Brazos Bend Nature Walk | Spillway Trail

Continuing our nature walk, John and I left the Elm Lake Loop Trail and headed to 40 Acre Lake by way of the Spillway Trail.

Do you see what we saw in the water?

Yes, it's another large gator! His head is exposed and you can see his body just below the surface. The trail is much higher than the water level here, so I felt safe to take all the pictures I wanted.

The trees along the spillway create a perfect leafy arch over the trail. It was a pleasant walk through the woods.

The Brazos River flooded earlier this year and the park was closed for a time until the water receded. See how the lower portion of these tree trunks are dark? I'm guessing that's from the high water.

And then the scenery changes--out of the swampy woods and onto the open plain. 

A golden blanket of swamp sunflowers covered the field nearly as far as my eye could see. It was impressive!

The closer we got to 40 Acre Lake, the more alligators we saw. In one small area there were at least 20. 

That was also impressive, but...

I like flowers better...so no more pictures of the alligators.

To be continued...

Brazos Bend Nature Walk | Scenery on Elm Lake Trail

Despite the cloudy, overcast skies on Friday, John and I decided to go for a nature walk at Brazos Bend State Park. We haven't been here in a long time.

I noticed there's a new sign at the entrance featuring one of the park's main attractions. If you've never seen an American alligator in the wild, this is the place to come. They are abundant here.

We began our nature walk at Elm Lake. We didn't have very far to go before we came across our first gator sighting. John pointed him out to me.

The alligator was in the water at the edge of the trail, partially covered with plant debris. He was huge! He never moved the whole time we were there. We kept a safe distance while taking our pictures. I was glad to move along. Alligators fascinate me and scare me at the same time.

There were so many things to see and photograph. I tried to snap a few pictures of birds, but soon gave up on that. I may have said out loud more than once, that the shot was well beyond the range of my lens. I wasn't hinting around or anything like that. Truly.

Instead I focused on scenery shots that evoked the feeling of Elm Lake Trail. The bald cypress trees were showing just a tinge of fall color.

This is a pretty spot where the trail bends along the lake. There are several of these decks along the trail. They extend over the water for better views and for fishing. The white tube mounted on the side is for discarding used fishing line. 

For the most part, we had the trail all to ourselves, but it wasn't quiet. The music of nature--constant calls of birds and bullfrogs--played in the background as we continued down the tree-lined path under a drape of Spanish moss.

To be continued...

Crape Myrtle Blossoms after a Recent Rain

May my teaching drop as the rain, 

my speech distill as the dew, 

like gentle rain upon the tender grass, 

and like showers upon the herb. 

Deuteronomy 32:2 (ESV)