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Saturday, February 12, 2011

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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14 comments:

Linda Reeder said...

Looks like a great hike, but a real ankle turner if you're not careful!

Johnny Nutcase said...

one of the things i love about that area of Texas are all the caves- tons of 'em! Looks like a fun walk. Fun to find fossils like that and the wrens- they are crazy chatty aren't they! ? Great post!

Simone de Klerk said...

I had a wonderful time, joining you on this hiking! Amazing, the treasures you found.
I also enjoyed your previous post. Birds are very special to me! Such beauty!

'Tsuki said...

That was an interesting day ! Thanks for sharing it with us...

Bob Bushell said...

Beautiful pictures and lovely writing.

Carrie P. said...

thanks for taking us on the hike with you.

Carver said...

What a fun hike. All the shots are great and so cool to see the deer peeking through the trees.

ADVENTURES IN NATURE said...

The deer shot is awesome! Glad to find a fellow ground-searcher!

Kathie Brown said...

Ah, to escape into nature is divine! Looks like you had a heavenly day!

Marvin said...

Looks like a great little hike.

Marvin said...

Fantastic capture!

Anonymous said...

Love that there are is only one photo of me and you can barely see me! Thanks Mom! ;)
It was a delightful hike. I'll be returning to it with the step-kids after mom leaves, hopefully to run some energy out of them!

Anonymous said...

... haha, two photos that you can barely see me in...

KaHolly said...

If I remember correctly, Little Bug, you intentionally stepped away whenever I pointed the camera!! :)