Burn Ban Fire Drama
Foreward
College can be an interesting time in our lives due to many factors. One such factor that may provide to be interesting can also present unexpected challenges. If you are inclined to seek out group functions with characters that you do not normally associate with, then you may experience some very good times. But sometimes when you are forced to endure group activities with an unfamiliar group of people, those interesting adventures can easily be beset with frustrating headaches.
The background to this expedition can be easily summarized. It’s 2011, and I am one year removed from the U.S. Navy, and one year into my undergrad major of geology at Lamar University. In an effort to befriend like-minded individuals also in my major, I decided to join the student organization called the Lamar University Geological Society, or L.U.G.S. for short. Our first sanctioned trip as part of this organization was travelling to Pedernales Falls State Park in central Texas.
Bearing no ill will toward any of the individuals from this camping trip, and becoming very close friends with most of them in the years afterwards, I will refrain from painting any of them in a negative light. In any case, throughout the retelling I will not use any names. The purpose of this story is not to embarrass or condemn anyone. The intended purpose is to be a flashback to a time spent camping in a wonderful, natural, and geological destination, with some cautionary flair.
Pedernales Falls
Pedernales Falls State Park lies at the northern edge of the limestone hills of the Balcones Canyonlands, and at the southern edge of Llano Country, thirty minutes west of Austin. According to the park website the state of Texas acquired Pedernales Falls State Park from private owners in 1970 and the park itself opened in 1971. The 5,212-acre park sits along the banks of the scenic Pedernales River in Blanco County east of Johnson City. Formerly the Circle Bar Ranch, the area is typical Edwards Plateau terrain. It is a popular tourist destination for not only the falls themselves, but also hiking and horseback riding.
Gear Situation
In anticipation for this trip, I geared up at Academy with a large Magellan backpack, and a Eureka solo tent. I fitted my khaki vest with a 2L hydration reservoir and along with my other accumulated backpacking gear, I filled the pack with some warmer clothing options in preparation for November camping.
There were two different camping factions in the group I was travelling with. One group was experienced in lightweight backpacking with minimal gear, and the other was quite the opposite, experienced in campground camping with an excessive amount of gear and packing everything under the sun you might need in any outdoor situation. I would have considered myself a good fit for the former of the groups, but because of the friendships I had already made, I found myself bound to the latter group. In the end, it didn’t matter what group you identified with because Mother Nature saw fit to challenge both.
Arrival
We arrived at Pedernales Falls Headquarters at around 2pm on a Friday afternoon in early November. The first thing I noticed was the viewpoint of the Headquarters Overlook. The landscape, shaped by intense thunderstorms, erosion, and other rainfalls, had been worn into deep canyons and ravines. The major river running through the park, the Pedernales, had eroded deep into the geology to form these canyons, and expose rocks buried deeply under nearby ridges. After taking in the sights from the overlook, our group began to come together.
It was at about this time that I found out the campsite booked and provided by LUGS was in the primitive area, about a 2 mile hike into the park. I was undeterred because I had packed solo and lightweight, but I would soon find that others had not. Routine fitness readiness tests in which I was not far removed from had prepared me for long distances with large amounts of gear on my back. I was not prepared for the hindrance that would be thrust upon me due to my chosen group of friends.
Factions
The light campers had only their backpacks in sight, strapped to their backs, full of lightweight gear and simple sustenance, such as cliff bars and dried foods. My situation was almost identical; however I did not pack any food, and instead had chosen to chip in with my friends on the meals they would provide. It was at around this time we all gathered at the trailhead ready to embark. I participated in the group photo session, and then I suddenly realized the mess I had put myself in. From this point on I will distinguish between the two groups as the lightweights and heavyweights. This is due to packing habit, with no bearing on individual body type.
The division became quite clear as we set off on the trail. The lightweights led the charge, in quick strides, and with a purpose. The group I was with lagged behind, with some carrying folded chairs, and others extra duffle bags in their free hands. To my horror I had just found out that all of the food I had graciously chipped in on was bought in large quantities and contained with around 50lbs of ice in a standard run of the mill Igloo ice-chest. This simple chest had no wheels, not that the gravel trail would abide them, and only had the attached side handles for carrying. The job of carrying this ice chest fell to all members of the group that had contributed to its contents, and I was one of them.
