Missouri: Three Creeks Hike

Three Creeks Conservation Area, Missouri. April 2018.

I joined a hike at Three Creeks Conservation Area hike, hosted by the Sierra Club.


As winter continues to hang on, the morning began overcast and chilly. Begrudgingly, it did lighten and warm some as the day grew.

Nevertheless, petite wildflowers made a showing. Two adept identifiers, the hike guide and one of the hikers, named spring beauties, wake robin (trillium), sweet william, wild plum (tree), pussytoes, toothwort, lousewort, Dutchmen's breeches, bluebells, false rue anemone, [true] rue anemone, yellow violet, common violet, large bellwort, and a couple I'm forgetting.

Wake robin (trillium). Three Creeks Conservation Area, Missouri. April 2018.

We saw the foliage for future blooming may apples, wild ginger, wild geranium, and colombine.

Paw prints. Three Creeks Conservation Area, Missouri. April 2018.

It wasn't just wildflowers. I added two carcasses to my carcass collection: 

Dead frog. Three Creeks Conservation Area, Missouri. April 2018.

A video:

And a fossil. 

Crinoid parts. Three Creeks Conservation Area, Missouri. April 2018.

And a prosaic hiking sight, poop. (I so love how such a pretty, poetic word as prosaic describes something ordinary.)

Poop. Three Creeks Conservation Area, Missouri. April 2018.

 A fruitful walk.


Below, a slide show:

Three Creeks Conservation Area, Missouri. April 2018.

St. Louis: Castlewood State Park: Spring Signs

Castlewood State Park, Missouri. April 11, 2018.

A slow walk on a Castlewood State Park trail on a sunny, warm Wednesday.

The trees haven't leafed out yet, but there are several varieties of wildflowers waving in the breeze - deep purples, some flashes of underside-fuschia, white, periwinkle blue.

Dismembered carcasses of trees pounded by last year's flooding lay atop the grasses.


A sweet, breezy video below of white wildflowers:

Big Bend National Park: Window Trail

Window Trail from Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.

You won't be seeing The Window on this post, even though I was on the Window Trail, as approached from the Chisos Basin Campground trailhead.

Window Trail from Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.

I happened by the trail head during a swing around the campground. The afternoon was moving toward dusk, and I hadn't contemplated going on this walk so late in the afternoon. Plus an irrational concern about a bear encounter still clung to me like a whiny toddler. But a young couple bounced over to the trail head and appeared to have a plan to do the hike. So I asked if I could hitch myself to their coattails, and they said yes!

They were pleasant company - living in Texas for awhile while she did an internship - but probably to return to their home grounds in a lusher climate when that finished.

A pretty trail. Somehow I'd gotten the impression it was so very close to The Window and that it was an easy peasy walk.

The section of the trail I completed (note the foreshadowing) was easy peasy.

Window Trail from Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.

What I didn't know was that the trail crossed over a stream. So pretty!

Window Trail from Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.

And those steps built into the smooth, rock shoulders! The stuff of fairy tales.

Window Trail from Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.

Unfortunately, there was a water crossing that I didn't feel secure about making. Didn't have the right shoes, didn't have a way to protect my camera if I got wet, blah, blah. So I stopped there and enjoyed the beauty of what I did travel over.

Here's a slide show. Walk with me.

Window Trail from Chisos Basin Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.

And I almost forgot, a video:

El Paso: Franklin Mountains, Second Hike

Near Tom May Unit, Franklin Mountain State Park, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

October 2016

My second hike occurred on a trail at the Tom Lea Upper Unit in Franklin Mountain State Park. Carol led the hike.

Hike leader Carol, Near Tom May Unit, Franklin Mountain State Park, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

The green folds of the mountains appear gentle, even maternal, but they belie the scrabbly stone of the trails.

Near Tom May Unit, Franklin Mountain State Park, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

The loose rocks make for a skidding surface. Hiking sticks and grippy-soled footwear are good tools to prevent falls.

Near Tom May Unit, Franklin Mountain State Park, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

The hike was organized by the El Paso Hiking Group Meetup. So many convivial people devoted to the Franklin Mountains and to other nearby hiking areas.

Near Tom May Unit, Franklin Mountain State Park, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

Have I mentioned that El Paso is home to the largest urban park within a city's limits in the entire country?  Why, yes, I did, but it is worth repeating.

A slide show of my accumulation of Franklin Mountain photos thus far, below:

El Paso: My First El Paso Hike

Franklin Mountains, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

September 2016 

There are several hiking groups for the El Paso - Southern New Mexico area on meetup.com. Also, during Celebration of the Mountains, which had begun when I arrived in El Paso, there are even more group hiking opportunities. 

A vibrant woman named Judy, a military veteran who is active in El Paso's quality-of-life issues, led this morning's hike, which was just behind (above) a residential neighborhood. The trail head began at the end of a neighborhood street.

Franklin Mountains, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

Some observations from this first experience

• The area terrain is scrabbly, slippy-slidey, tumble-y rocks, which makes hiking more treacherous than I've experienced in the past. This is where I learned that "easy" in one area of the country might be quite different from "easy" in another part, such as South Louisiana, where you can ride (or stand on) a horse with a beer in your hand while following a trailer with a full-on barbecue grill and stereo sound system. The elevation and obstacles on this El Paso hike were easy. Being ever-mindful of the instability of the small rocks beneath one's feet required vigilance.

• Gosh darn, there were some wicked-smart, engaging fellow hikers! Knowledgeable about the flora, fauna, or geology, and so generous about sharing the interesting stuff they know. It made for much more than a simple walk. 

• Franklin Mountains State Park is the "largest urban park in the nation lying completely within city limits, covering 24,247.56 acres.. "

Franklin Mountains, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

Franklin Mountains, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.

Franklin Mountains, El Paso, Texas. September 2016.