The first Saturday of Christmas break we were blessed with glorious weather. We loaded up the Bronco and headed for the hills. We thought altitude lift was in order. Enchanted rock is one of our favorite destinations because is it an easy hike with beautiful views. Enchanted Rock was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1970 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The Rock is a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome that rises 425 feet above ground, 1825 feet above sea level, and covers 640 acres. It is one of the largest underground rock formation uncovered by erosion in the United States. Our little Samuel revealed his inner mountaineer by wandering to the top of Enchanted Rock all on his own power. Mom helped him out when she was impatient with his study of every hole in the rock (“Look at the elephant, mouse, giraffe… footprint!) or worried about him tripping. He asked if he could jump into everyone of the 50 some puddles we encountered along the way. Owen took photos of the sun shining on the rocks and of the vernal pools: islands of vegetation living in pits on the rock. Owen and Caleb strapped on their headlamps and headed into a small cave. Caleb ventured into the small tight places on his own, scrambling up wet tilted boulders. We had worked up hearty appetites so we headed to Stonewall Pizza in Llano- the boys polished off a whole pizza on their own and ended it with beautiful scoops of Bluebell Tin Roof ice cream. We ended the adventure with a walk through the Starry, Starry Nights Light display at the park by the Llano river.
