Adventure 9.10 :: Caprock Canyons

For Labor Day, we went camping at Caprock Canyons State Park. We're the spontaneous sort, and didn't think about the fact that Robert had a three day weekend that coincided with a week in which we have no responsibilities at church until the week before.  By that time, most state parks around Austin were pretty full. The website said that the canyons still had 109 campsites left, and besides, it wasn't something we could do on a normal weekend. 

(The 109 campsites left must have been an error. I don't think they had 108 sites total.)

I spent part of Thursday and most of Friday preparing. I made simple, easy, healthy meals, packed clothes and necessities, and loaded the car. So, I love loading cars, especially when there's a lot of stuff. I would like to draw your attention to this particularly marvelous job:

Believe it or not, that is everything. Everything included a six-man tent, tarp, large bedroll, sleeping bag, two duffle bags, camp bag, diaper bag, body pillow, 5-gal water cooler, small ice-chest, food tote, Tiernan's big green wagon, a guitar, a recording device, two camp chairs, and various smaller items of snacks, toys, etc. Oh, and don't forget the three passengers, one of which rode in a bulky carseat. Our car can hold a lot. The beautiful thing? I could still use the rear-view mirror. Alright, I'm done bragging.

We woke up at 4:00 AM, dressed, breakfasted, packed the cooler, and were on the road by 5:00. I love road trips. Way out in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but us, the land, the sky, and the open road...I felt alive.

We arrived shortly after noon. The park was a bit fuller than we expected, so we decided--without much forethought--to try the hike-in primitive tent camping. The site was deep into the canyon, and the setting was beautiful.

The view just out the tent door was awesome. And Tiernan, obviously, was having a blast.

However...it was rough getting there. Remember that long list of stuff I fit in the car? Yeah. We did not prepare for primitive camping. The site was a little over a mile from the parking lot, and as Robert said, "If I'd known a mile was so far, we would not have done this." More than once on that trail to the campsite did my melodramatic self have similar thoughts to the Israelites in Exodus 14:11...have we come out to this desert to die? Moral of the story? If you're not prepared to hike a mile with all your gear, don't. We couldn't get everything in one trip, so Robert, the great manly man that he is, did the second loads in and out by himself. The wagon was helpful, but unless properly stacked and bungeed--which we didn't figure out until after the hardest load was there--it had a tendency to topple over on the rough trail. It was significantly more like work than I prefer my vacations to be, but I'm sure it was good for our character.

Anyway, once we set up camp, we went exploring. I carried Tiernan in the Moby Wrap, and Robert carried our CamelBak and other supplies.

I like to think of us as an 'all-terrain family'.

Once we got to a reasonably safe place, we let Tiernan get down to play.

I watched TK while Robert climbed around on the rocks.

Then Robert played with him while I climbed up. You can sort of see them playing down below if you look closely.

My two favorite men!

I'm one for artsy shots on occasion. This is a favorite.

We ate our supper of chicken salad sandwiches, and turned in for the night. The stars were really, really amazing. I wish our camera could capture the beauty of the desert night sky. We left the rain fly off the tent so that we could see the sky through the screen top.

I woke up early, as I usually do when camping. I absolutely adore the quiet stillness of dawn. I sat by a rock and listened to the land and trees, journaled, and watched the sun rise. 

After breakfast, we packed up to hike the couple miles to the ridge before it got too hot. The map said that the trail was "Extremely steep and rugged" and, well, they weren't kidding. Here we are taking a quick breather about halfway up the mountainside. Tucked snugly in the Moby, Tiernan took a quick snooze on the way up.

I love my man! I feel so blessed to have a hubby who likes to do this sort of thing with me. Not to mention he is dashingly handsome.

Once we got to the top of the ridge, we ate a snack.

We let Tiernan run around for a while, since there weren't any drop-offs nearby. It was insanely windy, though.

We followed the ridge trail for a while longer, and Tiernan even marched along by himself for a ways.

The view from the top was stunning.

I loved the red cliffs. Here's Robert standing in front of one to give you some perspective on how tall these were...if you can see him. We estimate that this bluff was 150 feet or so.

By the time we got back to camp and lunched, it was starting to heat up...a lot. It ended up getting into the 100s, which was significantly hotter than the weather report warned us it would. Since there was precious little shade out in the canyon, we explored the Children's Discovery Center at the park (air-conditioned) and went for a scenic drive in the area while Tiernan napped. Once it was late enough in the day for the UV Index to be lower than "fry-you-to-a-crisp-in-10-minutes-flat", we played in Lake Theo, which was also in the park. 

The water was actually a little cold for staying in for long, so we sat on the shore, introduced Tiernan to the time-honored tradition of throwing rocks in the water, and played in the sand.

Tiernan liked his big stick.

One the way back to camp, Tiernan decided he didn't want to be carried, so we let him hike some himself. In fact, he even offered to carry the water jug. Well, drag it, at any rate.

The next morning, Tiernan woke up early with me and we hung out with this old tree and watched the world wake up together.

After Robert woke up, packed out and drove home, getting back around 7:00.