Today's photos:
My main interest on today's walk was to see the northwest corner of Eisenhower Park, specifically the Red Oak trail that forms a loop with and is connected to the Cedar Flats trail by the Hillview trail. This is a fairly long walk because the parking lot is on the eastern edge of the park, so one must walk approximately a mile along the Cedar Flats trail to reach this northwest corner.
Given the fact that the weather was ideal again today for walking, I considered the long distance to be something of an added bonus in all that one could see along the way. I will be posting more photos from this walk tomorrow.
I found the park to be more "alive" today than on my previous walks here. The recent rains, we received an additional half inch or so yesterday, have been a great benefit to the wildlife in the park. Fall wildflowers are blooming in abundance. There were elusive field sparrows, but I managed to photograph one peeking out through the brush. I have been hearing American crows frequently on recent walks, but today was the first time I actually saw (and photographed) one as it flew out from from the trees.
When I first saw the cottontail rabbit, it was foraging in a sunny clearing, but as soon as I raised the camera, it quickly hopped into the shade. It turned and watched me intently as I took its picture. I have a feeling, if rabbits could use a camera, it would have been taking my picture.
There is one more thing I mention as an aside. I am generally able while on my walks to leave the everyday world of my life behind and enter into the experience of the moment. Some days, like today, that is more difficult than on most days. I learned this morning before leaving for the walk that three men who have been doing work on my house were in a serious auto accident yesterday evening.
Two of them only had minor injuries, but one, a man about my own age and the hardest working of the three, was seriously injured. From what I have heard, he will recover, but he has a long way to go ahead of him. This is another reminder that has especially weighed on my mind all day, how life is both exceedingly tenuous, yet at the same time, remarkably tenacious.
If there is one characteristic that distinguishes Leon Creek from the other major creeks and rivers in Bexar County, I think it is the underlying geology. More miles of the Leon Creek stream bed have eroded to the bedrock limestone than any of the others.
All of the creeks and streams here have portions that are eroded to bedrock, but Leon Creek has the longest continuous stretches of exposed limestone. The intermittent pools of water that remain for relatively long periods of time along the creek bed are critical to the survival of much of the surrounding wildlife.
At one point not far north of the Grissom Rd trailhead, there is easy walking access to one of these stretches. On my walk this past Friday, November 11, I walked out onto the limestone creek bed and took the following photos:
Monday, November 14, 2011
Today's photos:
For those viewing this post who are not familiar with South Texas and our weather, it is difficult to realize here that it is already mid-autumn. During my walk today it was overcast, very warm and muggy. I'm tempted to say more like a late June day, but this is as typical for November as any other day. This time of year, especially, the weather is constantly changing. One day can be cold (by our standards) and the next hot, or vice versa.
When I had first walked the Oak Loop Trail at Hardberger Park on Friday, June 10, the drought was just beginning to take its toll on the animals and vegetation of South Texas. I have been looking forward to walking this trail in Hardberger Park for the past week or so to see how this section of the park had responded to the recent rain and cooler weather. I definitely wasn't disappointed.
