Another Short Hike at the Park

It was another beautiful day, and once again I had the urge to take a short hike. I asked Miss Donna to join me, but she declined saying she had things to do. The reality is that she is unable to keep up with a young whippersnapper like me.

I headed back out to San Angelo State Park. This time, I parked at Burkett Trailhead (Point of Interest #2 on the South Unit Trails Map). Two other cars were parked there, so I thought I might run into others on the trail, but today I met no one. I decided to put together a short hike consisting of the Roller Coaster Trail, the Pott's Creek Trail System, and the Burkett Trail. For today's hike, I decided to wear my hiking boots. Normally, Donna and I prefer to wear just regular walking shoes, but the trails at the park are so rocky that I felt I needed more ankle support for this hike. Also, since I knew I would be going up and down numerous slopes, I felt I needed better traction than my walking shoes provide. In hindsight, I'm glad I wore the hiking boots.

I started on Roller Coaster, which goes up and down as its name implies. At its highest points, it offers some good -- albeit distant -- views of Lake O. C. Fisher and its dam. It also weaves below many of the houses in the neighboring Highland Range subdivision. Near the end of this trail are some interesting rock outcroppings as the trail works down towards the base of Pulliam Ridge.

Burkett Trailhead, with primitive toilet in background. This view looks west, the direction from which I will end my hike.

Near the start of the hike, I enjoyed this view of Lake O. C. Fisher extending left from an unknown ridge.

View of Highland Range homes from Roller Coaster trail, which is slowly descending towards a draw at this point. Notice how rocky the trail is. Most trails at the park are like this along the ridges and slopes, while trails down in draws are packed dirt.

I noticed lots of tracks in the damp portions of the trail. In this photo, you can see horse tracks, deer tracks, mountain bike tracks, and no telling what else.

Steep and rocky, although short, climb up a slope. This is typical of Roller Coaster and some other trails at the park.

Rocky trails like this are why I decided to wear my hiking boots. If you don't land your foot squarely, you can easily twist your ankle on loose rocks such as these. The boots give me better ankle support.

Another view of O. C. Fisher, the dam, and Burkett Trailhead.

Where the road disappears is the north end of Pulliam Ridge. At the end of my hike, I will come back along it's base, moving off to the right in this picture. For now, my rocky trail is about to curve left and head down.

Lots of juniper along this section of the trail.

View west from atop ridge near end of Roller Coaster. If you look carefully, you can see a clean trail near the very center of the picture as it heads up a slope. I'll be on that trail in an hour or so.

Here's a zoom-in of the trail mentioned above.

Rock outcroppings near end of Roller Coaster.

This is the end of Roller Coaster. Note old stock pens across road. Near right-center of ridge, you can see a trail working up the slope.

The Pott's Trail System begins at a lower elevation and winds through some dense, brushy areas. It then crosses Pott's Creek near Highway 2288 before climbing up Armadillo Ridge. The trail then works along the edge of Armadillo Ridge, affording various views of Pott's Creek as well as Pulliam Ridge and a bit of the lake in the distance. Near the north end of the ridge are the remains of old picnic tables, restroom facilities, and even a boat ramp from the days when the lake extended this far. Some of these are along the trail, while others are a bit off the trail.

Dense brush along start of Pott's Creek Trail System.

Then the trail opens some. During summer months, these mesquites will provide some welcome shade to hikers.

I'll be walking on a ledge along that ridge in another half mile or so. Pott's Creek runs along the base of that ridge.

As I remember, there used to be a foot bridge across Pott's Creek at this location. You can see the support for it just to the left of the trail. I've not hiked this trail in 2 or 3 years, though. Perhaps our recent heavy rains washed it away. Luckily for me, the creek was dry here, though there were pools of water both up and down stream from this location.

The trail got a little messy near Pott's Creek. That is Highway 2288 in upper background. There is quite a bit of traffic along the highway, providing some vehicle noise.

I'm atop Armadillo Ridge now, looking across Pott's Creek to Pulliam Ridge. At the end of my hike, I will follow a trail along the base of Pulliam Ridge to the left.

Can you see my friend to the left of the trail near top center? I walked right beside him without seeing him until he gave me a greeting.

Once I stopped running, screaming, and crying and my breathing returned to something approaching normal, I worked my way back for a shot of my friend. He's quite large. The green arrow shows the general location of his head, while the red arrow shows his tail. You can even see the rattles if you blow up the picture. The size of his girth is quite impressive. In my mind, I saw rattlesnakes everywhere from that point on of my hike.

Ghostly remains of picnic tables from the days when the lake was full and extended this far. That was a long, long time ago, several decades.

Trail winds along rocky Armadillo Ridge. In my mind, there were rattlers behind every rock, just waiting to give me a warm kiss.

Once off the ridge and along Pott's Creek, the trail is along packed earth and through mesquites. This would be a good walk in the summer except for the 31,296 rattlers out here.

The trail then dips back down into Pott's Creek, where it winds through the brush and mesquite trees, then works back towards Pulliam Ridge, where it picks up the Burkett Trail. From there, the trail crosses a foot bridge, then works along a ledge between Pulliam Ridge and a creek before turning back to the trailhead.

Trail crossing Pott's Creek. I'm glad there was no water in there.

Approaching Pulliam Ridge

Water once covered where I'm walking, as evidenced by this old boat ramp.

Nice foot bridge over this little draw.

Burkett Trail, with creek on left and Pulliam Ridge on right.

Curving around northern point of Pulliam Ridge.

Almost done. That's Burkett Trailhead.