copuswalker

How long are you going for? a backpack, a cart and a store for more food?? something tells me Mike is carrying a case or two of the magic juice with ice

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There are those that hike and those that don't and those that say they will but won't.

ploddinTod

Either that or a small refrigerator for his keg. Now the odors of hops and barley will attract the wildlife. :rolleyes:

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PloddinTod

Xanne

I was planning on camping for 7 days. Since I have never been on a campout that long and since I don't consider myself an experienced camper I just want to make sure that I am covering all the bases.
Thanks for any imput you can give me.
P.S.
As for the keg of beer. I'm more worried about just having enough drinking water for 7 days to worry about having anything other to drink.

ploddinTod

Just kiddin' with you, Mike. I'm sure you'll have a good trip. Bring a water filter with you and you could filter directly from the Pedernales below your campsite.

It's good that your site will be situated on a bluff above the river in case a downpour upriver causes a flash flood.

Hey, we may convert you into a backpacker yet. Enjoy.

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PloddinTod

Shannon

There's hope for all of us (to become backpackers). Prior to my knee injury, I was getting all outfitted. Got the Kelty Women's backpack now, a lighter weight sleeping pad, "new" (broken in, now) boots. I'm still lacking a water filter and head lamp, but I'm not yet back to full steam. We'll see how I fare with day hiking before I strap everything on to my back and make a go of it. Definitely by fall, though! No excuses for this gal!

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Xanne

Hello again everyone!
I was also considering going on my backpacking campout at Guadalupe River State Park. Does anyone know much about the primitive campsites there?
Thanks,
Michael

Shannon

The "primitive" campsites aren't really primitive, at least not in the same sense as the primitive-classified ones at Pedernales. There's a gravel parking lot and then you walk on a flat dirt path for less than 1/4 mile (or a few hundred yards, depending on which site you choose) and that's it. Picnic tables, tent pads, and water spigots available. No power. Composting toilet(s) at the parking area and a children's playground equipment area in a small wooded median in the parking area. Last time I drove through the area (back in April of this year) they were doing a lot of construction -- upgrading to either a non-composting toilet or perhaps creating additional ones, it seemed. Couldn't tell for certain if the campground was open or not -- it wasn't blocked, but there was no one there and there were a lot of contractors/construction vehicles that needed access to the same roadway I took to check out the area. You wouldn't really be "hiking" to your campsite, and the only hiking trail directly accessible from these sites is the river frontage trail, not the longer multi-use trail which permits some sense of backpacking (I last hiked it in April, though only about 4.2 miles of it -- en totale it's about 6 miles, despite what the park map says.)

I love that park, but I don't know that I'd classify the sites as primitive compared to say Pedernales' hike-in sites, or even Hill Country State Natural Area (another park in gravel lot and 'walk-in' camping experience, though there are true backpack-in sites that require 2-4+ mile hikes to access the sites. That'll be my first place to go backpacking, just because it's relatively 'close' to me and I'm very familiar with the park from many dayhikes and camping trips in the less-primitive, walk-in sites.

Hope this helps.

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Xanne

Thanks Shannon. I appreciate the information on Guadalupe State Park.

Unregistered

Lost Maples SNA and Bastrop SP are my two favorites around here for primitive camping. Nice scenery, and pretty much deserted.

Unregistered

how far is this SP from Inks Lake?

Shannon

Inks Lake State Park is 53 miles (58 minutes) from Pedernales Falls State Park.

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Your Host @ WildTexas.com
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campermom

In the Hill Country area, Hill Country SNA is your best bet for equestrian activities. If you don't have your own, there are outfitters outside the park which will bring a horse to the park for you to use. Just contact the office there, they have the info. If you do have a horse, there are plenty of portable pens and shade. The trails are old ranch roads so stone bruises shouldn't be an issue. I just wish they had real toilets.

A far a Perdernales as a base camp, great idea. Fredericksberg has Enchanted Rock, you can visit LBJ ranch, Go to Kerrville to tour YO ranch, New Braunfels to Natural Bridge Caverns and Wildlife Safari, Guadalupe River Sp in Spring Branch.

