Troop and Crew 583 Campout
at Choke Canyon State Park - Calaham unit - near Three Rivers, TX
April 4-6, 2008
Ready to leave the parking lot in McAllen and drive to Choke Canyon.
We arrived just minutes before the front gate closed, and were directed to the sponsored youth group camping area.
This is a fairly rustic camping area at the end of a gated road. It is enclosed by trees and brush.
It is a cozy area for State Park camping, set apart from the normal campgrounds.
Camp was set up in the dark.
The Crew challenged the Troop for earliest setup.
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Camp in daylight
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Entrance gate (left) - Pavillion (right)
The Crew pavillion
There was a fire ban in effect. We had no campfire. All cooking was done on camp stoves.
- animals -
There are 3 alligators in this picture
Close-up of an alligator taken with a long lens.
A white-tail doe.
A cottontail rabbit.
~~~~~ Birds ~~~~~
Scissor tail Flycatcher on a high branch
A vulture - probably a black vulture.
Coromorants nesting - close-up
The cormorants at a distance
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The trail from the campsite to the South side of the 75 Acre Lake
where most of the alligators were.
Brush and Cactus - without a trail hiking is difficult.
Note the large patches of Prickly Pear (Nopal) cactus.
Yucca mid-picture and a huge Lantana bush to the right.
We saw a small armadillo running through the grass just in front of this yucca.
Lantana - with lavendar flowers. We also saw it with orange/yellow flowers.
Mistletoe - a parasitic plant - growing in a Mesquite tree.
See Mistletoe on the branch in the tree above.
~~~~~ hiking ~~~~~
All saddled up and ready to hike.
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We hiked up the trail and back by way of the road.
At daybreak it was 51 degrees F. by early afternoon the day warmed into the low 90 degree range.
The wind had shifted from out of the north to a more customary SE flow.
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Resting in the heat of the day - Some used the time to study.
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-- click on picture for a larger group picture. --
All of us except Ms Mary who took the picture.
Picture taken on the south shore of the 75 Acre Lake
The alligators were out in the lake behind us
and we were hearing the pipping of baby alligators in the brush farther inland.
Some large bullfrogs were sounding off in the cattails. We did not see them, but certainly heard them.
Saturday night the wind died down and a heavy dew developed.
The tent flys were soaked with dew and needed drying.