Pedernales Falls State Park is located 9 miles outside Johnson City. This is the view at the park's check station. Knowing about the thorny plants, venemous creatures, high heat, and lack of water; I couldn't help but think of how inhospitable this landscape looked.
We decided to hike down to the swimming area along the river to look around. Little did we know how many sections of stairs like this that we would face.
Second flight of stairs and still smiling!
Yikes! It's looking like a long walk ahead, and I'm contemplating the walk uphill on our return.
A third section of stairs.
A long walk through the sand to the water.
The sand has seashells. The soil back at the RV park also has seashells. It's evidence of the area being underwater at one time.
We made it! We're told that normally the water is deep enough to swim, but is down to wading depth with the drought.
For those interested in geology, this is a cool looking conglomerate rock.
We're halfway back up the stairs. This is what an amateur hiker looks like in 95+ degree heat. I noticed cacti along the stairway that were yellowed and withering. I took comfort knowing that even the cacti were having trouble surviving.
Anyone for a hike to the falls? Here's the path. Presuming it mean't climbing down several flights of stairs like before, we opted to return another day.
Here's a picture of the falls from the Internet. Good enough for me until a cooler day!
