The Tale of Two Trails

My yearly pass at the Baytown Nature Center is about to expire ~ in another three days. As such, I decided to check out the Goose Creek Nature trail, which is free, to see if that would be a viable alternative for me to get my nature fix.

Things looked promising with that stately Spanish moss. However, the trail was this six-foot paved walkway, which was not what I was hoping for. And I certainly did not need my shit-kickers for this.

Maybe it was going to change to a more natural trail. And there was one way to find out.

A little ways off the concrete walkway was this platform and pretty view.

As I proceed with my walk, I had this nice water view vista to the right of me.

However, on the left I had this.

So I continued walking along, hoping that the trail would eventually change over to something more "natural."

In no time soon, I came across a sign that pointed to a little league park.

And then I came across this platform and boat ramp. (At least now I have a place from where I could launch a kayak, when I decide to get one.)

Here's a view from the boat ramp.

Guess the fish caught here aren't the healthiest or safest to eat.

Continuing a little ways more, I hoping that the trail would change. But from what I could tell, it remained the same. It continued up across an overpass on W Texas Avenue. 

I was debating whether or not proceed. And when I saw a man crossing the overpass, yelling very loudly into his cellphone, my mind was made up to turn around and head back.

That was it!

I came here looking for a new nature spot, not to partake of the drama that I witness every day while at work.

So I turned around and made my way back to my Xterra. And I took in that stately Spanish moss one more time.

However, before I made it to my car, I spied something nearby to my right.

It was a black vulture feasting away at squirrel carcass. (The smell of decomp was quite strong!)

And it wasn't just one vulture, but two! The other one stayed back a bit, letting its mate enjoy all that decomposing goodness!

It was time to say goodbye to the vultures and to the Goose Creek Trail. While it not what I was looking for, I also understood that it may be the perfect place for someone who's mobility-impaired to enjoy a bit of nature, as the paved walkway could easily accommodate a walker or wheelchair, and of course bicycles and strollers as well.

So I drove to the Baytown Nature Center, which wasn't too far away. Because I had already used up some time exploring the Goose Creek Trail, I wanted to keep my hike short so that I could get home by eleven o'clock.

The Chickadee Trail was one trail that I haven't done before.

Yes! This was much more like it!

This was the sort of trail that I was looking for ~ the kind that my shit kickers were meant for!

There were some swampy ponds underneath the tree canopy. And the mosquitoes were ferocious! 

Moving along, there was another swampy pond, with more hungry mosquitoes.

There were a couple of empty purple chickadee feeding stations along the trail.

This photo does not do this tree justice.

Looks like a mimosa leaf to me.

This has got to be the biggest and most huge-ass sago palm that I've seen! It's easily four to five times taller than the one that I have in front of my house!

Moving along, I've come out into some open space, for which I was very grateful, as there were no mosquitoes to feast on my flesh.

I could smell something marshy.

The trail was a former street, in a former subdivision in a tony section of Baytown. Walking through these trails is a quiet meditation on the reclamation of Nature. (You can read about how the Baytown Nature Center came to be here.)

I tried taking a closeup of one the puddles on this street/trail. It really doesn't look like much, does it?

Perhaps this photo gives a better idea of the puddle and what a living organism ~ a mini ecosystem ~ looks like.

I couldn't tell what this bird was. Possibly a heron perhaps?

I love how the sky reflects in the water!

There were clumps of these purple flowers throughout my hike.

I have yet to identify what kind of flower they are.

As I continued my hike, I spotted something scurrying through the grass. It was a peculiar creature, and I could not, for the life of me, figure out what it was. But when I got closer to it, I saw that it was a little crab ~ a land crab. I've never seen a land crab before. I tried to coax it onto my hand so that I could take a better pic, but the fellow was not being very cooperative.

Cattails always remind me of where I used to live in Massachusetts. Ever since I was a little kid, I always thought they were the coolest thing.

Here's another plant whose identity of which I had not a clue.

Honeysuckle!

This is the type of trail I was looking for when I first explored Goose Creek Trail, only to have it fall way short of my expectations. Look at that legendary Texas Big Sky!

Way in the distance, peeking over the tops of the trees, you can see the San Jacinto Monument that commemorates the battle for Texas Independence. 

The monument is across the bay in La Porte, Texas. It stands at 567.31 feet, making it 12.698 feet taller than the Washington Monument, as well as having it be the tallest masonry column on this planet. The star that sits on top of the monument is 34 feet tall and weighs 220 tons. Also, the star has nine points. This was a deliberate design feature in order to make the star appear to have five points, as in the Texas Lone Star, from whatever angle it was viewed.

This curious tangle of yellow is the dodder vine (genus Cuscuta). It is a parasitic plant that can grow and attach itself to multiple plants.

Having finished my short hike, I started making my way out of the nature center. Driving down the narrow road I spotted this egret. But then that's not surprising, as the Baytown Nature Center is an official stop on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail.

As brief as my hike was, it was a very welcome and much appreciated nature break. I am pretty certain I will be re-upping my yearly pass to the Baytown Nature Center.