Colorado Bend

Leah and I had a wonderful trip to Colorado Bend State Park last weekend. I got out of work as fast as I could Friday and Leah was already home getting all of our things packed up. The weather was not exactly the best for the beginning of a camping trip, but we would not be stopped. We arrived around 9 o'clock in complete darkness. The sky was completely overcast and had been drizzling on us all evening. Fortunately we had a rather bright LED lantern complements of Marie and Ryan. They arrived later that night with parallel anticipation of better weather in the morning. We could see faint silhouettes of trees and hills around us and were looking forward to the views that we would awake to. I enjoyed the pitter patter of the light rain on the tent all night long. Leah was apparently not as confident as I in the waterproofness of the tent and so was worried that we were going to get wet all night long. We stayed dry though so that should not be a problem in the future.

The weather had improved slightly by morning; the rain had turned into the lightest form of precipitation that I had ever seen. Like an extremely thick fog slowly sinking to the ground. Breakfast was coffee and heaping piles of community oatmeal. The four of us took a well-intentioned hike up a trail next to a creek that ended in disarray. We lost track of the trail because of high water and decided that we could woods walk (meaning quite literally to walk through the woods where there is not a trail) to the road on the map. As it turned out we were not as far up the trail as we had thought and ended up walking much farther off trail than we had planned. It was mostly without incident and we saw lots of undisturbed plants and rocks that you don't usually see from the trail.

Not a bad detour when all was said and done. We were all wet and tired when we returned to camp so we made lunch and a fire. The fire was Boy Scout standard. One match with no artificial starters or materials. I was proud. The last two members of the camp-out (Christy and Tom) arrived early that afternoon and joined us around the fire for a while. Once we were fed, dried and rested the six of us took off for a trailhead to Gorman Falls. Daylight was approaching it's end and the walk was great.

The trail fell downhill all the way to the Colorado River where a spring fed creek empties over a 65 ft cliff. The water is very rich in minerals that have deposited over the years to form rounded cascades of water.

It was dark when we returned and got dinner started. The coals were still hot from the afternoon so the fire started easily. Dinner was barbecued chicken, vegetables and fried potatoes. Dessert was hot cocoa, cider and s'mores. It was a relaxing evening around the fire with good friends and easy conversation.

Sunday arrived with promising looking skies. There was dense morning fog with hints of sunshine to the east.

As the sun rose higher and came over the banks of the Colorado, the fog burnt off, the skies cleared and the temperature rose. Breakfast was bacon, eggs and toast. We all relaxed around camp while tents and gear dried out in the sun.

Marie and Ryan left early in need of productive time at home. Christy and Tom headed to the south end of the park for a walk up Spicewood Springs. Leah and I were left to our own devices and headed back to Gorman Springs for a walk out to the springs themselves. We had visited the waterfall the day before and wanted to see the springs and the creek. The walk was beautiful. The temperature was 75 F, the skies were sunny and there was a light breeze. Big dry leaves were falling from the last remnants of color left in the trees. Surely a late fall day to remember.

Christmas is right around the corner.

See many of you soon!

Happy Holidays,

Love Leah and Jay