The Long Trek
We spent the next two miles dodging other hiking groups as we attempted navigate the narrow trail. Every few minutes we rotated the load to rest our aching forearms. In those instances we also found out who the whiners and weaklings were as they mumbled excuses about their hands being already full, or tired, or whose turn it actually was. All the while we also dodged the smug comments from the lightweight group, who did not, and even flat out refused, to help carry the cooler. I also tried to dodge the embarrassment I had, and any judgmental eye contact from random hikers on the trail.
Reaching Campsite
Exasperated and with exhausted forearms, we finally reached our campground. Finally we could unpack, set up, and enjoy camping. Did I mention that Blanco County was under a burn ban? Sometimes when it rains, it pours, but this is just foreshadowing. We found ourselves in a nice clearing off the trail. Each of us picked the trunk of a different tree to set up our individual camps. Each tree was on the perimeter of the clearing and left the central location available for the group to use as the communal area. Normally this would be the area for the campfire, but the burn ban limited it to just a gathering area.
There was no running water, specifically spigots, to refill drinking water, and the closest restroom facilities were two chemical toilets around a 5 minute walk uphill. In order to maintain hydration, the closest spigot for refill was retreading the 2 mile hike back to the park headquarters. These details were to be expected for primitive camping, and did not negatively impact me now that we had lugged that cooler all of that way already. As I often do, I went out on my own to explore the surrounding areas and found my way to the river close by, with its own water, and a shallow stream that I would use to rinse off and wash up when necessary.
Hiking for Water in the Dark
The first evening was relatively quiet. Darkness came at around the same time some of the group ran out of drinking water. Three others and I decided to trek back to the headquarters and fill up on water for everyone. For me it was the perfect excuse for a night hike and star gazing, which I am known to be quite fond of doing. Just about halfway back to headquarters one of the lanterns we brought with us began to flicker.
We quickened our pace so as not to be lost at night with no light source, even though my head-lamp had fresh batteries. You can never be too careful. Once we made it back to the parking lot, we were able to stargaze to our hearts content at the overlook. My ride and another of the group found their car and placed two phones inside to charge for awhile. We would use those as flashlights to get back to the camp, and the time charging as an excuse to stargaze longer.
Tiny tent and Rainfall
When night came, most of our group were tired enough to fall asleep easily. At 6’2″ I found the solo coffin style tent to be a bit claustrophobic. I slithered in on my back, but could not sit up to remove my boots. So, I had to slide back out, squat precariously keeping balance on the clean tarp, remove my boots, and then slide back in. There was just enough room to slide my backpack under the rain-fly just outside of the “front door” and next to my boots. Sitting up was impossible, and getting out again was a chore.
It was around midnight when the soft pitter patter of raindrops began to fall onto the roof of my tent. I couldn’t sleep and I very much needed to drain my bladder. I donned my long black raincoat, naval uniform standard issue, put my boots back on, and stretched out into the rainy woods. Equipped with my head-lamp, a survival machete, and my raincoat, I went out in search of the night, wolves, and adventure. I also went out in search of a way to become tired enough to fall asleep. This is partly why I also carried a bottle filled with a mixture of water, grape jelly, and vodka. Every so often the sky would brightly light the forest after a crackle of thunder, and after what seemed like hours, I paced back to my tent, a towel, and to sleep.
First Morning
When I awoke, and rose from my coffin, I found spirits had dampened around camp for some. The site had become soggy and foggy overnight, but the rain had stopped. It had left a damp chill air to replace it. Just a few moments after gearing up for the day and emerging toward the group I witnessed triumph for the heavyweights. A propane burner and a large cast iron skillet were filling the air with the glorious scent of eggs and sausages. It would be a bounty for all that had lugged the cursed ice –chest for two miles, to partake in this glorious breakfast.
