by Wow! That was a fun run; I’m so glad I went. It’s easy to talk yourself out of getting up at the buttcrack of dawn to drive out to another place for a run that you technically don’t really “need” to do.
We got a bit of a later start, as one of our friends had car issues. Fortunately, it was overcast so we didn’t have to worry about baking in the sun if we got going later. There were only 4 of us, so it made for a pleasant car ride and conversation on the way out.
I’d called the park to check on conditions on Thursday and the ranger said it was wet (they’d gotten 3 inches the night before), which I was having a hard time with; every time I’ve ever been out to Bastrop state park , it’s been dry and I wasn’t really aware of much of anything you’d call a creek–just a couple of trickly areas to splash through.
The first loop was a surprise. Pretty quickly, the trail turned into a shallow stream. We learned that the sandy areas were pretty hard packed but if it was black, that meant pine needles and “primordial ooze” as Marcia called it. There were too many real creek crossings to count! Much of it looked very different to me, as places I’d previously thought of as small rocky ravines had actually turned into pools and filled with flowing water. We missed a turn because a tree that used to mark a section of trail along the creek bed bed was uprooted and had fallen over. It was fun to splash and wade. It took a bit longer because of the wet conditions (usually, the 8-8.5 mile loop takes me around 1:50 and I spent 1:56 on the first one and 2:00 on the second one) but that’s just fine. The company was great and I felt good. That is, until I got home and realized I was horrifically chafed! The combo of rain, sweat, and sand really did me in. Ouch.
