The trip to Texas was one full of incredible memories that will stick with me for a lifetime. I had visited Texas before as a young child but never had the opportunity to grasp the immense size and beauty of the state. Before the trip I thought of Texas as being a large, flat, and dry desert but I could not have been more wrong. I was able to witness first hand the vast variety of habitats that the state has to offer including the plains, shrub deserts, hill country, and coastal regions.
The trip started with the long drive from Valley City down to Garner State Park on the Frio River in the hill country of Texas. The trip started out smooth until we met our first obstacle in my home state of Nebraska. Soon after crossing the South Dakota border we entered the region of Nebraska that had recently faced detrimental flooding. The closest marked detour was going to take us around 100 miles off course. Luckily, I had connections in the area and found a 20-mile detour down an old gravel road where the bridge had not been washed out. Luck seemed to be on our side again until I got behind the wheel in Grand Island and got pulled over 10 minutes later due to the lights malfunctioning on the U-Haul trailer I was pulling. After all the excitement was over, we were back on the road and made a clear shot down to Garner State park after stopping for an early lunch at Whataburger. Driving through the hill country had to of been the most beautiful scenery of the trip. The hills were steep and heavily wooded with sharp ravines down the bottom. Between hillsides were low water crossings where flood water rushes over the road in the rare heavy rain events. The hill country was also heavily populated with exotic game ranches that gave me the ability to see some of the species for the first time in my life.
Twenty-eight hours after takeoff we arrived at Garner State Park and got our first glimpse at the Frio River. Most of us were beat from the long ride but that did not stop us from exploring the crystal-clear ice-cold water before preparing for the next day and calling it a night. We woke up early the next morning to rain which prompted a speedy pack up and sent us on our way to our sampling locations for the day. We were able to sample the South Llano, Llano, and Guadalupe rivers that first day while making our way to that nights camping location on Corpus Christi Lake.
The following morning, we ate what I consider the best breakfast of my entire life at a Mexican restaurant in Mathis. We then had the opportunity to check trot lines with Dust McDonald, a member of the Parks and Wildlife, for a research project. After everyone was packed, we took off for the Port O’Connor making pit stops at Academy Sports for fishing supplies and Walmart for groceries.
If a choice has to be made, then the coast was probably my favorite location we visited during the trip. We were lucky enough to be guided by Cooper Knight and Chris Evans. Cooper lives right in Port O’Connor and shuttled us and all our gear out to Matagorda Island. One of the highlights of the island was just the boat ride out there. I saw dolphins in the wild for the first time in my life and just the sheer amount of wildlife was incredible. Part of the excitement of staying on the island was the list of animals that you must keep an eye out for. The island is inhabited by rattlesnakes, alligators, wild hogs, and sting rays. It was fascinating how much you see when you are constantly watching your step.
After setting up camp that first afternoon we all went our own direction and began exploring. I used my time to fish. It was my first experience fishing saltwater and took me a while to get my first bite. Once I had figured out the technique, I was on them. I was able to catch 10 speckled trout and a croaker the first night before it was time for dinner. Cooper Knight had been kind enough to make a trip down to the market earlier that day to pick us up 35 pounds of fresh shrimp. Casey used his recipe and cooking skills to boil them up and give us all a dinner that would fill us to the brim. The shrimp were delicious but did not even compare to the mushrooms. After stuffing our faces, we decided to go explore the island some more and search for reptiles. Our efforts did not pay off with any reptiles, but we were able to see many of the wild inhabitants of the island including deer, raccoons, coyotes, and jackrabbits.
The following morning, I woke up early to go fish again before the day’s activities began. I went a different direction from camp and was happy to find another nice pocket of trout. I was able to catch 24 trout and a flounder out of the small area. After fishing I was able to get a nice late breakfast early lunch of leftover shrimp before the boat returned to take us on our tour. We toured our way around the bay and to the cut that leads to the gulf. My group was able to get out at the gulf and seine along the beach. The abundance of species along the beach was low but it was an awesome experience pulling the net through that current. After seining the beach, we went back toward the island stopping in the bay to pull the seine in the brackish water. The species diversity was much higher here and I was able to sample species that I had never seen before.
After arriving back at the island, we finished packing up and headed back to the mainland due to the winds forecasted for the next morning. This gave us the opportunity to go out to eat at one of the local hotspots that served everything from seafood to burgers. I went with the chicken fried steak that ended up being much bigger than face. We headed back to Coopers house where we camped in the front yard. With the mix of being drained from a full day in the sun and food induced coma we all fell asleep quickly that night.
The next morning, we made our way up to Palmetto State Park. This gave us the opportunity to sample the Guadalupe River again as well as another round of Whataburger for lunch. That evening we seined the river in the park and then started searching for mussels with the help of Brad Littrel. When we returned to camp, we decided it was time for dinner, so we went up to Mr. Taco and had an excellent dinner.
For our final day of sampling we traveled up to San Marcos. We started the day touring the Freeman Aquatic Building with Dr. Weston Nowlin on the Texas State Campus. After the tour we got in the San Marcos River and snorkeled two miles of it. This was right there with the best moments of the trip. I found it incredible how clear the water was and how close to fish you could get without them reacting. It was an amazing experience. After our snorkel was over, we grabbed lunch then decided to seine part of the river. The species abundance was incredible, and I crossed a few more species off my capture list. Part of the group was ready to return to camp after the seining, so they headed back while the rest of us took another trip snorkeling. We returned to camp that night and spent our last night in the tents before making the long trek home in the morning.
