April 11, 2012
Day 46: To Vanderpool
Today I will ride through my favorite part of the Texas Hill Country on FM 337 from Camp Wood to Vanderpool. The distance is short, so I got on the road at 9:20. The weather was overcast, humid, 66F.
I will connect 3 canyons formed by spring-fed rivers that emerge north of here in porous limestone escarpments where the Edwards Plateau drops into the Hill Country. The rivers go north-south, and I will pedal east-west across huge hills that separate the canyons.
I start in Nueces Canyon. The road is relatively flat for the first 7 miles east from Camp Wood to the rural community of Roaring Springs.
After Roaring Springs the road climbs steeply to a 2500 foot summit, 900 feet higher than Camp Wood. There are several rolling hills in addition to the main climbs. I appreciated the green landscape after spending weeks in deserts. But the overcast sky makes the views kind of dull and hazy.
I enjoyed the long descent to Frio Canyon but had to brake very carefully to keep the wheels from locking up. Both rims cause the brakes to pulse dangerously.
The Cypress-lined Frio river is stunningly beautiful. It's a popular recreation area, with many small private cabin rentals, campgrounds, etc.
Leakey is the main town in Frio Canyon. It's has a smaller population than Camp Wood but has more tourist facilities. The motels and restaurants cater mainly to motorcyclists. It's always been a ranching and low-key tourist town, but it wasn't dominated by motorcycle tourism 20 years ago.
I had barbeque brisket for lunch at the Hog Barn, a huge indoor/outdoor restaurant/bar surrounded by a fence made of motorcycles. I noticed a motel that advertises "motorcyclists only".
This part of the Texas Hill Country has the biggest hills and the steepest, most winding roads. Mountain-style roads with huge embankments, rock cuts, and switchbacks. Now about half the traffic is motorcycles.
The most popular motorcycle road is the road I'm on, FM 337. When leaving Leakey I passed a sign announcing that 6 people have died in motorcycle-related accidents in the last 2 years.
Continuing east from Leakey I crossed two huge hills to get from Frio Canyon to Sabinal Canyon. The grades were often 7-8% which gets me sweaty even though the weather was overcast and in the 70's.
I stopped one place and promptly got hundreds of ants crawling on one foot. I need to pay attention to where I stop now that I'm in fire ant country. That was never a concern earlier during this tour.
There were many flowers. Mostly yellow daisies, but also some purple flowers. No bluebonnets.
Sabinal Canyon doesn't really have a town like the previous two canyons. I stopped at the Vanderpool store, then pedaled 4 miles north along the Sabinal river.
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At 4:30 PM I turned into Fox Fire Cabins and got their last cabin for $100. There are no other options here.
It's a two bedroom cabin with a living room, full kitchen and a fireplace. The temperature was only 79F but I ran the A/C to reduce the humidity. Today was oppressively humid and cloudy until late afternoon.
I had plenty of time to rest and relax at the cabin. Wash clothes, look around the riverfront property. They have a nice "swimming area" in the Sabinal river, where a pile of rocks dams the tiny river to make it 2-3 feet deep. More of a wading area.
The lady at the office talked about the extreme drought. Signs ask guests to conserve water because the well isn't working well. But everything looks very green to me. The area had a huge accumulation of rain a couple weeks ago in late March.
Just north of my cabin is the excellent Lost Maples State Park. I camped there during a previous bike tour, but I don't have camping gear now. It's still much too humid for me to want to camp.
Distance: 42.1 mi. (67.4 km)
Climbing: 2930 ft. (888 m)
Average Speed: 8.0 mph (14.2 km/h)
Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 2,437 miles (3,922 km)
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