Pedernales River
From Mouth of Lake Travis Upriver to ?
Around the
The Pedernales
(pronounced “per-den-ah-less”
-
not “ped-er-nails” or ped-er-nah-less) had intrigued me. I’d
looked into it a bit and found that it was supposed to flow fairly near to where
my parents lived so I thought it might be fun to see if I could explore
the area without having to drive too far. Unfortunately, there
was no put in nearby. I thus chose to
put in at a ramp in
The day began
with a drive out to the park with my mom who had graciously agreed to drive
me to the ramp and pick me up when I was done. When we
arrived we met some guys putting in a powerboat. They assured me
that I would not make it to where I had hoped to go – at least to the TX71
bridge. The Pedernales was just too dry. These guys were
interesting. They built boat docks. It’s
always interesting to find out that there are jobs out there that you'd
normally not think about – and super specialized too – like building docks.
Yet, that’s what these 2 did for a living. They said
that they would build their docks on land and then float them to where they
ultimately needed to go. It reminded me a little bit of what
the flat boaters did back in the day on the
At any rate, I
waved goodbye to mom and off I went. It was nice when I set
off, but I knew that there were supposed to be 25 mile per hour winds coming later in the day. I'd
thus brought a borrowed jacket with me just in case (I’d left most of my colder weather gear at home believing
that I wouldn’t need it
in warm Texas).
Starting off
you’ll immediately notice that the guys I ran into must have a pretty lucrative
business. There were many docks visible and there would be
houses dotting every stretch of shoreline that I would pass on this day.
The lake is therefore not much for privacy, but it is still very
pleasant. Some of the houses are absolutely unreal, too – so
big that they look like entire complexes instead of just single dwellings.
To get to the
Pedernales I headed left when I departed from the ramp (or up the
I took plenty of pictures of the right side since I'm a such fool for rock formations (the second picture was taken on my way back with the water a little more choppy). This side seemed to be less developed because the park grounds and this would remain the case for about another mile or so. There were also some pleasant little coves and I'd pass the only powerboat fishermen I’d see on the day in one of these.
I reached the
mouth of the Pedernales at about the 2 mile mark (total guesstimate) and headed
up. There were plenty of boat ramps visible once I did, most
of which were probably just for the private residences. Also
at the mouth was a sign for a fuel and ship store that announced it was opening
in July of 1993?
Upon entering
the river I noticed a ton more amazing houses along the shoreline and atop the
hills. However, I’d also notice just how low this river was! It
was quite apparent! Some of the coves were completely dry,
and it was very odd to see little cul-de-sacs of boats and docks on dry land! There was also
a “
It was after passing the camp that the wind began to enter the picture. It really started to carry the kayak upriver as if I was on a little current. This current floated me past many more dry docks and boats and further on it took me past some longhorns grazing on some farmland by the waters edge.
When I made a
left turn in the river just past this point I began to look for the TX71 Bridge.
I figured it had to be fairly close, but I wouldn’t quite make it there
today (I found out when we drove back that I was about a mile away from it).
Just as a reference, I’d reached a point where I saw a couple roads
meandering up a hill in front of me and I had just passed a power line (I could
see a tower for a separate set of lines in the distance).
Anyway, at this point I was running out of time to get back and I had to take the wind into account. I would make it back before dark, but it would take me a good amount of time as the return trip turned out to be quite a test of stamina and resolve. The first 1/3 of the way back I was directly fighting those 25 mph winds – I was headed right into them.
At times it was
really tough not to get discouraged, as I was hammering out the paddling and
still getting nowhere. Anyone watching me from one of those
houses atop the hill would have been quite entertained in watching what was, at
times, a seemingly futile effort. In fact, if I stopped paddling or even slowed
down in the least I’d float right back upriver! It was
pretty crazy. The last part of the trip was fun though, because I was practically skimming along the
water with the wind. In fact, it was like paddling along on
class 1 whitewater. I’d just catch the waves and float on along with them.
It was nice to give my shoulders a break!
When I
got back to the Colorado it was
downright exhilarating. I wasn’t going with or against
the waves – they were coming at me from the side! When one came it would
hit me from the left, so the left side would rock up with the crest of that wave
and then head back down before the other one came up. What I’d have to was
to hammer into the second wave with my paddle while coming down from the first
in order to prevent too much water from coming into the boat (and possibly to
keep the boat from going over).
The problem with all these efforts, of course, was that while I was certainly having fun at times I was forgetting that it had been getting much colder. I simply had too much on my mind to think it and I'd not put on the jacket I’d stowed in the back hatch of the boat. In fact, it didn't seem to be that cold when I was on the water because of all the energy I was expending. The problem would arrive when I got out of the boat!
Anyway, I’d previously
called my mom to see if she could pick me up and both she and my dad were there
when I arrived back at the ramp. Problem was, I’d phoned way too early!
I hadn't expected to have as much difficulty as I did and by the time I got back
they’d been
waiting ½ hour! I felt really bad. It was truly nice of both of them to have come out
though, and I was especially thankful
because when I got out of the boat I immediately started to get quite chilled.
In fact, by the time I got my gear up to the
car I was shivering uncontrollably. Thankfully, dad helped
me secure the boat down on the car while
I asked my mom to turn the heat in the car on full blast.
My poor parents! They helped me
nip the hypothermia in the bud, but they had to deal with
a real sauna on the ride back while I recovered – they weren’t cold at all!
This was a great
trip all the same and one I’d like to try again – but in warmer weather and
higher water!
DIRECTIONS:
From the
western side of