Enchanted Rock!

We took the boys to Enchanted Rock this past weekend with some friends. Just a quick history lesson for all of you who have never been to Enchanted Rock.
The rock is a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome, that rises 425 feet above ground, 1825 feet above sea level, and covers over 600 acres. If you look really careful at the top of the rock in the above picture you might be able to see the people who look like ants walking on top of it. As I said it is a HUGE Rock, and one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States. The Tonkawa Indians believed ghost fires flickered at the top, and they heard weird creaking and groaning, which geologists now say resulted from the rock's heating by day and contracting in the cool night. There are many tall tales and other folklore attributed to the rock and it's surrounding areas. The name "Enchanted Rock" derives from Spanish and Anglo-Texan interpretations of such legends and related folklore; the name "Crying Rock" has also been given to the formation. So there it is, your quick history lesson in a nutshell!



We all made it to the top despite the constant wind and huge wind gusts that ranged anywhere between 35 to 45 mph. That does not seem so bad when you are on flat ground, but way up there it was really noticeably forceful. Rodeo and CJ had to lean forward to walk. And there was a time or two that we thought they might have lift off.

We decided to go early because I was hoping we might see at least one beautiful field of wildflowers and be able to stop for some quick pictures. No luck in that department - we did not see a single field and we saw very few flowers except for the few right along the highway.
So we arrived at the park early and decided to do some hiking before our friends arrived. The boys had a blast and were really good climbers. Rodeo had no fear, which was a little scary for me, but Daddy stayed with him and HJ and taught them how to climb the smart way.

CJ stayed behind with me and we climbed rocks that were our size. He was a little sad to be left behind, but I told him that we would watch his brothers and he would work on his Spider Man climbing skills. He wore his gloves to keep his hands warm but they turned out to be great entertainment for him because they stuck to the granite. Now they have been re-named to Spider Man gloves. He was quite impressed with his gloves and his amazing ability to climb with them.

I was side tracked just for a moment (watching CJ and his Spider Man abilities) and when I looked up this is how I found the boys. Yes - I did yell up at Daddy and say "What are you doing?" They all happily yelled back "climbing the rock - MOM!" Just so you know this shot looks like it is much steeper than it actually was. They had a great time and the rock was easy for them to grip and to just hang on to.

As you can see they were all fine! It looks a lot steeper than it actually was. HJ got a little nervous with the heights. We told the boys if they ever felt uncomfortable, nervous or scared to sit down and that was their stopping point and that it was no big deal. We talked to them about safety and how we never make fun of someone who has a fear because that is how someone could possibly get hurt. This rule worked out great and no one made a big deal about it. You can see HJ sitting down on the right side of the picture. He did a great job and followed the rules.

Daddy loves to climb rocks!


I liked this picture. We are going down into the cave area and HJ was waiting for me and making sure I could make it. He knows I get nervous with heights and small caves.

We got into the truck and the boys were talking about how much fun they had and then began to discuss when the next time would be that we would return to Enchanted Rock. I waited and listened and turned around to find that they had all fallen asleep.