Enchanted Rock, Frozen Toes!

This past weekend was Luke’s first scout camping trip since crossing over to Boy Scouts in December.  A week later and I’m still trying to regain the feeling in all extremities.  While I love tent camping I thoroughly missed our RV for this adventure.

So here is the short version of the trip.  We departed from the scout shack in Tomball around 6:45 PM (yes PM) on Friday to drive the 4+ (yes 4+) hours to the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area (E-Rock) 15 miles north of Fredericksburg, Texas.  We arrive around 11:30 PM and began the laborious camp set up process.  It was cold, but I didn’t think too much about it at this point.  I pitched my new $25 1-person tent and silently observed Luke and his tent partner put up their tent.  We were finally ready to hit the sack and I looked at my watch…2:37 AM…five hours and thirty-sever minutes past my bedtime.

Prior to the trip I decided that my 50 degree rated sleeping bag and a few blankets would keep me warm enough.  I was wrong! The temperature had dropped into the low 30’s. I tossed and turned until around 5 AM.  I made a bathroom run then fell asleep around 5:30.  Around 6:30 I heard laughing and clanking.  It was the breakfast crew.  It was going to be a long day.

I saw Luke shortly after I rolled out of bed and he told me that he didn’t sleep at all.  He was too cold.  So, I decided to make a quick run into Fredericksburg to pick up some better sleeping bags for Luke and me. Walmart had one sleeping bag that was rated for 30 degrees.  I grabbed it for Luke and headed back to E-Rock.  

I learned my lesson about leaving E-Rock and trying to return during daylight.  The traffic to enter the park was backed up for around a mile.  It took me almost an hour to get back into the the park.  While Enchanted Rock is a magnificent place and should be on the must see list for all Texans I’m certainly not convinced that it’s worth the traffic hassle.  My recommendation…try to visit E-Rock during a weekday.

After some hiking and attempted repelling (Luke could not overcome his extreme fear of heights…this time) we returned to the campsite for some awesome food.  Stew, jalapeno cornbread, fudge and chocolate chip cookies.  It was not a good calorie day, but the food was damn good.

By 7:30 most of the campsite, including the scouts, were exhausted and ready to turn in.  I crawled into my tent and attempted to stream the NFL game.  Like Wi-Fi at most state parks the bandwidth at E-Rock was barely enough to check e-mail.  No football.  I was so tired I feel asleep by 8:00.  Around 11:30 Luke was scratching at my tent.  He said he was frozen and couldn’t sleep.  We grab his sleeping bag and blankets and crawled into my tent.  All good until around 3:00 AM when the condensation build-up on the inside of the tent had frozen.  My tent had become an igloo!  We were living like Eskimos!

After we woke up the following morning we ate a nice breakfast, went for a hike then packed up the truck.  We were both ready to get home to our nice warm beds!

Overall it was a nice trip.  We’re planning to RV in Fredericksburg in March and we’ll head out to E-Rock for some epic hiking.