Spring Break Day 3 - Historic Ft. Davis

Today was such a great day, from sunrise to sunset full of amazing photos!!!

We got up bright and early as always to catch the sunrise.  We chose to go to the same spot as yesterday since we had such good luck there.  It was pretty, but not as colorful.  Still beautiful and inspiring though.

After taking the pictures we hopped back in the car and headed back to the campsite for our breakfast of dehydrated eggs and coffee.  We had just finished timing the rehydration of the eggs when the boy scouts next door came trooping through our campsite.  Boy were we surprised when they told us they had cooked WAY too much food and offered us home-made breakfast burritos!  They were so good and a welcome treat!  Thank you Scouts!  One boy was amazed we were having coffee while camping...pretty funny!

After cleaning up the site we jumped into the car for a little outside the park photo-walking.  We had seen some amazing formations along the highway on our way to and from the park, so we drove on over to shoot some pictures.

I just love these lonely trees atop the various mountain formations.  They look so beautiful against the Texas sky!

The next two trees just looked so colorful against the rock formations I couldn't resist!

After our short jaunt outside the park, we headed back to do what we had come to do - hike a mountain.  We were determined to complete Indian Lodge trail.  We could start at our campsite and walk to the the trailhead at the Indian Lodge and the end of the trail was right across the street from our campsite so we would end up back at the tent if everything went as planned.  This is a 1.7 mile hike, so we were pretty sure we could handle it. 

Remember the picture of the beautiful tree in front of the cobalt blue Texas sky from day 1?

This is pretty much the beginning of the trail.  You hike up the left side all the way up to the top.  You can actually stand by the tree and look over the valley below, so beautiful!

This is the same tree from the trail on the day we hiked it.

Some of the flora along the way...

I scared Pepaw a little here as I leaned over a boulder to catch a shot of the narrow view of the valley below...pretty cool, huh?

Once we got past that particular formation we just kept going up,

and up, and up.  Notice that same formation in the center of the picture below!

Higher and higher we climed, until...

we finally reached the peak!  We added our rocks to the "pile" and continued on. 

This is actually a shot from the "backside" of the mtn. we would end up climbing down to get back to camp.  From here you can see the entrance to the park and Skyline Drive going up the other mtn.

It only took us a short 3 hours to walk the 1.7 miles - of course part of that time was taking pictures...but it was a 463 ft. climb! 

After our hike we decided to drive on into Ft. Davis for a cold drink.  While there we went to the National Park - Historic Ft. Davis.  We got there just in time to see them fire the cannon.

This is an amazing experience as you watch a video about the history of the fort and then walk through some of the refurbished buildings.  It was amazing to look at the artifacts they've found while the archiologists have worked on bringing the fort back to as close to original as they can.

Old Glory never looked better.

One of the buildings they're working on.

After our trip we drove back to the park and up Skyline Drive to the "cell tower look-out" to take our sunset pictures.  It never ceases to amaze me, the variations the clouds go through in a very short amount of time. 

And the final BLAZE of glory as the sun disappeared behind the mountains and the sky LIT UP!

Time to call it a night...

The Davis Mountain Spring Break Adventure Begins!

Our trip started out with much anticipation.  Since Pepaw had to work Monday we couldn't leave until he got off work, so I kept the car to run some last minute errands and picked him up at about 4:00 Monday afternoon and we were OFF!  I was so excited.  We drove pretty much non-stop until we got to Abilene where we stopped to eat dinner.  At that point we both realized that we wouldn't be getting to the park at 5:00 or 6:00 A.M. as we originally thought, no, we would be getting there around 1:00 A.M and then sitting in a freezing car all night...we decided to drive for a while longer and then find a hotel to stop over and start fresh in the morning. We drove on into Big Spring and stopped at a little place there and slept in a bed for the last time for four nights.  Up bright and early we caught the complimentary breakfast - checked out - and we were back on the road before 7:00.  The sun wasn't even up yet.

