Flora and Fauna in Choke Canyon State Park

Our original title for this blog entry was going to be, "Hiking in Choke Canyon State Park," because that is what we did today.  However, on reflection, and considering all the photos we got of flowers and birds -- and the animals that got away -- we decided it would be more appropriate to give credit where credit is due:  to the flora and fauna we encountered, which, indeed, made our hike enjoyable.

Despite the change in title, we will stick with the opening trailhead selfie, because that is how we do our blog:

Choke Canyon Reservoir lies about 65 miles south of San Antonio, Texas. It impounds water from the Frio River shortly before the river's confluence with the Nueces River.  Choke Canyon, prior to the creation of the reservoir, was given that name because it was a canyon in which three rivers, the Frio River, the Atascosa River and the Nueces River, converged to form the Nueces River. It provides drinking water for the city of Corpus Christi. It also provides good fishing opportunities, especially for large mouth bass and catfish.  Choke Canyon State Park, located in two places on the south shore of the lake, provides access to the lake and a number of other recreational activities.

In a 50-year agreement between the Bureau of Reclamation, the City of Corpus Christi and the Nueces River Authority, the section of the park that we visited opened in 1987.

This area was once a part of Calliham, Texas, a small community boasting the first oil and gas wells in the south Texas area. Investors in oil and gas helped to establish the town from which a 68-mile-long pipeline was built to deliver the first natural gas supply to San Antonio. As the years progressed, many people moved away from Calliham and the population fell to about 120. Meanwhile, the population of Corpus Christi grew. In order to address water needs, the State of Texas acquired the property in 1981 and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built Choke Canyon Dam, creating the reservoir and lake in 1982. The town of Calliham was relocated three miles south of its original location to make room for the reservoir.

We expected a large lake, fully 12 miles long and 6 miles wide.  What we found was a seriously shrunken lake.  This same fate seems to have visited most lakes in Texas, including Lake Corpus Christi, where we are camping and paddled recently.

Riprap dozens of feet high has been exposed where water should have been.  Fishermen do not seem to be fazed, however, and still stand on the shore, fishing for crappy, bass and other local fish:

The day was sunny and warm, but not too hot.  We decided on a 6 mile hike to see the network of trails through the park.  We were rewarded by a wide variety of wildflowers and animal life.  These pretty red flowers were the first flora to greet us --

-- and this beautiful golden-brown butterfly sat still long enough for us to take its portrait:

All along our trail, new varieties of flowers greeted us, such as this pink beauty --

-- and these compact little orange balls:

More common flowers joined them, such as these daisies, which appeared in abundance in some areas along the lake (as you'll see below):

The dominant tree in this environment is mesquite, and the park boasts some very large, old mesquite trees, such as this dramatic fellow:

However, the park is not far from its historic roots.  As we looked across the lake toward San Antonio, we could see a petroleum facility, reminding us that, despite efforts, such as in the park, to return the South Texas environment to its historically prairie character, human industrial activity still affects the landscape:

Did we mention the daisies spread abundantly along the lakeshore?

Park materials did not disclose this little gem, which was a bird sanctuary, constructed as a haven for native birds such as the green jay, golden-fronted and ladderback woodpeckers, northern cardinals, and black orioles.

We saw all of those taking advantage of the shelter and water provided in the bird sanctuary, thanks to the large blind around the sanctuary.  However, we were only able to catch photos of this beautiful golden-fronted woodpecker as he (she) went about her (his) business:

Fittingly, the trails in the park are named after birds.  This section of Green Jay Pass was one of the more beautiful places we walked:

Most of the animals we spotted were butterflies and birds.  We did see some small lizards, and millions of ants which, remarkably, have carved "ant highways" through the grass in many sections of the park.  These little highways lead from large ant hills to various nearby regions that must be useful to the ants:

Speaking of butterflies, we also spotted a number of bright, golden butterflies busy about the blossoms that lined the trails:

Another bird that is the caracara, a raptor in the falcon family that is native to South America but has begun ranging into Texas:

Some of our bird spotting involved familiar friends, such as this great blue heron sharing a perch on the lake with a turtle.  They clearly have different thoughts on their minds:

As we sat and ate our lunch, watching the waterfowl, the heron flew over to perch on another log -- in the company of yet another turtle:

Back to terra firma, we spotted yet another butterfly -- a beautiful sable color with chocolate brown spots:

Things we did not spot include poisonous snakes, of which there are several types, and alligators (although Choke Canyon was the location of a teenager's bagging of Texas' record alligator, an 800 pound monster.  

