•6:29 AM
Welcome to Lost Maples! In South Texas, if we want to see fall like the rest of the country, we head Northwest to the land of lovely color. The big tooth maple is mostly responsible for the autumn beauty of this area. Other trees such as the Chinkapin and Lacey's Oaks, Florida Basswood, Pecan, Black Willow, Green Ash and American Sycamore also populate the area and add to the beauty. Also found here are the unusual Texas Madrone Tree, three kinds of Buckeye, Witch Hazel (common in Mississippi), four additional kinds of oaks, Texas Mock orange and sycamore-leaf snowbell whose white clusters of flowers bloom in late September. Can you tell that we're doing tree studies?You can find more information about Lost Maples on their website.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/lost_maples/
Back to the trail...
We took a group hike with some of our scout family friends.
This is the best picture I was able to get with my camera that even comes close to the feeling we got walking along in the beauty our God's creation. 
These pics were taken near the beginning of the East Trail. The kids were throwing leaves up in the air and watching them fall down around them.
My best guess is that this is a Red Oak. We should get better at identifying trees soon. I just purchased a Texas tree book. If I find that it's greatly beneficial, I'll post the info on it. In the meantime, if you know of a great local tree book, please post a comment about it! 
Another great way to learn tree identification is to frequent the local parks that have ID posts for the plants and trees in the area. Jack Judson Nature Trails and Friedrich Park both have ID posts. You can pick up an ID key near the entrance of the trails. If you know of more local trails with plant ID posts, please post. :-)Here's a guess on this one... I think it's a Green Ash. Correct me if you know better.
Here's a more familiar leaf. These are the leaves of the Big Tooth Maple.
This is the Chinkapin Oak, most commonly found in limestone soil which is plentiful in the Sabinal River canyon.
There are lots of water crossings along the trails. This area is part of the Sabinal River canyon which includes many small creeks and natural springs leading into the river. The water is clear and clean. Mr. Naugle taught us that when you see water spiders, it means the water is very clean... and we did see plenty to the delight of the children. These are the creatures you see gliding over the water and less disturbed areas.
There are a few letterboxes stashed along the Maple, East and West Trails. We only got the two while we were there. Hopefully we can go back to see how the trees change through the seasons and tackle the West Trail for the letterboxes there.
This is happy moss. Isn't that a lovely shade of green?
This was part of the waterfall on the East Trail. We weren't in a good position to get a good shot of the waterfall, but the kids all enjoyed it while we were there. If you're looking for this location, It's near primitive camping area "C". This is where our group parted ways. Our family decided to continue the additional 3 miles, including a 300 or so foot elevation.
It's not as easy as it looks.... we finally made it. The hilltops are referred to as the flats. We dressed down quite a bit by this time. It was very warm up on the flats and it was also getting close to noon. It'll still be a couple more hours to get back to camp.
There's a nice view of the water.
Daniel's working himself into perseverance here.... or maybe more like how he's going to get someone to carry him all the way back.
I wasn't sure if this interested melted flint was signalling what was to come or not... meltdown? Well, nearly... 
... but Daddy gave in. As you can see, the flats look more like what we're used to seeing in South Texas. There was lots of scrub brush, mesquite and cedar type trees. It's a contrast from the lush maple groves below.
Almost back down to the bottom of the canyon. It's cooling off a bit. We passed a long line of backpackers. Near the end, one of them said good morning. Tom said... "Well, one of you had enough breathe to say good morning." All of them must have heard that because they were all laughing.
This was a near area. I don't know this history behind it but maybe is used to be part of a cave before some of it sank.
Daniel was recouping. Ready to climb!
Check out the great fern and moss growing here. The wall of this partial cave stays wet and cool.
Can you see some of the stalactites forming here? They're not the typical wet cave type.
Can you see some of the stalactites forming here? They're not the typical wet cave type.
This tree was near the end of the East Trail where it meets with the Maple Trail. We're almost there.
A few hours after we arrived back at camp, we decided to tag along with a family heading to Medina for their famous apple bakery. Everything is made from their orchard. We like to get some of their yummy soft serve apple ice cream when we go.
On the way there, Daniel fell asleep... in his snack.
Time to find the letterbox... We had to walk around the base of the mound to find it. On the trip around the mound, we found that there is a lot of wildlife here! These little cottontails were everywhere. We discovered that they were chasing the American Robins that were everywhere on the ground, too.
We also discovered some lovely American Goldfinches inhabiting the mound. They are strikingly beautiful! 
And of couse, what's a letterboxing trip without playtime at the park? What a great picture. Just so you know, he did not fall off and break his neck. :-)
