Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge

Hi Blog!

Friday, October 27, 2017, was our first full day in Marble Falls, Texas. We are camped on the shores of Lake LBJ. We were looking forward to kayaking, but Mother Nature had other plans. While today was a beautiful day, it was too chilly and windy to kayak. After checking on the Top 10 Things to do in Marble Falls, we decided to visit Balcones Canyonland National Wildlife Refuge. The 20 mile drive took us deep in the heart of Texas Hill Country.

After checking in at the Visitor's Center, we did a short nature walk. We started with a stroll though a meadow filled with pollinators.

We were hoping to spot some Monarch Butterflies who stop here on their migration route. However, the windy weather may have kept them hidden. We did spot this beautiful swallowtail.

From a blind looking down on a pond, we spotted this turtle swimming by.

Fall has come to the hill country, but we were still able to find the occasional wildflower.

Balcones Canyonlands is not a continuous piece of land. It is actually fragmented into several sections with only 3,000 of its 27,500 acres open to the public. After the Visitor Center, we drove up to the Warbler Vista to take in the view from the Sunset Deck. From here, we look down on Texas's own Colorado River (not to be confused with the actual Colorado River).

We took a short hike along the Ridgeline Trail.

Kathy stopped to examine some of the Edwards Limestone.

Naturally acidic water dissolved the limestone, creating this unusual honeycombed rock. Over the centuries, this limestone layer was buried. Surface water drains down and pooled in the nooks and crannies, creating an underground aquifer. Edwards Aquifer is the source of many Central Texas springs and beautiful Hill County rivers.  These same rivers eventually flow into the marshes, estuaries and bays along the Texas coast.

After taking in the views from Ridgeline Trail, we drove over to Doeskin Ranch. Along the way we made several stops along Cow Creek to take in the views.

After picknicing in the parking lot, we headed out on the Creek Trail. The ranch still has a few remnants from the homesteading era. This old corn crib is still in pretty good shape, but clearly is very old because lichens have grown on the logs.

We headed out across a small section of prairie grass on our way down to Mountain Creek.

At this time of the year, the creek flows mostly underground, coming up in springs and pool along the stream bed.

There were several nature stops along the trail, posted with numbers keyed to a guide we received at the visitor center.  At the stops, the guide pointed out various aspects of the environment.

This was our favorite stop.  Can you find the prickly pear cactus in the tree? No one knows exactly how it got there, but some suspect that a ringtail or other forest dweller ate a prickly pear fruit and pooped out the seeds on the tree branch, where they took root. We'll never know.

When we looked at this tiny waterfall, it reminded us of the travertine shelves you see at hot springs. However, here the water is wearing down and eroding the limestone, not building it up with travertine by depositing its minerals on the formation when it evaporates.

We did find one little section of the creek that was running strong. Here we leave you with the sounds of burbling Mountain Creek.

Post Script: On our way back into town, as we approached the intersection of Highway 281 and Commercialburbia, we looked over to the side of the road and spotted this Great Blue Heron watching six lanes of traffic go by.

Normally, great blue herons are extremely shy and will rarely let humans approach closer than 100 yards or more.  But this heron must have become habituated to traffic, because our Jeep was only 50 feet from him.

The forecast for tomorrow is warmer and less windy, so we're hopeful we'll get a kayak adventure.  Tune in to the next blog entry to find out.