Park is Closed! Hunting in Progress. USE CAUTION.
That’s what the signs read when I got to the outskirts of Bandera (Hill Country State Natural Area) today. I drove back down the road a little ways until I got cell reception and called the park. A very nice lady with a British accent assured me there was no mistake; The park was indeed closed until noon tomorrow.
I never thought to check. I spent the hour drive home trying to cut myself some slack. Bandera’s never been closed for hunting when I’ve gone out before. Nobody’s ever mentioned going out there and getting turned back for hunting. I didn’t see a sign about any closure when I was there Sunday. (Though there could easily have been a bright orange billboard with “CLOSED WEDNESDAY in 10 foot letters and I probably would have missed it Sunday. It was one of those kind of days.) Two hours of driving though…
Anyway, my good friend T. has saved me from drowning my disappointment in Eliot’s homemade bread. He’s got some midday free time and I’m going to meet up with him at Eisenhower to run. It’s not really a good idea to run by yourself at Bandera anyway. Too many opportunities to break an ankle with poor cell reception.
And, if you haven’t seen it already, there’s some interesting commentary on Bryon Powell’s iRunFar.com site about the USATF’s choices for Mountain/Ultra/Trail championship races. I’m interested to hear what people think of Nueces in Rocksprings, TX as the 50 mile championship race. The terrain is not dissimilar to Bandera.
Hope your day is working out as planned.
Liza, please send me some of your energy…I seem to not have enough these days! I’m like a college student. Totally procrastinating on everything and will try to cram it all into one day!
Where should I send the bag of Hawaiian coffee?
HCSNA, along with several other parks in the hill country often close for hunting. I would pull up the closures calendar on the state parks website because they usually have all the closures for the next year or so.
Thanks so much for that information Todd. I will definitely print that out and pass it around.
Hi Liza!!! It has been a long time!!! I was trying to find your address to send you a Christmas card and I found your blog instead. So happy to find you!!! Sounds like you have been very busy! Hope all is well in your world. Would love to catch up with you soon. XO Stefanie
Hey there! It’s so good to hear from you.I will send a note a soon as I get Asa down tonight.