For our third day of hiking in the Texas Hill Country, we went in search of some views. At least that was Plan A. As is sometimes the case, our Plan A didn’t survive contact with reality – that being a thick overcast generated by a front moving past us to the north. Instead of the clear, sunny, expansive views weather we’d been enjoying, we got horizon to horizon gloom.
Not that it was gloomy and cold. No, we got gloomy and humid. No views and generous sweat. What’s not to like? But, undeterred, we pressed on to Hill Country State Natural Area near Bandera, naively confident that the gloom would lift during the hour it took us to drive there. It did not. 😒
But you hike what you got. So Plan B became Plan A as modified by our grudging acceptance of gloom. This park has 4 scenic overlooks. We hiked 2 of them, including the one on West Peak, one of the highest peaks in this SNA.
Ours was the second car at the trailhead when we arrived and only two cars were there – ours being one of them – when we got back. So not a busy day at the park. We passed two other hikers near West Peak, otherwise we had the trails all to ourselves. This allowed us to lament the gloom in private. 😞
To the West Peak Overlook
From the parking lot nearest park headquarters, we took the Merrick Mile Trail to the West Peak Overlook Trail and hence up that (steeply) to the West Peak Overlook. Here we were eye to eye with the gloom. Lamentations ensued.
On to the Vista Ridge Overlook
With West Peak somewhat of a bust with respect to views, we decided to double down on the hope that the gloom would lift if we stalled long enough. Yes, yes, ever hopeful, etc.
So, we decided to descend from West Peak and then use the Madrone and Vista Ridge Trails to reach another scenic overlook on the west side of Vista Ridge. Certainly our luck with the weather would have changed by then. Certainly… 🙄
We weren’t sure why the Madrone Trail was called that – until we saw Madrone trees growing next to it. Pacific Madrones (A. menziesii) were (and still are) our favorite trees when we lived in Southern Oregon and were the subject of numerous photos. It seems there is a Texas Madrone (A. xalapensis) that is native to Central America, western Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico. 😄
Our Madrone sighting may (or may not) have done something to appease the weather because, as we climbed toward the overlook on Vista Ridge, the clouds parted and we were blessed with sunshine! 😎 Or our stubborn persistence finally paid-off. Whatever. 🤨
We made our way down from the overlook and then followed the Madrone Trail past the abandoned ranch house and over the berm. Rather than climb back over West Peak, we dropped down and followed the Bar-O Trail back to the parking lot. With the gloom gone, this proved to be a plenty warm hike in full sun. But at least we’d gotten a view! 😉
Our wanderings in search of a view came to 8.1 miles (13 km) with 720 feet (220 m) of elevation gain. We started out in gloom but keep going long enough for sunshine to (finally) reappear. 😎 Along the way, we were pleased to find that Texas has madrones too. In fact, this species seems more widely dispersed than the one we had in Southern Oregon. 🙂
This being Texas and all, it only seemed right that we celebrate our achieving of a view with BBQ. Fortunately, B-Daddy’s BBQ in Helotes was directly between us and San Antonio. What a coincidence! 😉 We hadn’t snacked much while on the trail, so we went for a late lunch / early dinner of BBQ + sides + necessary hydration. 🍖🍺 And it was good, very good. 😋 And we were fulfilled (stuffed actually). 😁
BOOTS on the TRAIL 
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