A Day on Enchanted Rock

I love visiting Enchanted Rock. This is my third time visiting the park. It is located North of Fredericksburg and South of Llano in Texas. It is a pink granite exfoliation dome rising 425 feet above ground. It is one of the largest batholiths in the United States. According to the TPWD website "Tonkawa Indians believed ghost fires flickered at the top, and they heard weird creaking and groaning, which geologists now say resulted from the rock's heating by day and contracting in the cool night. In this photo we are approaching the "Summit Trail".
  We arrived at the park just after 8 a.m. and were able to beat the crowds. The park frequently closes in good weather when the parking areas are filled. 

The weather was beautiful with clear skies.  It was my husband's first trip to Enchanted Rock.

We hiked to the top and found the Geodetic Survey Reference Mark.

 Then we found the cave entrance. It was not marked on my first trip. My second trip was a really quick climb to the top and back down. I really wanted to crawl through it! It is really long rock tunnel through  large rocks and boulders. I have read that it is about 1,000 feet long. You can find some information and video here. There is a pretty good video on YouTube as well. There are a few others on YouTube as well once you get there!

 That little hole between the guys' legs is how we exited the cave. It was so fun! After exiting the cave we climbed back up to the entrance and wandered a bit more before going back down the west side of the rock.

 Airplanes were flying over frequently. 

 Oops! Another photo of the cave exit. (I uploaded them in order, but they arrived all out of order. I didn't catch this one until now and I am not going to attempt to move it)

 Prickly Pear was the most prolific form of plant life! It seems people like to carve their initials in them. 

 Yes there are even trees that grow in rock!

 I loved the little blooms on this cactus.

 This is just as we were about to climb down.

Looking back up after our climb down. We came down along the flat area using the rocks on the right to hold on to. Then we crossed to the left side along the line of boulders and crawled through those on the left to reach the bottom.

 Another interesting cactus.

 More Prickly Pear, grasses and a dead tree on top. After reaching the bottom, we returned to the Trailblazer for our picnic lunch before hiking the trail that goes around the base of Enchanted Rock. In all we were there for 8 hours. Below is moss growing in water that is continuously trickling down and out of the rock.

 These little lizards are a frequent sight if you watch closely!

 Oh, look, its me and a strangely eroded rock formation!

 Ahhhhh, and here we are ready to head back to the Trailblazer and go back to the camper. We were pretty tired. My legs were sore for days. I don't think my thighs have ever been that sore, but I loved it there. When we left around 4 p.m., there was still a long line of cars at the entrance. We were so glad that we got there early!
Y'all come back.
Lorilee

Still crocheting

Since I ran out of yard for my first afghan, I have started a new one. Hobby Lobby is slowly getting more of the colors I need back on the shelves! I think I am only missing two now. In the meantime, I started this ripples afghan. I made quite a bit of progress on our trip to Fredericksburg this Spring Break. We spent 7 hours climbing around on Enchanted Rock. It was a wonderful day for being outdoors. Now I am sore all over from over use of otherwise unused muscles!
Y'all come back,
Lorilee

An egg theme!

 It is Pysanky time again. This is my second egg this spring. I should have taken it out to the patio for better lighting, but it was also windy. Wind and blown egg shells are not a safe combination. I use designs from books that I purchased at the Ukrainian Gift Shop online. 

 I just received this old egg from a friend. Any guesses as to what it is? 

 My total Pysanky collection. The egg on the far right with the acorns and oak leaves is the first one I made this spring.  I took some photos of the eggs as I made them with my cell phone. Maybe I'll share them soon. If you are interested, I have several more posts about Pysanky. Just look for Pysanky under labels on the left side bar.

I had to include one of my egg layers chasing Bella!  Blossom is top of the pecking order in the henhouse.  I guess she thinks she is over cats too.