Texas Hill Country March 2008

[uptoblackwood]

Just back from five days in the Texas Hill Country. I left Richardson, Texas (Dallas area) on Tuesday and returned on Saturday. (About 1350 miles) It was a great trip all around...as is ususal for this area of the State.

There were very few riders or even cars on the road. No rallys or motorcycle events going on at all this past week. (good for me as I like the roads to run fast and be clear) Next weekend (April 4-6), will be a very busy weekend for the Texas Hill Country.....as there are SEVERAL rally/social events in the area. Lots of bikes of all kinds will be on the road next week, so if you don't like crowds...avoid next weekend. If you do like crowds, the social aspect of riding and love to see all the bikes it's going to be a good weekend for you to be in the hills.

I had three perfect riding days and it was one of the best riding trips I've ever had to the area. Max temps were 79-80 degrees F. Most of the day it was in the high 60's/low 70's. The roads ran fast....well, maybe I ran the roads fast. The final two days were foggy and cooler so I changed my plans a bit and did some sight seeing in San Antonio.

The wild flowers are just starting to break ground. They haven't had much rain in recent months and things are very, very dry. Burn bans are in place in many locations and parks. If they get rain soon, the flowers will be spectacular. Hope for the rain. Despite the lack of flowers, it was still beautiful in the country. The Bradford Pear, Red Bud and Texas Mountain Laurel were in full bloom and could be observed from N/S/E/W...beautiful.

Tires

I put a new front tire on the bike the day before I headed out...and had put a new rear on about a week earlier. I did a brief and early Dunlop "Road Smart" review here, https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38186.

I'll break the trip into sections with images and short commentary. I spent from birth to my 17th year growing up in San Antonio....it's "home". My Father's relatives all were dirt farmers and ranchers west of San Antonio and I was in "the country" almost every weekend....bucking hay, tending to livestock, riding fence and hunting....and generally just having fun. (well, bucking hay wasn't much fun...nickle for the small bail/seven cents for the big bail, a long time ago...ouch, my back) I really love this area of the US and it feels like home.

Forest

 

[uptoblackwood]

I camped, once again, at the Kerrville-Schreiner Park, owned now by the City of Kerrville. Garmin GPS units still find and label this as Kerrville State Park. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/kerrville_schreiner/

I'll stay at Lost Maples Nature Reserve next time. I took time to stop and take a look at the park. I did one of the many hikes (4.5 miles R/T) this time and it was well worth it. The park has privative camping as well as 30 sites with electricity and water hookups. This was the first reserve/preserve in the Texas Park Service...and is beautiful! http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/lost_maples/

Here are a few images from my site in Kerrville and of Lost Maples.

Forest

 

[uptoblackwood]

More from Lost Maples...
It was overcast in the morning...but the sun arrived on the scene as I was hiking back to the bike. The bird life in this beautiful canyon, on the Sabinal River....was amazing. There were many very serious folks there observing and taking photos of the birds.

Forest

 

[uptoblackwood]

More of Lost Maples Nature Reserve.....

 

[uptoblackwood]

On Friday, it was foggy and the roads wet and slick. I decided to take my time and run into San Antonio on Texas Hwy 16. I can get to the Hill Country from Richardson.....most of the way on Hwy 16. I pick it up south of Ft. Worth and the extra miles riding west from the Dallas area are well worth the effort. It's a beautiful ride all the way! I shot these from the bike at much lower speeds than one might run these fantastic miles south of Kerrville on Hwy 16. Curve after curve.....great riding. Many riders that use Kerrville as a base of operation, start their riding of the "Three Sisters" or "33s" running south on FM 16 and connect to FM 337 in Bandera and then run West.

Forest

 

[uptoblackwood]

A few more of a foggy FM 16....

 

[uptoblackwood]

I rolled into San Antonio at about noon. Hungry...and for some of the best Mexican food in the US of A. Not just "Tex-Mex"....but many regional dishes from all over Mexico. I decided to head for my one of my favorite places, "Los Barrios". Live music almost every night of the week. There are two locations, one on Blanco road (original....and build around an old Dairy Queen) and the newer and much fanicer "La Hacienda de Los Barrios", just off of Loop 1604.....closer to my hill country location. It's about a 45 minute ride using I 10 to Loop 1604 and then the exit to the property. http://www.lhdlb.com/

This is a great place to eat!!! It may have a modern look....but what's on the plate is the real deal. If you want a place that looks like you think a traditional Mex joint should "look like"....then head from their Blanco Rd location. It is IN THE BARRIO. Same great food.

Forest

 

[uptoblackwood]

Still construction on FM 337....even more miles of roadway are now torn up.....
I'd estimate at least 16 miles are now hard packed or loose gravel.

