Not thrilled with South Llano River State Park

First thing in the morning, we drove over to the library in Junction, Texas to use their free unsecured wifi internet. I checked Verizon's coverage map... for some odd reason there is simply a huge gap in this area. Very strange.

But, at least we know it's not our device that's the problem.

Then, we did the short drive over to South Llano River State Park.

This state park is very popular with birders. Apparently there have been over 260 bird species documented in this park. We went there to do some hiking, but we brought along the binoculars in case we saw something interesting.

 Oh! There's a bird right there!

Why did the chicken cross the road?

We used our Texas State Parks Annual Pass to get entrance to the park for day use. We got a trail map and found somewhere to park. For a Sunday, there weren't too many people on the trails, but there did seem to be a lot of campers. There are only 58 campsites though, so it's not a huge campground.

We were a little disappointed to find out that their "trails" are actually roadways. The "trail" leading up to the overlook was actually a paved road that has now been closed off to cars. And the "trails" in the rest of the park are all old farm roads because the property used to be a working ranch.

Ruth, at the overlook.

We walked back down and went to one of the bird blinds. Because the park is so popular with birders, they have four bird blinds set up where you can hide behind glass in a little shelter and they feed the birds on the other side.

A pine siskin, and a house finch.

Cardinal.

We sat and watched the birds for a while, and then continued on our morning walk.

The other side of the park boundary was private property and they had some donkeys and goats in the field. These two came over to say hello! 

A walk by the South Llano River.

Black crested titmouse.  

Some kind of snapping turtle?

Ruth and the South Llano River.

More turtles of a different type.

Scenery along the way.

At the second bird blind.

This one was sleeping. He didn't move the whole time we were there.

We ended up doing 3.0 miles (5.1 kms) on our morning walk, then came back for lunch and a nap. Afterwards, we set out on another hike. There are lots of trails, but again, they are just old farm roads and the scenery isn't fantastic. On the afternoon hike, we did 5.3 miles (8.5 kms) and only took one picture!

Ruth, on the trail. Not very scenic.

So we ended up hiking 8.3 miles (13.6 kms) yesterday, so at least we got some exercise. We were going to stay for another day, but we're not enthusiastic about the hiking here so we will carry on today. If you're an avid birder, I'm sure you'll love it. But as hikers, we were not thrilled.

We drove back to Schreiner Park in Junction for another night of free camping by the river. Went for a walk around the park at dusk.

Sherman, parked for the night at Schreiner Park.

Headed north again today, not sure where we will stop.

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