Weekend Reflections

Panther Canyon

New Braunfels, TX

This signage is located at the trailhead to Panther Canyon,

explaining to visitors about the Edwards Aquifer. 

(And that's my daughter and I reflected in

it's surface.)

A 51 acre trail located along the Balcones Enscarpment,

 ("The Balcones Escarpment is a geologic fault zone several miles wide consisting of several faultings, most of which both dip and are downthrown to the east. It extends in a curved line across Texas from Del Rio to the Red River and is visible eastward from Del Rio, where it is about 1,000 feet high, and northeastward from San Antonio to Austin, where it is about 300 feet high."  It is the dividing line between the Texas Hill Country and the Plains of Texas.)  http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rxb01

Panther Canyon provides a pleasing,

local adventure
 into nature for families.

I think I've made it very plain
in past posts

that nothing pleases me more

than to see families
taking advantage

of every opportunity
to engage

with nature. 
And I wasn't disappointed

this day, as a few families
passed us on our

way out. 
I will selfishly say, however,
that I'm glad we

got an early start
and had the canyon
mostly to ourselves!

The actual trail is only eight-tenths of

a mile, and although gently sloping,

it is very rocky and rugged.

Families aren't all we happened upon.  Early into the hike, 3 very active and gloriously loud Carolina Wrens kept us very entertained.

A few white-tailed deer stopped by to see what we were up to.

And a fellow hiker with companion carefully picked her way 

amid the rocks along the bank of the dry river bed.

She tells me they are frequent visitors to the trail,

and often go camping in their tent, just the two of them! 

A kindred spirit!

Speaking of the dry river bed,

it held a few treasures; some you had to search really hard to find,



clam shell fossil

and some that were obvious.

This cave extended back about 15 feet

before it became too narrow to negotiate.

I saw no signs of habitation.

I'm glad that there are places to go

within the city limits

to escape technology and the hold it has on our lives.

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