Forest

 

[uptoblackwood]

After a great lunch at Los Barrios, I made my way to Breckenridge Park and to a couple of old favorite haunts. The Witte Museum is a real gem. http://www.wittemuseum.org/ I wanted to see the Body Works exibition when it was in Dallas, but was unable to make the show. The Wittte has wonderful exibits on Texas and had a nice Body Works exibit and that was my goal. It was well worth the effort. I had forgotten what a great Texas Natural history section this museum has in store for their patrons. There is a fantastic photo exit of Texas History on the second floor...and the grounds are beautiful...backing up to the Breckenridge park area. Especially nice is a second floor exibit on the Lower Pecos Man. Wow....this made me rethink my next trip to the Big Bend area. http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/pecos/index.html I'm going to reserve some time for hikes and exploration in the lower Pecos area. Here's a few shots of the Museum....and the Pioneer and Texas Ranger museum next door. The P and T museum is very small...and was closed so I didn't get any inside photos.

Forest


Forest

 

[uptoblackwood]

More of the Witte....

 

[uptoblackwood]

After the museum.....and just down the road (Broadway) I wanted to stop at the "Sunken Garden"...or now..."The Japanese Tea Garden" and take a look. Several (at least 7) years ago I brought my daughters to the garden and it was a huge mess. It was in disrepair and gang bangers had made it their home. Graffeti and very bad folks were everywhere. It was a place to buy/sell drugs. We didn't stay long.
I heard that the city and patrons of the San Antonio park system were raising money and working on a complete restoration of the Gardens and that the city had just reopened the site. Wow!.....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_Japanese_Tea_Gardens

and here if you want to donate to this fantastic effort: www.saparksfoundation.org

What a great job. Here's a bunch of images of the new park. If you get to San Antonio...bike or no bike....save some time to visit this wonderful park. I have such fond memories of this place as a child and it's now restored to what I remember.

Forest

 

[uptoblackwood]

More of the "Japanese Tea Gardens".....

 

[uptoblackwood]

A few more shots of the Garden and of the first location (on site) of the Portland/Alamo cement Company's first location west of the Mississippi.

Forest

 

[uptoblackwood]

Me....and a few shots on a bright sunny day....riding a motorcyle on twistie hill country roads....
It was a great five days.

Forest

 

[uptoblackwood]

Just a few more now....

 

[uptoblackwood]

A few notes about riding this area:

Many of the roads are cut throught rocky areas. There are often rocks (large and numerous enough) to be a hazard to motorcycles. Care!!!

In the spring...or when it rains, and there is water running over the MANY river or stream crossings....be advised that algae grows fast in central Texas. IT CAN BE SLIPPERY.

Farm equipment is often running down the road as this is real farm/ranch land. Always run corners in a wide apex and stay on the lookout.

It's HILLY....hence the descriptive name, "Texas Hill Country". You've got to be careful at the crest of hills....you NEVER know what you might find over the hill.

There are MANY people entering the roadway from businesses and homes.....reduced speed is always a good idea when you get to the populated areas.

Lots of DEER....what can I say. Dawn and dusk....be careful!

Cattle guards on FM 335....ouch! 20 mph signs...but NO ONE listens. The bumps are better at a faster speed (two up go slow or you'll bottom out the bike)....but you have to be careful on these metal guard rails. It seems that they are all located at curves. If it's wet.....it's dangerous to cross at higher speeds. Mark Rickards and I ran over these guards at a good clip one morning early (late year), and after the fact went...what the heck were we thinking! It was very wet from earlier rain.

Ride safe...

Forest

 

[Blrfl]

Nice report, Forest.

I especially like the number of shots of the roads, which give me some really good comparisons of things like curvature in the roads there versus here. I see lots of turns I'd go railing through in your pictures; we tend to have lots of sharp, blind curves here that you really have to slow down for.

--Mark

 

[uptoblackwood]

There's no shortage of tough turns in the hill country of Texas. It's a place to "lean"....

One thing I failed to mention....the deer. Everywhere at dawn and dusk.....and into the evening. Great care MUST be taken on these blind curves and hills.
Most of the 35 mph (by signs) turns can be taken from 55 mph to 70 mpg....just depends on your skill and the amount of risk you are willing to take as you round a blind curve (not all of the curves are blind). The 20 mph curves at 20 to 50 and there are some curves like your hairpin curves.....they must be taken carefully and at slower speeds.

Did I mention that the road-kill was off the scale and that "turkey buzzards" have taken over the world? Slow down when you see them (they are stupid)....you DO NOT WANT TO HIT A TURKEY BUZZARD!

Forest

 

[Blrfl]

Since yesterday was Joe's birthday, I couldn't resist co-opting one of your pictures for nefarious purposes:



--Mark

 

[uptoblackwood]

You are a creative devil! I wasn't sure....but that set of images did bring to mind the birthday boy.

Forest