Better Trails for Autumn

Several of the Friends of SCNP are out at the preserve regularly, taking care of the trails – people like Rudy Arnold, Jim Frisinger and the Third Saturday Volunteers. They deal with washouts and add crushed granite to some trail surfaces. Not that long ago they dealt with the old road leading from east to west straight down the edge of the north prairie. They converted it to a serpentine trail, weaving from side to side so that water from rain (you know, the stuff we used to get from the sky) doesn’t carve a channel. They are quiet heroes.

However, some trail issues require a professional team to fix. This week, KOM Trails of Leander, Texas, has been working on several trails that were badly in need of re-working. One of them was the “blue” trail that followed another old road down from the bluff area northward to the north prairie. Again, erosion was an issue, as well as a fairly steep grade, and so the new trail winds a little through the woodland, making for an enjoyable walk and a trail that is friendlier to the preserve’s features.

Drainage is now managed not only by the path of the trail, but by some small culverts. We know that rains will come, and we will celebrate along with the flowers, trees, shrubs, and wildlife when it does. And the trails will be ready.

The red/yellow trail that leads from the bridge to the main pond has also been improved. That area is marked by the edge of a small “shelf” of sandstone, rocky and gravelly and easily eroded by the amount of traffic going by. We hope you will help the preserve by staying on the trail in this area.

We invite you to go see for yourself and take note of how the preserve copes with the drought. Many of the plants drop their leaves and hunker down to wait for rain. Many of the grasses are dry and yellowed above ground, but down in the soil the roots wait for rainfall.

Grasshoppers still hop out of your way as you walk down the boulder trail, and dragonflies still compete for the best places to perch. And I saw a baby Texas spiny lizard darting for cover between rocks. Places like Sheri Capehart Nature Preserve are resilient enough to come back from this very hot and dry summer if there is enough rain in the coming months.