The most Primitive camping I've seen so far is a tie between Bastrop and Lost Maples. We've camped both in tents but at water/elec sites. For wildlife, Brazos Bend outside of Houston is tops. The nature center is like a trip to the zoo. Second would be Perdernales.

Safe, that is a difficult question. I travel with my 5 year old son. Hubbie doesn't like the camping thig so much and works out of town. That doesn't slow us down. I've never felt uncomfortable about our own safety or possesions. We've camped Bastrop, Lost Maples, Garner, Perdernales, Brazos Bend, and South Llano River. The next trip is April 27-30 tto Seminole Canyon. We will be with family since it is so close to the border. I was concerned a little and waited til they said they'd go. Shouldn't be to hot, yet.

We just started camping this fall and have enjoyed every minute out there. We try to put trips together which include 2 parks (Day-tripping one, camping the other). This works well. We've done Bastrop/Palmetto, Lost Maples/Garner, Perdernales/LBJ Ranch, Lost Maples/Hill Country, and South Llano/Fort McKavet. Check which parks are day use only and tack them onto a trip if you're in the area.

Just get out and enjoy what was created just for us.

Unregistered

Hi all ,
I was just thumbing through a Texas highway magazine and came across a story about Krause springs in Spicewood ...The pictures were spectacular!!!so....
my hubby and i packed up and headed to Austin . The plan was to start at Marble Falls and work our way down highway 71,we got a late start and had to motel it in Marble Falls, that morning we were in awe!! so beautiful in every direction..i think our first stop was Inks lake[just a drive through],the slab? Longhorn cavern[Outstanding!!],and then onto Krause springs, after ooohing and awwwing we set up camp and of course couldnt wait to jump into the icy water.
Cant believe it was once a hog farm....The next day we took off sightseeing and found Muleshoe park... and other tucked away gems, ..i guess August is not a good time to go, the water was so low...but beautiful just the same ..the weekend ended much to soon,...we are planning another trip next weekend!!! Pedernales falls will be out first stop for sure .

SunshineSnuz

We were at this great park Sept 22-24th. The thing that surprised me the most was that even though the park was filled to capacity for it's non-primitive sites, you barely noticed your neighbors. Oh sure, it wasn't like you were on a deserted island or anything, there were still plenty of people around, but while we were actually at our site we had some degree of privacy. The site was well laid out and had tons of trees between sites.

Oh wait a minute... did I just say we barely noticed our neighbors? Let me clarify that statement, I meant our HUMAN neighbors!! LOL!

So, we get to the campsite and start unloading... right away I have to quick step to avoid the deer poop (ah, watching Dancing with the Stars has really paid off!), no biggie we're used to them dropping by for visits. Got everything set-up in time for daughter and I to go exploring on the little cliff by the site while we're waiting for the rest of our group to show up. There we encountered the biggest darn armadillo I'd ever seen. He mustv'e been as big as a raccoon I tell ya!! (and as noisy as a herd of elephants)

Thankful to the rain that had come through earlier in the week the burn ban had been lifted so we got the fire lit and dinner going. Mmmmm, burgers!
Cleaned up, put left-overs away and decided to head over to the falls for a little night fishing. Oh sure, seemed like a good idea at the time... The hike DOWN to the Falls wasn't bad but by the time we decided to head back we had two rather pooped little girls and some tired Big boys. LOL! Not to mention that we only caught two tiny catfish, lost a flashlight, and forgot the drinks. Oh well.. it was an adventure anyway.

As soon as we got back to camp we saw just what an adventure it really was... There was food strewn everywhere! Darn raccoons had raided the cooler and the dry storage bin. Took our left over burgers, hot dog buns, raisins, marshmallows, graham crackers, cracker jacks, and a few other odds and ends. Thankfully we WERE smart enough to have most of the bread put up in the truck before we left. :rolleyes:

We got the kids to bed, cleaned up the mess, strapped down the coolers, and I headed off to hit the hay. Somewhere around 3:30 or so I wake up as my husband leaves the tent to go chase off the raccoons, back for some fine dining... Fall back to sleep but 5 - 10 minutes I'm woken up by some yelp and thundering noise right by the tent. Hmmm, there is my hubby, his buddy, and his buddys gfriend all on the picnic table... LOL! Seems we had a little stampede of Feral Hogs crash through our site! The campsite across from us was up making all sorts of ruckus to try to scare them away but I decide to just roll over and attempt to go back to sleep.