However, for the lightweights, it was not such a glorious morning at all. Instead it was filled with bickering and snickering. I would soon come to find out through whispers among the heavyweights what tragedy had befallen the other group. They did not have room for their bags in their small single tents, and had not kept them inside as I had done. All of them had hung their tents vertically on trees, and overnight the rain had seeped in, soaking all of their clothes and water logging their food bars. Preparing for the day, they huddled together for warmth. Clad in their damp clothing, eating cold wet granola, they seemed miserable watching us with dry clothes, cook and eat a warm meal.
The division intensifies
Now I am a relatively nice person, and some would say overly-accommodating. When I mentioned helping them, or offering them warm food I was quickly rebuffed. From what I was told, they had spent quite some time the last night (while some of us were away stargazing and getting water) talking down about the heavyweights. Apparently they had smugly talked up themselves, and their high class and lightweight gear, what “true campers” were supposed to use.
According to the lightweights, the heavyweights overstuffed their bags, brought too much gear, and tents too large for the purpose of the primitive site. And of course they were very open about their disdain for carrying a cooler full of food on a 2 mile hike. Well, at least their gear had stayed dry inside their bigger tents. In the end, one group was cold, wet, and miserable, and the other had had to lug a heavy cooler for hours the day before. One night of rain and the tables had turned. After hearing the things the other group had said, there would be no talk of sharing.
The Main Attraction
It would be no matter in the coming hours. By the time we hiked back down toward the Pedernales Falls trailhead for the main attraction, the sun had come out, everyone was warmed up, dried up, and ready to experience the limestone waterfalls. Our group leader was the LUGS student president at the time. Every so often he would point out different features and explain details for us to look out for. This particular area was an exposed section of the Marble Falls formation.
Geologic Information
Lying below several cretaceous era formations, the cherty Marble Falls limestone is a Pennsylvanian age (320 million years old) formation. At the north end of the park, the river cut through the cretaceous beds to expose the much older limestone. The limestone was initially deposited flat-lying, but were tilted after being lithified, long before the flat lying Creataceous sediments were deposited. The Marble Falls Limestone is very fine-grained, with crusts and beds of chert (silica) that are more resistant to stream erosion than limestone.
I broke out my rock hammer and found my first fossil in a cracked limestone boulder just a few minutes after arriving. It was a tiny crinoid embedded in the stone. These types of crinoid fragments are abundant in mid-Paleozoic to Jurassic era limestone beds. Crinoids are marine animals that sometimes are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk, and commonly called sea lilies. Modern crinoids include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. They exhibit the basic echinoderm pattern of five-fold symmetry, with most having five arms subdivided into ten or more, with feathery pinnules that they spread to gather planktonic particles from water. At some stage in their life most crinoids have a stem, but many only as juveniles, becoming free-swimming as adults. My particular fossil was a section of stem containing the trademark star shape void in the center.
We spent quite a good deal of time exploring the main falls area, studying the structures, searching for more fossils, and generally having a good time in the crystal clear waterfalls. After spending most of the morning at the falls, our group met up in the parking lot and dispersed for the afternoon.
Striking out on my own
In this environment, limestone resists erosion, but shale and sandstone are less resistant. Because of the alternation of past environments, the Cretaceous section (105–115 million years old) has layers of conglomerate (called Sycamore), shale, limestone (Cow Creek), and sand, followed by resistant limestone (called Glen Rose). The weak shale and sand layers form flats; the intervening Cow Creek limestone forms bold bluffs overlooking the river. Once back on the trail I broke off to see Trammell’s crossing, and go exploring on my own.
Trammell’s Crossing offers a close-up view of many of the Cretaceous rocks. The flat area as you enter the trailhead is part of the Hensel geologic formation, which contains sand and mud that is easy to erode. Walking down the trail, there are resistant boulders and ledges of Cow Creek limestone; then a covered zone with underlying mudstone; then, at the base of the hill, a conglomerate (cemented gravel) with rounded pebbles to cobbles of older rocks (Marble Falls and others).
