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.
