3/7-13/04: Big Bend Ranch State Park

March 7-13, 2004
Big Bend Ranch State Park, Texas - by Bill Kemp
As we left early Sunday morning, the weather forecast called for a week of mild temperatures and sunny skies. Little did we know what was in store for us. After a 10 hour trip, we arrived and set up the camp next to the lodge. Our site offered several picnic tables and grills, a large fire ring with wood provided, a water spigot and electricity from the lodge. Hot showers were available at the nearby visitor center. This was hardly roughing it!

Our task was to convert the nature trail (one mile including some roads) from the horse trail that it was into the easily traveled "people path" that it is now. We looked over the job and decided we could complete it early and hopefully move on to the Horsetrap hike and bike trail. The task involved removing rocks from the trail, building numerous steps, grade dips and waterbars and, in the flat stretches, building rock cairns. Luckily, we brought our rock carriers because we really needed them. By Wednesday evening, we only had about 20 ft. to go. That evening, we saw a double rainbow and a gorgeous sunset. When we awoke on Thursday, a big storm was brewing. Several lightening strikes convinced us to stay in camp awhile. Then, the rain started. It poured! It wasn't until the afternoon that we could walk the trail and make a few modifications to our work. We left the 20 ft. for another time.

Ranger Bill Broyles, who worked with us all week, offered to show us some pictographs on Friday. It rained often during the night and the fog was low when we got up Friday morning. It was raining lightly but we still took the hike. Given the low visibility and continuing rain, we decided to leave after the hike. After 40 minutes of driving out on the gravel road through another downpour, we came to a wash that now had a river flowing through it. We hadn't even noticed it on the way in. Across the wash was Tony Gallego, park manager, who was also waiting for the waters to recede. After about an hour, he was able to drive his truck through. He called the park headquarters and learned that the second wash we would have to cross was much worse. After waiting over two hours, we were advised to turn around and stay at the park another evening. Tony was kind enough to let us stay in the lodge and use the kitchen facilities.

During the week, we learned the names of many desert plants. The variety of cactus was amazing. We also hiked to the Cinco Tinajas, which are 5 pools of water located in depressions carved out of the rock in a canyon. The highlight of our meals was Pan Poached Salmon Picata. Thanks to all our participants: Alex Arreguin, Frances Fehribach, Gretchen Gann, Gerry and Marlene Heiling, Paul Johnson, Dick Meyer, Sylvia Powell and Bill Kemp (crew leader).

2/12-16/04: Davy Crockett National Forest

February 12-16, 2004
Davy Crockett National Forest, Texas - by George Boemerman
The weather forecast was not good for the forest area--wet and cold with possible snow. However, a group of stout-hearted Trail Tamers decided to withstand the elements and get some work done. Ray Fore, Rocky Nelson, Terence Donovan, David Justice, Chuck Lundstedt and George Boemerman arrived early Thursday, set up camp and on Friday pre-positioned the materials needed to repair two bridges and build a third from scratch. Forest Service personnel, Merlinda Schory and a new member, Chris Bishop, led us to the work sites at the far north end of the Four C Trail and worked right along with us. That evening Bob Weglarz arrived and, at 2:30 in the morning, in the rain, Kyle Herzog and Jennifer arrived from Austin (real tigers) and set up camp.
Saturday morning was wet so we all congregated at the covered pavilion for breakfast and watched one of the most picturesque snowfalls on Ratcliff Lake. By 10:30am the weather dried up a bit and we went to work. We completed a good day of bridge building and repairing, then returned to the pavilion. The campground hosts, Ralph and Ruth Neilson, were there with extra firewood and had a good fire in the fireplace waiting for us. We enjoyed a great Saturday nite feast. Rocky Nelson fried up a good sized turkey, Merlinda provided a Mississippi Mud cake and sweet potato pie, Ray Fore and Bob Weglarz made big salads, and George Boemerman baked a peach cobbler in a dutch oven. Considering the cold, wet environment, the roaring campfire and rich food were most welcome! Great discussions around the campfire added to our evening.
Sunday was bright and clear. We finished our projects about 4pm and returned to the pavilion to fry up a second turkey and eat the leftovers, and we continued our fireside discussion. As agreed by the Forest Service personnel, that concluded our work project and on Monday we packed up and headed home. It was another fine Trail Tamers expedition to Davy Crockett National Forest. However, it was missing a key element. Pearlie Green is still on active duty with the Army Reserves. We miss her and wish her God Speed!