The Cow Creek limestone contains broken oyster shells and abundant quartz sand. These sandy limestones exhibit ripple marks which are a tell tale sign they were formed in a beach environment. Looking further, the limestone contains filled burrows of worms, clams, and shrimp. About 20 yards beyond the amphitheater, the soil becomes muddier and the trees change from live oaks to mesquite and Spanish (red) oak—indicating a change to muddy bedrock (the Hammett Shale).
Along a left heading side trail, following it reaches a ledge of Sycamore conglomerate. This unit typically has abundant cobbles (and boulders) of older limestone, including Marble Falls and even older Ellenburger limestone. The cobbles are cemented by a limy material that may be Cretaceous caliches’ (soil-deposited carbonate, typical of desert and semi-desert environments). At the base of the hill, the road enters the floodplain of the Pedernales River, which it crosses on a concrete-lined ford. Around the ford you can see the debris left by major floods that have swept down the river valley.
After spending most of the afternoon exploring outcrops and features on my own, it was time to head back to camp for the second night. Other than the odd deer or forest creature here and there, I hadn’t seen anyone for quite some time. As evening came, I found myself back out of the wilderness and on the main trail. At just about the very same moment I set foot on the trail I saw some other members of our group heading my way. After inquiring about what I had gotten up to off of the trail, we made our way back to our campsite. Just as the sun began to set the cold and misty rain started to fall again. This rain would lead to a fair amount of drama and an eventful evening that I would come to wish I had no part in.
Fire & Rain
Whispers around camp had turned into serious contemplation about starting up a campfire. I knew from experience that this idea could only lead to disastrous results. Most of our party was convinced that it was far too wet and far too cold for anyone to object to lighting up a campfire for warmth.
The rain was still coming down and the cold wind was still blowing hard. I continuously objected to any notion of a fire. I had previous experience with being caught having a campfire during a burn ban at a state park, and I did not want to repeat that experience at all. However; all the while, the talk continued, and turned to stirrings. And then all was lost when they saw some other group across the trail had started a fire. I still objected, but I made the mistake of sitting by the fire and not by myself in the cold wet darkness.
The ghosts in the darkness had their eyes upon us, and soon they would stomp forth with the consequences for our disobedience. One of the most terrifying fears a person would imagine when in a dark and remote campsite would have to be that of some massive horrifying monster stomping out of the woods, snarling and roaring toward you. In our situation this is exactly what happened, but it was not Bigfoot. His screams startled us all to attention long before we could make out the shape of what walked toward us. “Who told you that you could start a fire!” bellowed the park ranger.
The Ranger
At this point everyone had jumped to their feet, eyes fixed on the uniformed man screaming in our direction. I could only roll my eyes (see explanation below) as I turned and walked away from the fire. I knew exactly how this would play out from experience. Now I won’t quote exactly what he said because I cannot recall his exact words. But I will try to convey the resulting conversation from my memory. The answer to his initial screams as he entered our camp, when he asked what made us think we could have a fire, were mixed responses. One person said he saw another fire across the trail, which was now non-existent, and another mentioned that surely with it being so wet and cold that having a fire was no danger.
The portly and gruff middle-aged ranger was having none of this. He also made no attempts to lower his voice. Our group was made mostly of 20-30 something aged adults, but we were all reduced to toddlers in the gaze of this infuriated authority figure. With overly dramatic flair he yelled that it would only take one ember being blown by the strong winds out of our fire to set the entire forest alight, and, it seemed to me, to destroy the entire world.
Some of our group instantly became submissive and apologetic, attempting to placate the overzealous ranger, but he continued in the same passion. His next threat was to ticket anyone who continued to argue, and to threaten us with further violations due to the presence of a small fifth of vodka. This just further illustrates his desire to beat the dead horse into submission because the rules for alcohol are simple. You absolutely are allowed to possess alcohol; the rules just ask you to keep labels covered and not drink out in the open. We were in our campsite at night, drinking small amounts quietly, from one small bottle.
Disclaimer
Now, before you get the wrong impression let me explain that I am not the type of person that will exaggerate slights against me, and I do not have a disdain for authority figures. My upbringing contained a rather large dose of unnecessary yelling and anger for often trivial childhood wrongs. As a member of the military and now ordinary citizen, I tend to view situations like this with ire because they show a lack of respect for fellow man.
