3/9-15/03 Davis Mountains Preserve Trip Report

March 9-15, 2003
Davis Mountains Preserve, TX - by George Boemerman
On March 8th, eight intrepid trail tamers (George Boemerman, Patrick Clynch, Mark Henneke, David Justice, Bill Kemp, Jim Robinson, Allan Weber and Mary Zeitler) took off for west Texas and the Davis Mountains Nature Conservancy Preserve. As requested by Karen Talley, the preserve's volunteer coordinator, we brought a wide selection of tools with us, plus equipment to establish a primitive camp. Dave and Lynda DeGroot had been out there last year and stated how great the area was. So, we all decided to arrive a day early to get acquainted with the region.

We established our initial campsite in a grassy bowl about one mile across and adjacent to the preserve's guest cabin. This afforded us access to a shower, toilet, kitchen and a comfortable porch on which to relax at the end of the day.

On Sunday, Karen took us on a hike to view some of the area and trail projects. Our task was two-fold: to mark new trails and repair some old ones in an area adjacent to the preserve's main camp and to relocate to the high country at the base of Mount Livermore (the state's fifth highest peak at 8300+ ft.) to repair the trail and build new switchbacks.

After much thought about the second task, we decided to keep our camp at the cabin area and travel each day to the base of the mountain. Temperatures at night at the cabin were about 25 degrees. At the remote campsite, the elevation was considerable higher with a stronger wind.

We completed the trail work on the first task and put a good dent in the second one. Karen was quite pleased with the amount and quality of our work and invited us back to complete the trail work or to return for recreation, as we deserved it (according to her).

Although we put in a lot of work, we also managed to have lighter moments. George cooked his family's favorite beef barley combination followed by dutch oven peach cobbler. Allan and Jim prepared a great sausage and pasta medley. Allan also managed to find a hind quarter of a feral hog.

On Friday (our day off), we climbed to the top of Mount Livermore and toured the surrounding area (Fort Davis and Alpine). Afterwards, Allan did a great job barbecuing that hog leg and Patrick surprised us with a most delicious apple cherry dump cake in the dutch oven. We were joined by Karen Talley and the preserve project leader. That night, Mother Nature put on an awesome show for us: Lightning, wind and rain. Many of us migrated to the cabin for the night.

The Davis Mountains Preserve is a gem! High grasslands, stands of mixed timber, the fifth highest peak in Texas, and water. The volunteer coordinator (Karen Talley) is a very personable young woman who worked right along with us. She hopes that CTTT will consider making this an annual trip!