San Antonio River Walk - Urban Hike

Urban Hike: River Walk San Antonio, TX; 5/23/2016 19:00-21:00CDT
Distance: 3.3 miles  Difficulty: Easy  Rating: 5/5
Conditions: Paved walkways, steps, bridges near river.  Very warm.  Sizeable crowd but not over-crowded
Thoughts/Observations:
Urban hike with Diane and Robert.  Saw "their bench".  Ate dinner at Texas Republic.  Viewed The Alamo.

Ancient cypress trees stand as sentinels along portions of the river walk.  Very well done.  Kudos to San Antonio.

Western Expedition Entry #1 -- 5/23/2016 -- Prologue

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
-- Psalm 18:2 NKJV

Thank YOU, LORD, for answering my prayers -- for protecting me, for healing me.  My bp is back to normal today.  For some reason, YOU did not want us at Big Bend.  The time at Enchanted Rock and especially Lost Maples was beyond description.  It is wonderful that YOUR plans are always so much better than ours!

I love YOU, LORD.

 Near the end of East Trail -- Lost Maples TX State Natural Area

 

Swayback Hike 05/14/2016

Hike: Portions of the Black and Red Trails at Swayback TOLA, Saturday, 5/14/2016, 08:00-10:30CDT
Distance: 5.7 miles  Difficulty: Easy; Family & dog friendly  Rating: 4.5/5
Conditions: Upper 60s to low 70s.  Wind light.  Trails damp from recent rains but no standing water or serious mud.  Gorgeous Spring weather -- quite a few people on the trail by the time I finished.
Thoughts/Observations:
Passerines in abundance today (I really enjoy the Cardinal).  Their songs always lighten my spirit.  Squirrel and chipmunk busy scampering about.

Thoughts/prayers for several individuals and for services tomorrow.  Excellent time for worship, praise, and meditation.

Quick Hike @ Swayback

 

Hike: Gold Trail, Swayback TOLA; Saturday, 5/7/2016; 08:00-10:00CDT

Distance: 4 miles  Difficulty: Easy  Rating: 4/5

Conditions: Low 60s to low 70s.  Calm.  Mostly sunny.  Trails mostly dry and in good shape.  Some vines beginning to encroach on trails and flying insects are busy.

Thoughts/Observations: 

Bird choirs were well represented today.  Great opportunity to get-out and enjoy GOD's Creation -- to commune with HIM.  Certainly was refreshing after two long weeks of outage work.  Cut the hike short to get back home to spend some time with Kathy in the backyard and finish preparations for Mother's Day on Sunday.

 

Notable Equipment:  MountainSmith lumbar pack; Merrill Moab hiking boots; OKC RAT5; Ramblr app; REI trekking poles.