As an example, I was once pulled over for tailgating. I tried to explain that the car I was supposedly “tailgating” had just cut me off by changing lanes in a sharp curve, and that the officer had only witnessed what he saw from his position parked at the end of the curve. But throughout this interaction the officer yelled at me as if I was school child. I simply looked him straight in the eye with absolute sincerity and said “I am a 35 year old man, why are you yelling at me like I am a child?” Somewhat stunned, his voice lowered and cracked, and he only told me to slow down and be more careful. Then he left.
What I’m trying to illustrate is somewhat akin to honey being more potent than vinegar. In summary, the park ranger simply could have walked in and explained the situation reasonably, and instructed us to put out the fire. We would have complied readily, and been apologetic. Instead, he was bellowing threats at us, and at this point forcing us to pick someone from the group so that he could write a ticket. If we did not he threatened to ticket us all. One person stood up and agreed to accept the ticket on our behalf.
The Cost
We all agreed to split the cost, and although I objected to the fire in the first place, I agreed that I would pitch in as well. I never once said “I told you so” as much as I wanted to. I will say that the situation played out almost exactly like the first time I was in a group that was reprimanded for a campfire during a burn ban, screaming, posturing, world ending dramatics and all. This ranger’s final instructions were for us to bury the coals. He said that he’d return in 30 minutes and if he could see any trace of our extinguished fire, he would ticket us all. This was just another angry threat to impress his authority upon us because he never did return. I’m sure he imagined us shaking in our boots as we awaited his judgment that never came.
Soon it was the next morning and the long drive home. At least the cooler had been emptied over the weekend, so hauling that thing back to headquarters for two miles was a cakewalk compared to day one.
Returning
Ten years later I returned to Pedernales Falls State Park with my wife for a day trip. We were staying in Dripping Springs for the weekend, and Covid times were upon us. After waiting for half an hour in the entrance line, we were told that we would need a reservation. This time it was June and not November, so it was likely very packed with summer tourists. We understood the situation, made our reservation online, and within a few moments had our pass to enter at 1:30pm. It was around 11am so with the time to kill, we found a small parking lot just outside of the park at a trail crossing for the equestrian trail.
Equestrian Site
Being on foot, I was not worried that we’d be questioned about the status of our day pass. It would not matter because there was absolutely no-one to be seen around the equestrian campsite. We made our way to a picnic table near a large silo and trough of water. We saw the log rails where people were supposed to tie their horses, and the fire pit central to the equestrian camp. Luckily there was a spigot to refill our water bottles. Even luckier was the presence of a port-o-john, because we both really needed to use it.
We spent a decent amount of time just relaxing at this site to kill time. This area of the park is a nice departure from the main portion. It was mostly a grassy hill, with lots of colorful flowers, and sparse shade trees. After absorbing these sights and walking a significant distance down the pipeline clearings, we headed back to the equestrian group camp, made use of the john, and headed back to the car.
The Park Proper
Once it was our time to enter we made our way to the overly filled parking area at the Pedernales Falls trailhead. Taking our time we noted the odd Lamborghini and Ferrari. We spent the next couple of hours of a sunny June afternoon traversing the marble falls. It was much more magnificent on this visit do to the higher water levels in the falls.
Even though it was sunny and hot, the water was still very cool to cold. I splashed myself on numerous occasions as we went from outcrop to outcrop enjoying each and every waterfall and crystal clear pool. This section prohibits swimming, as there is a dedicated swimming area further down the river. Also, there are some dangerous and rocky crevices with very fast moving water where it would be hazardous to try and get in. I did wade shoeless in some of the hip deep pools though as it was quite refreshing.
After traversing a large portion of the flowing falls, and spending a decent amount of time on rocky banks taking in the sound and sight of majestic waterfalls, we made our way back to our car and left the park. Although only a day trip, it was well worth the experience to return. Luckily, this time was without the drama of camping with an unfamiliar group during a burn ban. To conclude, Pedernales Falls State Park is beautiful, and the falls themselves are more than enough reason to return any time you are in the area.
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