We heard, but also could not spot, a wild turkey.  We spotted coyote and deer tracks but not those animals themselves.  We also spotted lots of soil damaging from the rooting around of javelinas -- but not the javelinas themselves.

Maybe next time -- except for the alligators, javelinas and snakes.
 

Goliad History Lesson

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Hi Blog!

On our way to Mathis, Texas in the RV, we drove through Goliad, Texas. We learned there were a number of historic sites in Goliad and decided to make a day trip back to explore some Texas history.

Goliad is the third oldest town in Texas and is the county seat of Goliad County, one of the original counties of Texas. The modern town of Goliad began in 1749 when the Spanish moved the Mission Espiritu Santo de Zuniga and the Presidio La Bahia here from the Guadalupe River.

We started our history tour at the El Camino Real de los Tejas Visitor Center. The El Camino Real was a thoroughfare in the 18th century Spanish colonial era in Spanish Texas and was instrumental in the development and history of Texas. The trail has been mapped from Louisiana through Texas to Mexico with part of the trail crossing through Goliad County. 

The Visitor Center is located in a reconstruction of the Custodian's Cottage for the Mission Espiritu Santo de Zuniga.

The Civilian Conservation Corps was assigned to Goliad, Texas from 1935 to 1941 to work on a project known as Goliad State Park. The CCC built a custodian’s complex for the park between 1936 and 1937.  The CCC built most everything in the house by hand as the house was an experimental studio, testing the methods they would use to reconstruct Mission Espíritu Santo in the park. The tile was fired in a kiln on site in the park. Hinges on the doors were made in the metal shop at the CCC camp. There are 8 different doors in the cottage so the CCC craftsman could practice the various styles used by the Spanish.

In addition to the hand made furniture and built-in bookcases, the CCC used logs to create an offset staircase leading to the second floor. The design is a great way to save space in a small house.

After the Visitor Center, we made our way over to Goliad State Park. This Texas state park was established to preserve the Spanish mission and commemorate historic events in Texas history. The Spanish established the mission at this site in 1749. The Franciscan priests closed the mission in 1830. The Civilian Conservation Corps reconstructed the mission during the 1930s so that it would appear as it did in 1783. The site became a state park in 1949. 

The reconstruction of the mission was done on the actual footprints of the mission buildings. The project included the Church, Granary, Cloister, and Workshop. New construction included a store, museum, furniture and decorative metalwork, the park roads, campgrounds and picnic areas.

The granary building was filled with lots of period artifacts. Supervised by Franciscan priests, the women spun wool for clothing, made clay pots used for storage and cooking, harvested grain, fruit, and vegetables, and ground corn into meal. The men worked with cattle, farmed, and assisted with the construction of the mission and presidio. These people became adept horse riders and ranchers. Over time the mission became one of the first large cattle ranches in the region. 

Inside the museum, we explored the history of the area. The native people living and working at the mission were from many groups, including the Aranama, Piguique, Manos de Perro, Tamique, Tawakoni, and Tonkawa. They chose to try life at the mission because the mission and presidio provided protection from raids. During the American Revolution, mission vaqueros herded thousands of heads of cattle to Louisiana in support of the American struggle for independence.

 

Spanish soldiers from nearby Presidio La Bahia were assigned to protect the Mission.  Some may still linger on the premises:

The mission remained in service until Mexican Independence in 1821. However, two Franciscans refused to leave and remained as parish priests. By the 1830s most of the Christianized Indians had left and the mission was facing opposition from raiding Apache and Comanche. These conditions coupled with a lack of money and political turmoil in Texas forced the mission to close in 1830.

After the mission was abandoned, stone from the site was used in new construction projects. This section of wall was the only one left standing when the CCC began their work.

After visiting the museum, we walked the walled in grounds of the mission. The fields were full of wildflowers. An old sun dial sits in one of the gardens.

