Saturday, November 13, 2010
A walk in the Texas hills
Rather than watch my Hawkeyes blow a shot at the Big Ten title at the hands of Northwestern for the second year running, I went on a beautiful walk in the hill country south of Austin. We went to the state park at Pedernales Falls, and I took some pictures.
OK, the falls qua falls are not so impressive, but the colors of the river, the rock, the flora, and the sky added up to a remarkable November moment.
The river has eroded the rock in some remarkable ways.
MORE: A commenter posted this link of "before and after" flash flood fotos at Pedernales Falls. Really cool, and really scary.
21 Comments:
By 
, at
Sat Nov 13, 06:57:00 PM:
Love the sweatshirt, Tigerhawk.
By 
pam, at
Sat Nov 13, 07:55:00 PM:
By , at
Sat Nov 13, 08:56:00 PM:
Unfortunately, I wish I had made the same type of decision you did re the Hawkeyes. Beautiful, pics, though.
By JPMcT, at
Sat Nov 13, 09:01:00 PM:
Outstanding grasshopper...or is it a Texas cricket?
By , at
Sat Nov 13, 10:28:00 PM:
By Arthur, at
Sun Nov 14, 12:44:00 AM:
So who's the woman is the beige shorts and green shirt.
She has neither the coprophagous nor the psychopathic grin to be a family member.
By TOF, at
Sun Nov 14, 08:33:00 AM:
That tree in frame 5 is a bald cypress. Nice during the summer but a real mess when it drops its needles. Those in the last frame look like live oaks.
By , at
Sun Nov 14, 09:21:00 AM:
I've been there many times. A lovely park, but dangerous in the spring. Check out the pics on before and after during a flash flood.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/pedernales_falls/
By Dawnfire82, at
Sun Nov 14, 10:03:00 AM:
By Ed Rasimus, at
Sun Nov 14, 01:14:00 PM:
Johnson City, Stonewall, Fredericksburg, the Willow City Loop, and of course, Luckenbach...beautiful country this time of year and in the Spring. Cold beer, good wines, great music too. Life is good in Texas. Maybe we should secede.
By , at
Sun Nov 14, 02:22:00 PM:
If you wish to see falls up close, you should come to Wiscoy.
I believe the "remarkable erosion" is due to the fact that stones settle into recesses on the stream bottom and the action of the water moves them around, causing a drilling effect which creates "sinkholes" in the rock beneath. I have noticed columns drilled in such a way that occasionally reach a depth here of eight or nine feet.
Anyway, that's my observation, for what it's worth.
By , at
Sun Nov 14, 03:28:00 PM:
sirius,
I believe your are correct. Most the rock in this area is limestone and very porous, easy to erode. I was involved in a creek flood diversion tunnel in the mid 80's that ran into a fairly large cavern about half way that had to be filled with grout before we could continue. What a shame really. It was pretty amazing.
By , at
Sun Nov 14, 08:40:00 PM:
It's not just abrasion that creates holes in limestone. Limestone will chemically react with ions in water. It's usually a slow process, however.
By , at
Sun Nov 14, 10:08:00 PM:
That is a very cool national park. What was particularly interesting was that was the river and the nearby town where LBJ was raised (Stonewall and Johnson City). Those towns are incredibly small now, I cannot imagine them 95+ years ago when LBJ was born. I remember remarking how unlikely a boy from such a far away place in the absolute middle of no where was able to become the most powerful man in the world. Despite what you think of LBJ his story is still quite remarkable by most countries standards; however here in America it is the rule, not the exception, and that is what makes this country so extraordinary.
By Assistant Village Idiot, at
Sun Nov 14, 10:42:00 PM:
I'll bet the water's warmer than the Kanc, too.
By , at
Mon Nov 15, 09:08:00 AM:
Two disparate things:
1) I couldn't get the link to the Pedernales Falls before and after imagery to work, but I did find this one. I don't know if it's what the other commenter posted, but it shows what a flash flood in the Pedernales can look like. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/pedernales_falls/
2) You're welcome to relocate to this fine state. [g]
Eric Hines
By TigerHawk, at
Mon Nov 15, 09:12:00 AM:
1. Thanks for the heads-up, link fixed now. You got the right one on your ownself.
2. I appreciate the invitation. Were I ever to return to the heartland, Austin would be at the top of my list, up there with Chicago (where I have lived before).
By , at
Mon Nov 15, 09:40:00 AM:
Yeah - in Chicago you could see my Northwestern Wildcats lay a whoopin on your Hawkeyes every year! I must say five out of the last six goes beyond a trend...do I dare say dominance????
What may be even more startling than the fact that Iowa has lost five of the last six to NW, is that I am talking junk about Northwestern football at all!!!!
By TigerHawk, at
Mon Nov 15, 09:41:00 AM:
I know. Northwestern is to Iowa as Iowa is to Penn State. Very painful.
By , at
Mon Nov 15, 11:31:00 AM:
QuakerCat, Pedernales Falls is a Texas State Park not a National Park. Texas is loaded with beautiful state parks, see link below. Tigerhawk when you are in Austin next might check out McKinney Falls St Prk (literally in South Austin) or Enchanted Rock near Fredricksburg http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/
By , at
Mon Nov 15, 08:50:00 PM:
Were I ever to return to the heartland....
Whatever would be the hold up?
Eric Hines