We reached the park at about 10:00 A.M. and got checked in.  I picked up our State Park Pins to add to our collections and we drove down to our campsite.  The boy scouts that had been using that site weren't out yet (they don't have to be out until 2:00) so we drove around the park to see if we could find some good spots for pictures. We drove up scenic Skyline Drive - knowing there would be some good pictures at the top.  We stopped at the first little turn-off and got out to see the view.  This is only part-way up the mountain and this was my first shot at the park.

Trees along the ridge at Skyline Drive

We drove to the top, near the only cell tower, and I got a picture of the Indian Lodge.

Indian Lodge from the top of Skyline Drive

From there we decided to drive on back down and check to see if our campsite was ready yet.  Sure enough, the boys were gone, and to give credit where credit is due - the campsite was as clean as a whistle!  We started setting up camp quickly.  We got the tent up with only minor glitches and we were loading our supplies inside when I glanced up and this little charmer was peeking in the door! 

Our first visitor

I ran and got my camera and chased her around the campsite until I could get a shot - actually I took about 20!  She wasn't afraid of us at all and seemed quite used to the hulabaloo of a packed park.

After we completed setting up the camp we went back up Skyline Drive, past the peak to the other scenic overlook.  This is where the CCC built a small camp when they were here building the road, the stone guardrail and the Indian Lodge back during the depression.  There is a lovely shelter here now with a "picture window" where you can stand sheltered from the wind if you like and still see the scenery below.  I took these shots from the top.

Loved this old tree

Some of the desert flora along the side of the mountain

I was surprised to see these lovely flowers growing alongside the rocks

The view of one of the trees from one of the trails

Couldn't resist this rock and cactus against the beautiful Texas sky!

This is a side veiw of the rocks in front of the shelter with the picture window.

After a while at the top we decided drive back down to the Indian Lodge.  It took us a little while to figure out the parking, but we finally found a spot out back, and I immediatly HAD to get this shot of the rock formation and lone tree on the top!

The formation at the beginning of Indian Lodge Trail

The sky really was that blue!  We walked up the trail a little, taking pictures as we went.  I started a little way up the Indian Lodge trail and got this picture of Rick taking a picture of the cactus.

Rick demonstrates that getting just the right shot isn't always easy!



Perhaps later I can add a link to the actual shot he took here!

We finally stopped taking pictures long enough to go to the Black Bear Restaurant to have a bite to eat.  We both chose the CCC Chicken sandwich we had read so much about on Yelp...we were NOT disappointed.  One sandwich for the two of us would have been plenty and it was really good!  We had a little visitor come by and sit in the tree next to the window while we were eating.

Our lunchtime visitor - outside the window!

I think it is a cactus sparrow.  He didn't sit still very long!

We left the Lodge and drove to the headquarters again so I could get a hat - sadly I left mine at home and I would need one with the amount of wind and sun we were already seeing!  I was lucky enough to be walking by just as this trio of Montezuma Quail decided to cross the road toward the Montezuma Quail Trail!

Quail at the Quail Trail crossing!

Back up to the shelter on Skyline Drive to check out the view and see what the sunset might be doing -

View of the desert valley leading up into the mountains.

and then we were off toward Marfa to see if we would be able to see the famous Marfa Lights.

We finally found the viewing station they have set up out there - it is REALLY nice with a shelter and some seating, along with a small trail and historical markers that talk about the town.  We found a nice bench with some friendly Austin visitors that didn't mind sharing with us and I sat down to wait for the lights. 

After a nice sunset (I couldn't get pictures because there was a HUGE fence set up around the field, not to mention so many people to shoot around) the stars started coming out.  We saw a couple of lights that "MIGHT" have been Marfa lights, they glowed and disappeared, then glowed and disappeared again, but after that it was pretty much only car lights out in the mountains.  We stayed until 9:30, saw lots of constellations, and 3 planets in the sky, then decided to call it a day and head back to the park, our tent, and bed.

What an amazing first day this had turned out to be!!!!