Wednesday 2-9 Hiking Mother Neff Trails

Camping at Mother Neff

We had a gorgeous day with a lot of sunshine. We woke up this morning with the temperature at 37 degrees and it got up to the low 70s. 

After breakfast we went on 3.5 mile hike. We hiked all the trails but two. We hiked Tower Trail (.6 mile), Cave Trail (.2 mile), Bluff Trail (.4 mile) and Wash Pond Trail (.5 mile). We hiked through Juniper trees, by the river and up and down hills. The trails had rocks on them and some roots but not much. This park is a CCC park so there were a few CCC structures, the CCC Tower, CCC Table and parts of the trails had steps that were made by the CCC. At the tower we saw a beautiful CCC building that was to be a Caretaker's Resident, today you can rent it for overnight use. We crossed over a bridge and hiked along the creek. There was no water in the creek. We walked through the Tonkawa Cave, people use to live in it for shelter over 200 years ago. There was a nice staircase that was built by the CCC and it took you to the parking lot. We rested a bit and continued on our hike. The bluff trail was pretty with a lot of trees. The CCC Stone Tower was beautiful with a spiral staircase, that went to the top of the tower. People are allowed to climb the tower. When you get on top you get a great view of the surrounding area. The Caretaker's resident was next door to the tower. The CCC table was nearby, it was in pretty bad shape. There were trail signs and signs at the structures giving the history of the structures. We had a great hike and saw deer.

 

 Caretaker's Residence

CCC Stone Tower

A view from the top of the CCC Tower

CCC Table

 

Tonkawa Cave

 

View from the tower bird watching blind

By the time we got back to the Minnie it was time for lunch. After lunch I played my games. I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: Tri Peaks Adventure of 20 games. It took me 1 hour, 12 minutes and 45 seconds, which put me in 13th place in my group.

After playing games Larry and I went for another hike for 45 minutes. We hiked the trails we didn't do this morning, the Pond Trail (.6 mile) and the Prairie Trail (.6 mile). Before doing the pond trail we took a short trail to see an old bell that was donated to the CCC by a local family. They used it to call the workers to dinner, meetings and to warn them about storms. As we were walking the Prairie Trail we met a family going on a hike. The kids were very friendly and talkative. 

The CCC bell

When we got home Larry got his book and went outside to read because it was a gorgeous day. While he read I went on an hour walk/hike. When we checked in yesterday Larry walked through the visitor center and said it was very nice. So this afternoon I decided to walk to the visitor center. I started by hiking the Prairie Trail to the parking lot, which was about a half mile. Then I took the park road to the visitor center, it was .1 mile. It wasn't big but it told you the history of the park and how it became a park. The visitor center is also the park store so they sold hats, tee shirts, backpacks and other items. It was very nice. After walking around the visitor center I went back to the Prairie Trail and finished hiking it. As I was doing this I met up with the family we met earlier. When I got back to the beginning I hiked it a couple more times before returning to Larry.

About an hour later it was time for dinner. I made tacos. After dinner I walked around the camping area for an hour to get my steps. By the end of the day I had done 29,000 steps, which put me in 6th place in my group. I guess I got carried away. After doing my steps I made cookies for dessert. Then I spent the rest of the night finishing the book Norwegian By Night.  It was an excellent book. We had a super day.