Three peaks on Columbus Day
Enchanted Rock [Hiking] - 10/8/2012  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 6.00 Miles Duration: 4 hours, 39 minutes
Took the kids to Enchanted Rock since they were out of school. Weather was perfect... arrived around 9:30am, temperature was around 50F and there weren't many folks around. We started our hike on the Loop Trail to the left of the parking lot. We turned off the main trail to the right and followed a "jeep" trail toward the unnamed westernmost peak simply labeled "1705" on the park map. After some water and a few pictures, we continued to the east, descending slightly and then climbed up Little Rock to that peak. More water and pictures and then we made our way down into and across Echo Canyon and hiked up Enchanted Rock from the west, finding our own path. It was a bit steep in places, but we made it easily. Found the USGS marker on the top of Enchanted Rock. We found a nice spot to sit along the northern edge and had lunch. After enjoying the view for a while, we explored the nearby cave entrance area but decided not to follow the arrow that pointed straight down. Maybe next time. We descended and circled to the north through Echo Canyon and then east behind Enchanted Rock. We were planning to head over to Buzzard's Roost, but the kids were starting to get tired and we decided to abort the mission before it stopped being fun. We back tracked slightly and followed Turkey Pass back to the parking lot. We'll be back another day to try to bag Buzzard's Roost, Freshman Mountain and maybe even Turkey Peak (if it can be reached without climbing skills).

Our first "epic" hike, according to my 12 year old
St. Edwards Park - Hill Trail [Hiking] - 9/15/2012  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 1.63 Miles Duration: 45 minutes
We had lots of fun crossing Bull Creek and then climbing the trail up to the south. My son was excited by the quick elevation gain up to tree top level. We followed the creek around until we encountered a barb wire fence. Went back downhill along the fence, crossed back over the creek and followed a creek-bed trail back to our previous crossing. Made for a quick mile and a half loop. BTW, we parked at the larger, more northern, parking lot. There is a quick, easy connection trail to get down to the creek.

Surprisingly isolated
Dick Nichols Park [Hiking] - 8/19/2012  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 3.41 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 12 minutes
We looped around the park on the concrete trail for the first mile, then crossed the road to the west and followed that out another mile. On the way back we veered to the north to a secondary, less maintained trail. Lots of fun.