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  1. #1
    Senior Member The Wanna Bs's Avatar
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    Goodwater Trail 26.5 official miles

    Starting out the supposed 28 mile hike around Lake Georgetown at 1:00 in the afternoon was probably not the brightest thing to do but we were determined that rain (as predicted) or shine (as happened) we were going to do this thee day, two nights out, hike as a prep for the Appalachian Trail [AT] that we hope to hike in 2017. We kept our smiles on even when we saw that the trail that we hoped to be soft forest earth was actually small hard and pointed rocking rocks. After all, much of the 2200 miles of the AT is reportedly rocky trail.
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    Our first almost mishap was when I stopped for a rest at a nice cliff with a great view of the lake and as sitting down the weight of my pack almost threw me over the cliff.
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    If you look closely, you can see our next almost mishap. One more step and Bob would have had his foot on the head of this now retreating creature or the mouth of the little fellow firmly attached to his ankle. Wheew!
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    Close up
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    The views were beautiful whether it was the forest, the plain, the wildflowers, or the lakes.
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    We saw prints of what I thought could be a bobcat, many deer prints, and even more raccoon prints. We had four separate sightings of deer, one sighting of a bunny, the rattlesnake, of course and good long look of it while it starred us down, and then many varied birds and butterflies. We only caught a picture of the rattlesnake and that only as it was slithering under the brush. Muffin could not have lived through this trail without ruining her poor feet so we left her with a neighbor.
    We were energetic at first.
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    Hot and miserable at times and the little fan I carried was no substitute for a nice breeze. We did get some very nice breezes, from time to time, and we thanked our Lord for every single one.
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    Occasionally the trail was clearly marked. Generally, these signs would be where the trail was obvious. Where there was some question as to which way to go, there were no signs and twice we went off track and added to our mileage. I am sure our hike was the at least 28 miles this loop claimed on some maps rather than only the 26.5 mile trail of which were certain.
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    We stopped the first day early after only 6.5 miles. It was finally getting cool enough to walk but we were beat. Hiking off trail to the little primitive campground called Sawyer also added many feet to our hike and much soreness to our feet. We were just too hot and tired to be hungry. Sawyer Primitive Camp...no usable outhouse, just a picnic table.
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    There was a wonderful breeze that night. Had we been sure it wouldn’t rain, we could have left our tarps off but rain was in the forecast.
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    We set off the next morning with renewed vigor at about 5:30 in the morning. We were hoping to get lots of miles in before the sun was too high, then rest during the heat of the day, then hike again in the evening.
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    Shortly before Camp Tejas we did resupply our water from the river with our filter system and I cooled my burning feet and pulled the burrs from our socks.
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    Our getting off track was part of the reason we were running short on water before we got to our first good water resupply at Tejas Camp. We no longer looked so energetic.
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    We thought perhaps these buzzards could smell death on us and were just waiting for us to fall. They were not bothered by our coming close.
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    Until Bob shouted at them to see them take wing.
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    However, at Tejas Camp we not only were able to resupply our water. Two lovely trail angels gave us each a quart of Gatorade. Trail magic is common on the Appalachian Trail but we certainly did not expect it on this hike. God is good and so are Nina and Cody. Never did a liquid ever go down so smooth. They also gave us a tube of sunscreen which may have saved our skins, so to speak, in more ways than the obvious.
    I have a picture but will not post in a public forum.
    Did we make it? Check out the next post.
    Bob and Bev

    "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom

    "Life is measured not by how many breaths you take but by how many moments take your breath away." attributed to a variety of different people

  2. #2
    Senior Member The Wanna Bs's Avatar
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    What we saw.

    On the other side of Camp Tejas, after your cross the river, there is an old historical road that is the trail and goes for miles with little shade. Throughout the trail there are historical markers telling of the early settlers and the primitive Indian finds.
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    There were of course every common wildflower that we so often take for granted but also some that I had never seen and some that startled us with their beauty, they way they grew in bouquets, or the way they showed up in the middle of nowhere.
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    Sometimes it was just the sheer expanses of Texas land, once roamed by Indian tribes, once ranched by early settlers, now just empty wild expanses of Texas that took our breath away
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    Next....how we survived. We did but just.
    Bob and Bev

    "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom

    "Life is measured not by how many breaths you take but by how many moments take your breath away." attributed to a variety of different people

  3. #3
    Senior Member The Wanna Bs's Avatar
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    How Spam saved us and what we learned.

    We stopped the middle of day two and rested in the shade. I think that is where I picked up the chiggers. It wouldn't be Texas without them. We started out again at about 4 PM and put in several more miles making it to Camp Russell with a debate within our souls of whether to go ahead and stop for the night or keep hiking while it was cool. We took the extra yards to hike to the bathrooms and take warm showers, eat and rest awhile at a real picnic table and refilled our water . We then hiked on hoping to make it to mile 18 leaving only 10 miles for the next day. As we passed mile marker 18 we started looking for a good place to hang our hammocks. We wanted a breeze and trees fairly close together. It was 8:20 before we finally stopped and we were almost, though we didn't know it, to mile 19. It was past hikers midnight, and we needed to hang and eat before the lights went out. We were too tired to say goodnight and slept like babies until about 4:00 AM when the rain hit. We quickly put up the tarps then realized that we might as well get up, eat what breakfast we could stomach and get on the road. It turned out to be just a sprinkle but left our packed hammocks damp. No pictures of this campsite were taken, too tired to think straight.