By the time we finished our walk, it was getting close to lunchtime, so we asked a Park Ranger for a recommendation for lunch. On the way to La Bahia Restaurant, we passed the Presidio La Bahia State Historic Site. We learned that the Presidio is owned and operated by the Catholic Diocese of Victoria.

The Presidio La Bahía was designated a National Historic Landmark and is considered the world's finest example of a Spanish frontier fort. This fort was the most fought-over fort in Texas history, participating in six National Revolutions/Wars for independence. Spanish, Mexican and Texas soldiers all garrisoned in its fortified walls. 

Presidio La Bahía was a fort, not a mission. The chapel was erected in the quadrangle for the sole use of the soldiers and Spanish settlers living in the town of La Bahía surrounding the fort. The name given the chapel was "Our Lady of Loreto," and is the oldest building in the compound in continuous use since the 1700s.

The chapel is one of the oldest churches in America, and one of the only buildings in existence that has its original "groin vaulted ceiling" in place. The striking fresco behind the altar was done in 1946 by the "Michelangelo of South Texas," renowned Corpus Christi artist Antonio Garcia.

During our visit, we learned more about the Texas Revolution and the Goliad Massacre. On March 27, 1836, following the Battle of Refugio and the Battle of Coleto, approximately 445 prisoners of war from the Army of the Republic of Texas were executed by the Mexican Army in the town of Goliad. The men surrendered under the belief they would be set free within a few weeks; however, this was not to be. Despite appeals for clemency, the massacre was carried out by Lt. Colonel José Nicolás de la Portilla, under orders from General and President of Mexico, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The massacre happened just a few weeks after the Battle of the Alamo. Each year, re-enactors gather at the fort to remember. We arrived just after the final memorial concluded this year's re-enactment. There were still a few camps out on the parade grounds.

After our visit to the Presidio, we took a stroll through Goliad State Park along the banks of the San Antonio River. There are five major 18th-century Spanish missions built along the historical course of the river near the town of San Antonio. The most famous mission is San Antonio de Valero, better known as the Álamo. The Presidio La Bahía and its mission, Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga in Goliad are located along the southern portion of the river.

On the way back to camp, we decided to visit historic downtown Goliad. In the good old days, Goliad was known for the Goliad Stampede that included local cowboys and cowgirls pushing longhorn cattle through the Goliad square. It was discontinued after the Bicentennial in 1976 when 116 longhorns were spooked during the cattle drive and began to scatter into the crowd of onlookers and vehicles. This tradition is still talked about in the community, and they hope to carry the memory on with a Goliad Stampede Greenspace installation. This new public space will feature colorful plants, custom painted life size cattle and will be the grand entrance to the marketplace when vendors set up for Monthly Market Days. 

 

How Now. Colorful Cows!

The Courthouse Square is a quintessential south Texas small town square with stunning live oak trees and many architect designed buildings from local Goliad brick and salvaged stone from the Mission site. The Square was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and Goliad was named a Texas Main Street City in 1984. 

The Goliad County courthouse dominates the town square. A major hurricane had removed the central tower, but a major restoration was completed in 2003. The reconstruction and installation of the central tower, made hurricane-resistant, returned the courthouse to its original height.

More rain is expected, so it may be a day or two before we having anything further to blog about. 

 

In the meantime, stay thirsty my friends.

 

Paddling from Mustang Hollow on Lake Corpus Christi

What do we do on our way from Galveston Beach to our date with The Eclipse in Uvalde, Texas?  Well, we look for a place along the way with stuff we like to do.  We got lucky here in Mathis, Texas, halfway between those two spots.  After exploring Padre Island National Seashore yesterday, we took advantage of a warm, relatively windless day to paddle out onto Lake Corpus Christi, where our campground at Mustang Hollow is located.  Take a look at the map below; we are where the blue circle is; Lake Corpus Christi stretches out to our southwest.  It is so huge that we had no chance to paddle out to the main part of the lake.  We could only explore the estuary of the lake near our campsite.

