Colorado Bend SP – Gorman Falls Trail 6/18/16

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Hike: Colorado Bend SP – Gorman Falls Trail, near San Saba, TX

Weather: HOT, humid, sunny, HOT

Hikers: Ian, Court, Greg, Cat, Sam

Length: 3.8 miles

The four of us plus Sam got up early to beat the heat and drove out to Colorado Bend State Park to hike Gorman Falls and the Tenaja Trail.  Greg and Cat had never been there.  Court and I had planned to do the Tenaja when we backpacked here last time, but didn’t quite get to it.  We got to the park and hit the trail at about 9am.  We did not beat the heat.

Sam took off like he normally does, but within a quarter mile, he was huffing and puffing like we have never seen.  We think he just went way too hard, way too fast, and didn’t realize how the heat would affect him.  We rested in every shady spot we came to and gave him tons of water.  The trail was your typical Texas rocky trail and the sun was beating down.  We took Sam down and dunked him in the spring and cooled him off a bit, but it was clear this hike was going to be much shorter than anticipated.

We decided to go on down to the falls though because it was only another .2 miles or so and Sam could maybe swim in the river.  The falls were gorgeous as always and the temperature was noticeably cooler.  The whole viewing area is shaded too.  Sam was able to get down and swim in the river and he was back to his normal self shortly.  We hung out in the shade for about a half hour or more while Greg continued his camera experiments.

We headed back up the steep trail and back to the car.  Court checked the heat index and it came in at 113 degrees at around 11am.  Texas hiking in the summer is no joke.  It was very pretty, but I’m looking forward to getting up the the Catskills in July and Sequoia and Kings Canyon on Labor Day weekend for some non-Texas hiking.  We got back to the car, cranked the AC, and headed home.