The morning brought some questionable weather but after Bfast made everyone put on their hiking shoes and take a walk with me. We went down to Wolf Mtn Trail and did a little off-trail adventuring. Wore everybody out there so took them to the Scenic Overlook for a rest. View was gorgeous! Went into HQ and let the two girls pick out hiking sticks (these are made by one of the Park Host's and are available for a small donation. I think we got two childsize for $15, worth it to support these helpful folks!). As the other three adults rested I took the girls on another short hike to get some use out of their new sticks. This park's trail system seems to be well tended and cared for (no trash).

As the skies darkened we made our way back to camp to let everyone start to unwind. I still wanted to see if there was a closer place to fish so hubby's buddy and I hiked down to Trammel's Crossing for a look. I must say that even with the recent drought this place is beautiful. We saw quite a few different types of fish swimming lazily around with a few even being decent size. The sounds of the kids swimming just downstream (upstream?) finally enticed us to put our feet in the clear water until the sounds of the distant thunder convinced us to take them back out again. We made it back to camp just as the rain started to fall.

For the next hour or so we left the kids in the tent while we all huddled under the shade canopy over the picnic table. (The kids of course stayed a heck of a lot more dry than we did!! ) As the rain passed we stoked the fire and started to work on drying out. The kids had fun chasing frogs and dancing by the fire. As we were preparing dinner our friendly neighborhood raccoons came back to pay us a visit. Mama was so brave that she'd wait til u weren't looking and actually make it all the way to the picnic table. Her two babies were just slightly less brazen. We spent a while chasing them away before they finally gave up (right then anyway!).

Hung out a while before kids and Hubby went to bed then the rest of us just chilled by the fire. Mama Raccoon and her babies were back again around midnight. We gave up on trying to chase them away and just made sure that everything was snug and secure. A bit later we decided to take a jaunt to the restroom and found out that we weren't the only ones with late night visitors...The Hogs were back and raiding coolers!! A guy from one of the sites near the restroom waved us down with his lantern and asked us to shine our light into an adjacent site... there we saw a huge (probably about 200lb) pig stealing, ironically enough, what appeared to be bacon out of their cooler. The guy told us that the darn hog had just stolen a bunch of Ribeye steaks from them (not to mention butter and sour cream).
On our way back from the restroom we again, carefully, shone our light in the adjacent campsite and saw that the pig had come back for more. Our light scared him off for that brief time but according to the guy we talked to in the morning (who happened to be "asleep" by the fire during the raid. LOL) he said they got hit pretty hard and the hogs took just about everything they could get their muzzle on.

Luckily for us everything was still where it should be when we got back to camp. After another hour or so as we were deciding to wrap it up I heard a 'snort' from the woods and out trotted 4 giant feral hogs and 2 smaller ones. No jumping on the picnic table this time, altho our buddy did grab the camp ax... LOL! They quickly moved through without much to do so it was off to bed for us.

Sunday we just lazed around most of the morning enjoying the cold front that had come through. As it started warming back up we got things packed up and headed to the Falls for another round of fishing before we headed home. The rain had definitely helped the water situation and there was quite a lot of nice scenery to behold. Fishing still wasn't top notch but the kids did enjoy themselves.

AS usual I am much too verbose but I must say that this was a quite enjoyable weekend and we have every intention of returning to this park to see what else it has to offer (we've got tons more exploring to do!).

rockhill

Reading your account of the raccoons brought back memories of one visit there. I had learned to 'coon proof the coolers thru the years and thought I had that time. We were in a pop-up and i put the cooler under the bed. You could not lift the lid more than an inch at most. You guessed it, little rascals were able to clean out a pound of bacon and 11 out 12 eggs while we slept above them. Guess they were being kind to leave one egg for 4 adults and two children!