Our campground has seen better days.  It looks like it had once been a KOA, but now it is a very rustic spot out in the middle of nowhere.  Luckily, the Mustang Hollow Boat Ramp (as it is denoted on Google Maps) still exists.  The lake clearly has fallen in level at least 10-12 feet over the years, but our campground boat ramp still served our purpose:

Once out on the lake, on this nearly windless late morning, we thought we had stumbled on the perfect paddling day:

As we paddled south along the Eastern shore of our branch of the lake, we witnessed an uniformly sad story:  every lakeshore property had a dock that stretches out toward our neck of the lake, but doesn't reach it anymore.  At least this property can boast a waterslide-to-nowhere in addition to the dry dock:

We realized that we didn't see any boats in the water.  Most likely it was because none of the lakeshore properties had deep enough water access to float a boat.  We think that, perhaps, we are seeing the annual low level of the lake, and that Spring rains will raise the level to where many of these homeowners can put a boat in the water.  But we are pessimistic that this is the case.

For example, out in the middle of our little "arm" of the lake, we spotted this old dead tree, stretching out of the water, with white and red poles mounted on it to warn boaters.  We realized that the lake must have had a much higher level at one time, for this construction to make sense.

We thought we would follow our arm of the lake out to where it joins the main body of Lake Corpus Christi (see the first photo above).  We were mistaken.  The lake level has been low for so long, that our "arm" of the lake is no longer connected to the lake at all!  We paddled south as far as we could, hoping to find the channel to the main body of the lake.

Never found it.

We gave up when we realized we were landlocked, and pulled ashore on the stretch of land between our "lakelet" and the main lake.  The shoreline was beautiful, with fresh, tall grass on the high sections of sand, and innumerable freshwater clamshells gracing the shore below the grass:

Here was the view we had at lunch:

We spotted tracks of multiple beings, including humans, deer and coyotes.  We also saw shells testifying to the rich freshwater clam history of this body of water:

We had paddled 2 miles and decided to have lunch while we were ashore.  After eating, we started back, hoping we could find access to the main part of the lake north of our campground.  We paddled along the shore of the "island" (now isthmus) separating us from the main body of the lake, and noted many lacunae, including this old pail, rusty and at rest in the shallows along the beach:

 

 

We hoped that the paddle back to our campground would bring us past more birds, and we were right.  It wasn't long before we spotted this suspicious anhinga --

-- who didn't take long to escape our gaze:

At the four mile mark (two miles out and two back), we returned to the section of the backwater near our campground, and paddled into a ghostly, dead mestquite forest that may have grown next to the stream that had flowed here before the dam that formed Lake Corpus Christi flooded this area.  It was spooky to paddle among the dead bodies of mesquite trees:

Some unfortunate boater got too close to the water hazards and lost his (her?) boat to the Lake Gods:

This tree reminded us of a flying raptor.  We approached it with respect --

-- and Kathy dared to paddle behind it to show herself in its dramatic opening:

We continued on and found another friendly anhinga to memorialize.  For some reason, the anhina are more tolerant of our presence than, say, great blue heron, who are very intolerant and fly away when we approach within 100 yards, or even white egrets, who don't let us get as close as 50 yards.  So...here's to you, friendly anhinga!

We paddled north, past our campground, hoping to find the Northwest Passage into the main part of Lake Corpus Christi.  It looked like we may have found it, when we saw this green marker on a series of pilings:

It turned out that the pilings were the base for a bridge that had apparently run from the shore on our side of the lake, out to that appears to have been an island in the lake:

Past the pilings, we found what probably was the channel to the main part of the lake.  But all we could see was grass, and we were getting tired and pessimistic about paddling along grassy islands, looking for passages, and not finding any.  So we concluded that our section of the lake is, in fact, now separate from the main body of Lake Corpus Christi.  Our little lake is its own ecosystem.

We turned back to paddle to our put-in spot.  We passed a mooring for several small boats presumably owned by campers at our campground:

 

Some egrets were enjoying the sun and fishing along a point near our campground, and we caught one who was not as skittish as the others, giving us some memory of his flock:

 

By now, it was into the afternoon, and the winds had picked up.  We had an energetic paddle, into the wind, back south to our boat ramp from the north end of our estuarine branch of Lake Corpus Christi.  We had paddled nearly 5 miles in about 2.5 hours and felt that we had enjoyed a rather unusual and unexpected environment.

Here's to the next paddle.  May it be as joyous!