This was the third year we signed up to hike with the West Texas Trail Walkers who schedule their annual three-day walks over Columbus Day weekend. This year the hikes would be Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, October 7, 8 and 9. Our friend, Jo Ann Stewart, has joined us the previous two years and did so again this year. She arrived at our house on Wednesday afternoon and stayed in our guest room.
Thursday morning we woke fairly early and after a light breakfast we got away about 8:30 am. We headed west through Blanco, Fredericksburg, to I-10 and Junction where we stopped for gasoline. Next we stopped in Sonora for lunch and then at Ozona where we encountered the same great event that we witnessed last year – thousands of migrating monarch butterflies. The town square next to the courthouse has several large pecan trees and the monarchs look like brown leaves on the trees. We throw up a small branch and see hundreds of them take wing for a spectacular sight.
After a while we pressed on to Ft. Stockton where we headed southwest to Alpine and arrived in Ft. Davis around 4:15 pm. We checked into the Limpia Hotel, an old historic hotel that we discovered needs renovation. To our chagrin, their restaurant was closed for renovation but they didn’t tell me that when I made reservations. Their restaurant was the best place to eat in Ft. Davis. A few years ago we took friends from England to that area and, while we didn’t stay at the Limpia Hotel, we ate there and enjoyed their food.
We had spare time so we drove to Prude Ranch, a sort of dude ranch, where most of the West Texas Trail Walkers were staying. Then we went into Davis Mountains State Park to see the Indian Lodge (where we stayed those few years ago) and took in views from the sky line drive within the park. Next we drove 25 miles to Marfa and had a fairly good dinner at the Jett Grill in the old Paisano Hotel where the cast of the movie “Giant” stayed all those many years ago. By now it was dark and we drove about eight miles east of town to the Marfa Mystery Lights Viewing Area but we didn’t see any mystery lights. Perhaps we should have had more wine than we did with dinner.
Friday we woke to clear, cool weather that would hold up for the entire weekend. Our first hike didn’t start until noon so we slept in and met for breakfast about 8:30 am. The Ft. Davis Drug Store, just across the street, was recommended by the hotel so we gathered there and had a large, delicious breakfast. We killed some time walking around the hotel gift shop and patio area. We drove to the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center just a few miles out of town where the hike would start at noon. Rita was suffering from back pains but gamely hiked the five kilometer (three mile) hike with Jo Ann and me. Jo Ann and I continued on with the ten kilometer (six mile) hike that first descended into a narrow dry creek bed then climbed to an overlook on top of a hill. We finished about 2:30 pm and drove back to the hotel for a short rest.
We met for an early dinner at the Cueva de Leon Mexican restaurant in Ft. Davis. It was good Tex-Mex food but too much. We ate early because we had reservations for the Lunar Program at the McDonald’s Observatory. This program is only shown infrequently and always a few days before a full moon. There were only 12 of us and we met in one of the small observatories with a smaller telescope but the program was very informative and our speaker was very good. One of the speaker’s projects was to show us how craters are formed. He had a container with flour coated with a thin layer of cocoa. We stood over the container and dropped rocks and marbles into the mixture to see how different craters are created. Next we each had individual time to go to the telescope and view various areas of the moon. Our speaker took photos of the moon and sent them to us by email.
Saturday our hike began in the morning so we had an early breakfast at the drug store across the street again. Today we hiked in the Davis Mountain State Park – again Rita did the five kilometer hike while Jo Ann and I did the ten kilometer hike. The hike involved more strenuous climbing than the previous day. After we finished we went to a pizza and sub shop called Murphy’s in Ft. Davis.
Today was the 100th anniversary of the Ft. Davis State Bank and Courthouse. A big celebration was held but we missed much of it. While we were hiking the bank had a mock holdup and a barbecue lunch was held on the courthouse grounds. Today was also the 50th anniversary of the Ft. Davis National Historical Site. The fort is actually over a hundred years old but it was established as a national historical site just 50 years ago. So we went to the fort and saw a nice celebration which was not a re-enactment, as I mistakenly called it, but a “living history” event. There were soldiers, women and children in period costumes of the time and a small ceremony with flag-raising kicked off the afternoon’s events.
In the evening we drove the 20 miles to Alpine and had a very good meal with wine at the Reata restaurant, one of the better, if not the best, restaurant in West Texas. Not only was the food good but the portions were gigantic – which is appropriate since Reata was the legendary ranch in the movie “Giant”.
Sunday morning Jo Ann informed us that a thunderstorm struck after midnight but Rita and I slept through it. There was evidence of rainfall but not very much. Sunday was also our last and most rugged hike held at a Boy Scout ranch about 40 miles from of Ft. Davis. We had an early breakfast and left in the dark arriving at the Buffalo Trail Scout Ranch as the sun rose. Jo Ann hiked the 20 kilometer hike which involved a steep uphill climb for the first half. I hiked the second half of that hike (only ten kilometers) which skirted a mostly dry creek with beautiful scenery. Rita did part of that hike for five kilometers. We finished in the afternoon and said our goodbyes to the nice people of the West Texas Trail Walkers who organized a fine weekend of hiking. We also learned that next year the hikes will be in Caprock Canyon State Park which is close to Palo Duro Canyon. We hope to be there.
We drove back to Ft. Davis and indulged in banana splits and ice cream sundaes. Later we had dinner at the Drug Store and I had a decent chicken fried steak.
Monday we had breakfast one last time at the Drug Store (we now know all the staff), checked out of the hotel and started our drive back home. First we drove to Balmorea and viewed the Balmorea State Park with its swimming area formed by natural springs and a desert wetland wildlife area. We headed east on I-10 at 85 miles per hour past Ft. Stockton to Sonora where we stopped for lunch once more. Then we took a back road to Fort McKavett, a nicely restored Texas State Historic Site that was established by the US Army in 1852. After a walk around the grounds we drove back to I-10 and headed east. In Kerrville we drove around the town to see places Jo Ann had visited when her grandparents lived there. She found their house and when I took a photo of her in front of the house the owner came out and, after he heard her story, invited us in to see the house. It turned out that the current owner is the mayor of Kerrville so we were in good company.
We continued on to Boerne where we stopped for dinner at the historic Ye Old Kendall Inn. We had a very good dinner with wine to top off a good weekend of hiking, food, wine and good company. We arrived home about 9:00 pm and were pleasantly surprised to find our rain gauge reporting about four inches of rain fall. Jo Ann spent the night with us once more and headed home Tuesday morning, the next day.
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