Plans, and Mission Tejas State Park

It was a grey, chilly, drizzly day today. I took Emo for a short walk in the campground, and decided I needed to get out for a hike. We were going to hike in the forest, but the combination of weather and some ambiguity about the trailhead lead me to change plans on the fly.

We had already done a good deal of driving, stopped about 3 times to mess around. I found a forest road route to a state park I hadn't seen yet, so away we went. Glad I did, for two reasons.

I detoured to look at a campground which was just a bunch of places to pull into the woods, pitch a tent, and build a fire, no facilities at all. Hunter camps. But, while heading there I got an idea. I have thought about being able to go places you can't go in a 38 foot Class A, that maybe having a camper shell or something would be great. Well, with my little truck and tonneau cover, I think what I will do when I get back to Ohio is put all my camping gear (or enough of it) in the bed of the truck. I think I will still have room for the motorcycle hitch carrier when it is removed. When we want to go to do some serious car camping back in a forest, all I'll have to do is stock provisions, store the RV for a week, and away we go! Best of both worlds!

The park we finally got to surprised me, in a good way. I got more than I knew with my Texas Parks Pass, the "State Historical Parks" are, well, parks. I thought they might just be a building or something, but this park has campsites, trails, etc. We went down a short trail that led to the only part of the El Camino Real footpath that allows public access. Not a long one, but uphill on the way back. The old man did get a little exercise.

Click on any picture to make it bigger. First is a shelter built by the CCC.

Description of the CCC work done in the 30's.

There is a nice, wide trail leading to the El Camino Real.

Here's the original footpath traveled by Boone, Crockett, Houston, and many others.

This will probably be my last post until next Tuesday or Wednesday, after we get set-up at Colorado River Thousand Trails. I've enjoyed my stay here at Lake Conroe, I plan to make it a regular stop.