    Hitting mile 19 shortly after starting out Saturday morning gave us a lift. With only a little more than 9 miles left to go we were finally expectant that we would actually finish the hike in good health, despite the blisters and bone bruises on our feet. We had plenty of water when we passed by Jim Hogg Park at mile 21. Here we got off the trail again at a place clearly not marked clearly. I pulled up All Trails on my mostly turned off phone and we were able to find our way back to the trail with the help of the GPS signal, hoping and praying it was accurate.
    At this point the hiker trail was also a mountain bike trail and we pulled aside for many struggling bikers complaining of all the rocks. With only 4 more miles left to go we thought about lightening our load by emptying some water. My fear of overheating and dehydration prevented what might have been the more sensible path at that point.
    A heart shaped rock and a heart shaped cactus reminded us of our love for each other and our love for the the wonders of God’s creation and again gave us new energy.
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    The longest mile was the mile to cross the dam. I was dizzy and I didn't think I could make it. We stopped for a small sit down break before crossing and had our first meat since leaving camp Thursday afternoon. I think it was the salt in the Spam that made it hit the spot and give us the extra boost we needed at the time. We crossed it at noon and the great breeze and overcast sky also saved us.
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    After crossing the dam there is a sign saying trail mile 26 and then nothing. It is about another ½ mile, I am guessing back to the trail head within Cedar Breaks Park where we started and where our RV was parked. We showered, rested, then headed into town for a celebratory big meal.
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    We never did eat a Mountain House and we had four of them. We didn't eat either of the instant mashed potatoes we had packed. We ate only two of the 6 packets of instant oatmeal. We had only two of the 6 packets of hot chocolate. What did we eat. We ate most but not all of our nuts. We ate most but not all of our granola. We ate almost all of the dried bananas, blueberries, pineapple, and stawberries that we had brought. The home dried banana and strawberries were a real blessing. We used most of our Emergen C. We ate one of our two packets of Spam. We made both cups of dried milk we brought to use on our granola one night. It was too hot to cook and our stomachs were too sour from exertion to eat. We had carried 6.8 pound of food that we never ate.
    We never did eat a Mountain House and we had four of them. We didn’t eat either of the instant mashed potatoes we had packed. We ate only two of the 6 packets of instant oatmeal. We had only two of the 6 packets of hot chocolate. What did we eat. We ate most but not all of our nuts. We ate most but not all of our granola. We ate almost all of the dried bananas, blueberries, pineapple, and stawberries that we had brought. The home dried banana and strawberries were a real blessing. We used most of our Emergen C. We ate one of our two packets of Spam. We made both cups of dried milk we brought to use on our granola one night. It was too hot to cook and our stomachs were too sour from exertion to eat. We had carried 6.8 pound of food that we never ate.
    001.jpg and arrived back at camp with 8.4 pounds of water we could have poured out to walk a little lighter that last 4 miles. 002 (2).jpg

    We learned to be sure to take sunscreen and chapstick and blister remedies and powder. I want to pretreat everything with bug prevention before we hike a long hike again. However, our base weight was under 20 pounds with pack, hammock, tarps, sleeping bags, cook kit, and emergency kit so we did pretty well for newbies. We know that we need to work on strength and endurance before we do the AT. More hikes are in order. All in all the hike was a success. Hanging is still the best.
    Bob and Bev

    "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom

    "Life is measured not by how many breaths you take but by how many moments take your breath away." attributed to a variety of different people

  4. #4
    Senior Member The Wanna Bs's Avatar
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    I want to give a shout out to all who responded to my thread asking about the Georgetown River trail. Yes, Caveman and Spaceweasel, I agree with you about the Dam. Thanks to Spaceweasel for the encouragement. Thanks especially to Sargevining for directing me to The Trip Report about this "Death March" Also to Brute for the great report on that trip. No one warned us about the places we would get off track but that's okay, we figured it out.
    Bob and Bev

    "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom

    "Life is measured not by how many breaths you take but by how many moments take your breath away." attributed to a variety of different people

  5. #5
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    Hat's off to ya, Bev. We did a Wilderness Ministry trip this weekend and only got 4.2 miles. We did a quick out and back to Hidden Lake with a looooooong nap afterwards. You and Bob are doing lots better mileage then I'm getting to these days.

  6. #6
    Senior Member The Wanna Bs's Avatar
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    Thanks Sarge. I hope your ministry trip was rejuvenating for all.
    Bob and Bev

    "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom

    "Life is measured not by how many breaths you take but by how many moments take your breath away." attributed to a variety of different people

  7. #7
    Senior Member UncleMJM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Wanna Bs View Post
    Thanks Sarge. I hope your ministry trip was rejuvenating for all.
    I can't speak for Sarge, but for me it was a great time although I couldn't stay the entire time.

    I really like your trip report. I have got to get to Georgetown and hike that loop.
    Texas Fall Group Hang 2019

    Looking back to last year to reminisce and forward to post Covid-19 hangs in 2021


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  8. #8
    Great report and congratulations on the hike. Its rough on the feet but worth the blisters and hammer toes. I lost almost all my toenails after that hike...
    I forgot to mention the rattlesnakes. :-)

  9. #9
    TallPaul's Avatar
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    I enjoyed the trip report. Your writing kept me intrigued how it would turn out: )
    Good job getting in the miles and some good gear testing.

  10. #10
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    What a great accomplishment! Thanks for sharing. It helps to hear the challenges with the high points. Sound like you had plenty of both and triumphed to go on to greater. Congrats to you both!

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