Blanco State Park, Blanco, Texas
A man’s own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the LORD. ~ Proverbs 19:3
The post today was supposed to be about San Antonio, but God led Blaine in another direction when He presented the opportunity for him to learn that because it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, one of the largest marches in the nation was to be held in San Antonio – an estimated 300,000 people! We’re not sure why here in San Antonio, but there ya go.
So glad Blaine discovered that!
We put our heads together and came up with a different plan. In the opposite direction.
Roughly an hour’s (scenic!) drive away was a place called “Enchanted Rock”. I’d read about it some when I was researching things to do in the area, but the picture and the information I had wasn’t all that compelling to warrant driving an hour to see it. In other words, I wrote it down, and promptly forgot about it.
However, a woman at the church we visited yesterday, mentioned it to Blaine as a “must see” place, so we packed up our lunch and off we went.
But first, I need to back up to last night. That’s actually when the decision was made and it’s a good thing Blaine’s so thorough in his research because this State Park takes reservations. You actually have to reserve your time-slot in order to enter the Park! I think it’s just their way of regulating the number of people in the Park for the day. It also keeps everyone from showing up all at the same time. Once you’re in, you’re in for as long as you want. But what if we’d shown up without a reservation? After driving for an hour? Yikes!
They took it, marked it and gave it back to put in our windshield.
The place is infinitely more impressive in person than in photos! Just so you know. It reminded us a bit of Stone Mountain Georgia – without the carving. This mountainous pink and black rock rising way above the horizon was probably all the more imposing because there’s nothing else around like it – meaning, all the trees, etc. are relatively short – because the climb to the top was only a mere 400’ elevation change. Can’t wait to see what happens when we get to the Rocky Mountains later this summer!
Anyway, we enjoyed our trek to – and around – the top (1,825’), along with quite a few other people. 😊
And then we made our way to a trail that seemed to head over to a small lake. What we couldn’t see from the mountain was that the gap trail between the Enchanted Rock and Freshman mountains was over tons of fallen rocks lying in the valley between the two mountains. So that was a bit challenging, but we loved it.
We had to return the way we came, and we eventually caught up to a family that included a teenage son and daughter. We didn’t really talk to them because we were all busy trying to find our way amongst the rocks, but we got to this one place that required a giant step up (for us short people, anyway). As I approached it, I discovered the daughter had stayed behind to help me up! Wasn’t that sweet of her?! I didn’t really need any help, but I just felt like I couldn’t refuse her, you know? I believe you should never refuse an opportunity to make people feel useful or needed. She wasn’t much help and I was more afraid of pulling her down than her helping me up, but it’s the thought that counts, right? Once she “helped” me, she offered to help Blaine next, and I’m sure you already guessed how that went. Yep. A firm but polite, “Thanks, but I got it.”
There are several other trails you can explore here too. One of them, the 5.(something) mile loop trail, said it went around the base of the mountain. I was expecting it to be just a fairly flat walk around the mountain, but it wasn’t! And it was a terrific hike! Almost all the trail was at least four-people wide and graveled. We’re thinking so the rangers can get their ATVs or other emergency equipment to where they need to be. (we only think that because we saw one drive by us 😊)
By the time we made it back around, it was time to head back home.
What a glorious day – in weather, activity and glimpses of His glory in nature – the Father blessed us with!