We arrived at Gregory Gym at 7:30am, obtained the two new Suburbans (this is just their third trip!) from their parking spots in Jester Circle, and attached the old trailer which had already been loaded with 12 standup paddle boards to one of the Suburbans. Manuel added his personal standup paddle board, and I drove one Surbanan with a cooler out to the front of Gregory gym to meet the 9 participants at 7:45am.
We left around 8:15am once everyone had filled their water bottles and went to the bathroom. I drove a Suburban with five participants and Sarah R (but no trailer) out through Burnet to Longhorn Cavern State Park. We arrived at the state park at 9:30am, and Manuel ran in to buy tickets for the 10am 'daily' tour while Jakub and I parked. The Suburban was very comfortable to drive, and surprisingly didn't feel as large as it actually is.
Longhorn Caverns is the only Texas state park ran by a concessionaire. Our group of about 30 people were led through the cave by a colorful woman named Amy. She was entertaining with her jokes and stories. The cave itself was flat and relatively close to the surface. Apparently you can go on a 'Wild Cave' tour in which you essentially crawl below parts of the path we walked on. Overall, I left the tour with a poor feeling of the park. During the tour we learned that some of the bigger rooms in the cave (which were used as a restaurant, bar, and dance room in the 1920s) are now often used for large events like concerts and weddings. I even saw folding tables and chairs being stored in some side tunnels of the cave. The flooring of the cave was paved, and there was lighting and intercoms (including large power boxes) throughout the cave. Some of these were done before Longhorn Cavern became a state park. But some of these 'improvements' were done since (like additional lighting and intercoms), which just seems wrong. Once a park is a state park, it should either be maintained as is or returned to its natural or historical state. Neither was done here, and I left feeling like I had been to a tourist trap that was doing more harm than good. I guess Longhorn Cavern might introduce people to nature and state parks that otherwise would not be introduced - but I doubt the introduction provided by Longhorn Cavern would encourage them to explore other state parks more. The introduction given by our guide might cause them to come back for another tour (I felt like her talk was an advertisement for the 'Wild Cave' tour at points) or appreciate the work done by the CCC men - but there was no talk of protecting wildlife or nature outside of her comments on not touching the cave formations (yet they have large events in the cave, so one can only assume damage must occur with these large numbers of people) and on not throwing coins into a historical 'wishing well' since 'biologists told them this might not be healthy" for the endangered salamanders living in the spring under our walking path. I left Carlesbad Caverns National Park with a similar feeling when we visited in November 2012 - it just seems that these caves could be protected/preserved in better ways while still allowing access to the public.
James right next to a bat! (photo by Manuel)
Our group walking through the cavern (photo by Manuel)
After our tour ended, we walked over to explore a CCC observation tower on the other side of the parking lots. The stairs leading to the top of the tower were pretty shaky, leading me to question their trustworthiness. Then I drove the Suburban over to Inks Lake State Park, which was only 8 miles from Longhorn Caverns.
At the CCC observation tower (photo by Manuel)
I used my Texas State Park Pass (thanks Aunt Lois and Uncle Alan!) to get my entire car into Inks Lake State Park, while Jakub went into the entrance station and bought a new state park pass. We parked by the boat ramp and unloaded equipment and pumped up the inflatable standup paddle boards (SHUBU - show up blow up brand) while the participants ate lunch, sunscreened, and prepared to get out on the water. We quickly ate (I had two lunchables), sunscreened, and then helped everyone get out onto the water.
Manuel led us to Devil's Waterhole, with Sarah bringing up the rear and me in the middle. Jakub and one participant came along a bit behind us as she seemed to be having a bit of trouble (she said she fell in the water three time). I saw lots of turtles out sunning during our paddle. The park rents canoes and kayaks, so there were a number of people out using these on the lake too. Once at Devil's Waterhole we pulled our boards on shore and went for a short walk up river. Jakub and Sarah stayed behind to watch the paddleboards. Manuel said there was a waterfall, but since the river level was lower than when he previously visited, it was not very impressive. I carried the small first aid kit on this hike, but judging from what I could see through the clear window of the dry-bag, I'm not sure it would have been helpful for much besides small cuts, headaches, or perhaps heat exhaustion. I finished my entire 1L Nalgene on the paddle out and the hike, so I probably should have brought more than 1L on the lake with me. At least I knew I had another one in the car.
Paddling on Inks Lake (photo by Manuel)
We pulled our SUPs on shore before going to explore (photo by Manuel)
Carrying the little first aid kit on our short hike (photo by Manuel)
Most of our group relaxing in the water, just above the waterfall (photo by Manuel)
It was 3:30pm when we returned to the paddleboards, so we had to paddle back without taking time to swim at Devil's Waterhole. The paddle back was pretty easy since the wind was pushing us towards the boat dock. Once we landed, I got the paddle bag, pumps bag, and life jacket rope from the trailer. We took the fins off of the inflatable paddleboards, deflated them, and put everything in the trailer except the five hard paddleboards which we strapped down on the trailer.
We left Inks Lake around 4:15pm, while let us arrive back on campus around 5:30pm. Sarah R drove my car back, so I got to sit back and relax and enjoy the pretty Texas wildflowers on the sides of many of the roads.
We unloaded everything once we returned, and I filled out the guide trip report. I noted my feelings about Longhorn Cavern, although I made sure I noted that these were my opinions and not necessarily the opinions of the other guides. The participants gave the trip good reviews, with the main comments being that (1) the trip should have lasted longer - like until 7pm, (2) real caving would be better than a walking cave tour, and (3) they would have preferred to spend more time at the lake and less time at the cave.
Overall, it was a nice trip. It was a fun group of participants (I actually knew one - Ben - through my friend Heather) and a good group of guides. Since I rode with Sarah both ways, I got to know her better which was enjoyable and pretty cool. I also enjoyed paddle boarding and the short hike at Devil's Waterhole, but would have enjoyed spending more time doing both. One of my comments on the guide trip report was that perhaps we should offer this as just an Inks Lake trip in the future, perhaps hiking in the morning and standup paddle boarding in the afternoon.
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