place.  My Mum had being doing all the major stops along the Texas Independence Trail, and this was one she hadn’t gotten too yet.  I had some time to burn, and took a day trip down there.

 I’ll say this, it was a long drive to see very little.  I couldn’t get into the mission in Goliad proper as there was some school trip there which filled it with screaming kids.  I drove over to Fannin for the battleground, and found the site (hidden behind some railroads tracks and a trailer park).  There was a huge open area with a monument, and a small building which provided the historical information.  I’d taken along Mum’s picture so I could place it at some of those locations so I could say she was there by proxy.

 The last picture here was of the Goliad courthouse, which Mum liked seeing the various town squares of these small areas.  I had lunch at a place off the square, which was like the drive down, a long time for a little.