By Brandt Mannchen
I arrived early in the Big Thicket for my hike. I decided I would pay a visit to the Big Thicket National Preserve’s (BTNP) visitor center before going to the parking lot to meet my group. I stepped into the restroom and then went to the visitor center front door. It was locked. I looked at the time. It was a few minutes before 9 am. Darn, I guess I was too early.
As I began to walk away, a ranger, Alex, came out and asked if he could help me. He verified that the visitor center did not open until 9 am. He invited me on a hike he was leading on the Kirby Nature Trail, but I told him I was leading a Houston Sierra Club hike. We waved to each other and I got in my car and went to the Kirby Nature Trail parking lot.
I saw cars arrive and people climb out of their cars. It turned out not only were there two hikes originating from the Kirby Nature trail parking lot, but now there was a third one. The park ranger was leading a mushroom hike, a second hike a Rice University class was taking to conduct a “Bio-blitz”. A “Bio-blitz” is a short-term way that a researcher, teacher, or a group of interested citizens can determine the biological diversity of an area. All plants and animals that can be identified are and then they are listed by the participants. The third hike was the Sierra Club’s led by yours truly!
The Houston Sierra Club Meet-up site for this hike had bulged to 39 and then over the last week dwindled to 23, and finally 9 of us brave souls showed up at the parking lot. It was overcast, chilly, and gray but it felt good to breathe the fresh air. We were the cream of the crop! I enjoyed meeting Adam, Kathy, Daisy, Junlin, Lukas, Elise, another Adam, and my old buddy David. David graciously, as he always does, agreed to be “drag”, the last person on a hike. The “drag” ensures that we do not leave anyone behind while we are hiking.
I was feeling into myself, so I did not talk as much as I usually do about the glories of the Big Thicket. I did point out the Loblolly – American Beech – Southern Magnolia slope forest that covers a significant portion of the Big Thicket and is a very important dominant forest ecosystem.
The ground and trail were wet from the heavy rain that we got from the previous morning. I was afraid that some of the Inner Loop and Outer Loop Trails would be inundated. However, we walked through water an inch deep only a few times.
We heard a Pileated Woodpecker as we made our way along the trail. Village Creek had swelled due to the rains and had expanded into its floodplain. The sloughs, swales, depressions, streams, and abandoned channels were all filled. It was great to see large, old, Bald Cypress trees in the floodplain along with bottomland hardwood trees.
We hiked toward the Sandhill Loop. Some time in the early to mid-1980’s, the Houston Sierra Club had worked with BTNP to preliminarily mark and cut that trail. I had not been back in years and wanted to see our handiwork. Unfortunately, the heavy rains from the past several years had damaged the bridge that we had to cross just before the Sandhill Loop, so we had to turn back.
The bridge should have been fixed a long time ago but the U.S. Congress has not appropriated money (which we have) to do so. Sometimes I wonder what the people who are in Congress really do. They need to get off their “tutus” and protect and fund BTNP, National Park System, and our other federal public lands. People love these lands and should not be inhibited from exploring them due to miserly budgets. Enough said, I will get off my “soapbox”!
We backtracked through the Village and Turkey Creek Floodplains and stopped at the “Cypress Loop” to stare in awe at huge Bald Cypress trees that are found in this deep slough. We stopped, sat on logs, and ate lunch. I was ravenous and finished my sandwich in no time. Up the slope we climbed, to the old cabin, passing baygalls and hardwood forests.
We made it back to the parking lot and said our farewells. It had been a good hike. The sun had tried to peek through at the end, the weather had warmed up, and the air was as fresh as a green forest can be. All in all, it was a great day to be alive, to hike, and enjoy the wonders of Nature.
Photo courtesy of Duc Nguyen.