June 6 - 9 Dottie and I, another family and two friends of our son made a three day, two night camping recon of the Guadalupe River State Park. All together we camped with eight children. The park was hill country picturesque and despite our mid week visit the day use was filled to capacity. I was surprised and pleased by the number of tent campers in the park too.
Fuel prices and evening temperatures were high but the mornings were cool. Our campsite had plenty of shade. We also rigged up a tarp to make more afternoon shade. We slept fine. Even in the thirsty van, the trip was worth the cost.
Camping with eight children made this trip different than the previous campouts I have written about. My learning curve was steep! In keeping it real I will say the first full day of the trip had part of me wondering what I had gotten into! By the end of the trip I had found some equilibrium. I realized that the trip could echo for years, something to build on in the future.
Some of the activities of this trip was swimming, eating a fantastic watermelon, celebrating a birthday, a few short hikes, a ride in the truck looking for wildlife and a little bit of canoeing. Everyone had a good time.
The swimming area has no life guard, but with our supervision I was comfortable with the children swimming at this park. I believe the river was low due to the drought. The swimming area was shallow and small enough to not overwhelm.
I have read where the river rock garden near the east boarder of the park is considered a Class 2 rapid. Either I needed to go further down to the real rapid, or the river was that low. The graphs I find indicate the river is lower than the median daily statistic.
On this trip we paddled a little less than half a mile. The cubs were able to swim alongside the canoe. At any time they could stand in the water alongside the canoe.
Other than the warm conditions, high fuel prices and camping with this many children the obstacles for me were in hindsight, comical. My back clinched up while sorting some clothes while packing. This made things interesting. Then I forgot my backpack with several EDC items such as my Outdoor Edge Chow Pal, cigarette lighter, Tylenol, sun screen, etc. etc. Dottie forgot several food items. In the end we overcame these things and had a great trip.
Other than the river level we knew the drought would also effect the ability to have a campfire. Our camping trip at the South Llano State Park in April had restrictions on campfires too.
The wildflowers and insects were doing well though. The cardinals in particular were bold at this park.
The various cactus were especially unconcerned with the heat and drought.
We saw many axis deer, a few whitetail deer and two road runners.
For us this was a first for dealing with a large quantity of large rocks in the campsite. The park provided generous tent pads, but we were selective on where we pitched our second tent. Even the trees had grown into the rocks!
A nice break from our urban routines, the two night trip left us wanting to return to Guadalupe River State Park. When we have made longer trips we settle into natural and healthier rhythms. Being a short trip we left many trails undiscovered. Hopefully when we return we can have a campfire, hike those trails and make a longer canoe trip.
Below are some more pictures.
Thanks for reading!
Looks like a fun trip. The Guadalupe River is always a delight...except at flood stage.