1/31/04 Acacia Preserve Trip Report

January 31, 2004
Acacia Preserve, Texas - by Lynda DeGroot

After postponing this project due to heavy rains, everything was great just one week later! Ten Trail Tamers met at the Side Saddle Cafe in Dripping Springs and convoyed to the preserve where we were met by the owner, Nancy Moore. After a brief discussion about what she wanted us to do, we grabbed our tools and set about clearing as much cedar as we possibly could, but we sure could have used a chain saw or two! At any rate, with nothing more than bow saws, folding handsaws and loppers, we managed to cut, drag and stack cedar limbs in dozens of huge piles. (Nancy is in the process of trying to remove much of the cedar in order to allow native grasses to re-establish themselves. She's helping this along by scattering as much seed by hand as possible.)
After taking a quick lunch break, we finished up, rounded up the tools and at about 2:30 pm we headed out with Nancy in the lead. She took us to a place where we were able to access Dead Man's Hole without having to hike all the way. This new access point brought us to the top of the grotto where the waterfall goes over into the pool below. It was beautiful! If you know what Hamilton Pool looks like, this is almost a twin but much more pristine! What a great treat and wonderful way to end a hard day's work.

1/10-11/04 Bamberger Ranch Preserve Trip Report

January 10 & 11, 2004
Bamberger Ranch Preserve, Texas - by Lynda DeGroot

Some mighty fine weather greeted 22 Trail Tamers who ventured out to this wonderful place near Johnson City. Several members drove a long way just for the privilege of working on the new Turkey Hollow Trail that has been created in a portion of the preserve that we hadn't seen before. One person drove in from Sequin, another drove all the way from Laredo(!), while others came from Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Driftwood, Dripping Springs, Buda and, of course, Austin. We were even paid a visit by a member from Lampasas whom we haven't seen in a while.


When everyone had gathered in front of Hes' old General Store on Saturday morning, our hosts for the weekend (Colleen Gardner and Steven Fulton) told us where we were going and what kind of work we would be doing. Then, after a brief tool safety talk given by our president, Dave DeGroot, we boarded the "Bluebonnet" for our short jaunt to the worksite.

Upon arrival at the site, we grabbed our tools and began the task of carving this new path through thick stands of immature cedar. Chainsaws were wailing as their operators followed the flags marking the route through the heavily wooded area, cutting trees or branches that were in the way. The rest of us followed, trimming back smaller limbs and cutting in the trail tread where necessary. Several members built large rock cairns to help people locate the trail in open areas where it could easily be hidden by the tall grasses. Unfortunately, one of our newest members took a spill and hurt his shoulder but he continued working.

After we finished for the day, Colleen, Steven and his wife prepared a fine feast of tamales, ranch style beans, chips & salsa. Most of the crew headed home afterward, but nine members stayed the night and were planning to finish the rest of the trail the next day. We camped near the old general store since it has a bathroom, and we built a great campfire under a big oak tree. The sky was clear and the stars were awesome!

The next day, we were up early and ready to go after a quick breakfast. This time we drove a couple of vehicles to the other end of the trail to start working on it. When quittin' time rolled around at about noon, I was told that, in all, we completed a little over half of the trail, which is more than a mile long. After saying our goodbyes to Colleen and Steven, we headed home.

11/03 Copper Breaks State Park Trip Report

November 6, 2003
Copper Breaks State Park, QUANAH, Texas - by Galen Stewart
The second Copper Breaks S.P. work trip was made in early November. We all arrived at the park by Thursday afternoon and set up the camp. On Thursday evening, the sky opened up and we had over an inch of rain. As a result of the rain and muddy trail conditions, we had to alter our initial plans to work on the trail in the northwest end of the park. Instead, Fred Winkler and Chuck Lundstedt worked with Rick Morrison (a.k.a. Ranger Rick) in clearing the Rocky Ledges trail while Mary Zeitler, Ray Fore and Galen Stewart began to make several new directional and informational signs.

On Sunday afternoon, we walked the Bull Canyon Trail with Rick. He showed us the area of the park where future trail work is needed. On Sunday evening, the park staff prepared hamburgers, etc., as a thank-you for our weekend's work. Both the park manager, Dave Turner and Rick again expressed their appreciation for our work and said they would contact Lynda to request additional Trail Tamer help in 2004.
On Monday morning, we headed back to our homes with the feeling that we had again made a positive contribution to the maintenance of one of our State Parks and also had a very positive work experience with the staff.